Movies in my Mind

I am steadily working on my renewed promise of blogging more regularly. Its not that I can't think of stuff to say rather, I can't find the time and when I do find the time - I am to tired to write anything that makes sense.

This weekend Rick and I slept a lot. We must have been catching up on our Zzzz's because not only did we sleep in Saturday and Sunday but we also napped Sunday and went to bed early. On days when I am getting extra sleep my "mind movies" are centering around a truly enlightening topic: BIG SPOON. If you've never experienced the joy that is Big Spoon - I urge you to stop whatever you are doing (after you finishing reading of course) and rush out to Big Spoon. The wonders of wonderful frozen yogurt with a wall full of toppings. Every topping you can imagine its beautiful, amazing. I dream of this regularly.

Off to bed I go - dream more about cappicino and chocolate yogurt covered in magic shell, reese's peanut butter cups and butter toffee peanuts, Mmmmmmmmmm!

Head shoulder HIP KNEE and toes

I am a klutz, most people know this. And amazingly am able to do completely ridiculous things while completely sober. Such as while walking from the bathroom to the front door I slip (on what appeared to be nothing) and fell into a very lovely jazz like splits. This caused my left leg to go behind me which apparently my muscles were NOT fond of. I pulled something. Now I am a gimp.
I left work early yesterday because of it and only went in today for an hour and half to do some employee interviews. Its time for my pj's, muscle relaxer and bed. Aw, the pains of getting older!

I AM BACK!

So here I am - back from a blog hyatis - I've been busy - what can I say?

My boss got fired and I am in charge (only I got no title and no pay). Also I've had an amazingly active social life!

HOWEVER!

My NEW goal is to blog regularly~ don't hold me to it but I will work on it! Stay tuned!!

vending machine

Somebody in vending machine world loves me cuz they put my favorite cookies back in the vending machine. They knew today I needed a little pick me up and when I went to get a sierra mist and saw the cookies I almost cried out in joy. Ah the little things in life.

Oh Snap!

Okay - its a Tuesday night which means I am supposed to be home, cleaning up for the sorority meeting I am hosting tomorrow. And as we all know I HATE TO CLEAN. So before launching into my cleaning expedition I stopped by Terra's to have a little nacho dinner (Mmmm). And I talked her out of Rob's LAST REDLINE - drink the drink drink the drink! If you've never had one you should try it at least once. The bottle reads "FEEL THE FREAK FEEL THE FREEZE" and that is pretty much what happens. This is supposed to be a high power energy drink - and let me tell you it works only - I don't want to clean and I have pent up energy - AUGH!
I didn't think it was working at first and then Terra called to see if I was doing my chores, I couldn't stop giggling and there was ntohing to giggle at. I also realized and I sat and tried to avoid the messy house that I can't stop shaking my legs and I am pretty sure that I am typing like 150 words a minute (wonder if you can take an online typing test so that I can test this theory - hmm).
Anyway - while on my energy sprint I found the joy that is YouTube - how have I not spent hours in front of this before? OMG! Its really facinating what people will put out there for the world to see!
Now its 9:48pm and Rick will be home in roughly an hour - I guess that means I need to go power clean. I'll check back in later with how my coming down off this drink went!

Hello Party People!

So I've been gone a long time, I know I know you miss the daily ramblings of my mind. Works been crazy busy since the demise of my supervisor leaving me to monitor and run things. And our home computer was broke until my cousin's wonderful husband fixed it! Good as new! YAY! So now I am back up at home - the blogging shall again be regular!!

So this weekend was fun - it was nice to relax after a crazy week. Why is it that they give you a day off and then double your work the other days to make up for a holiday? Friday we went to my Aunties for a fish and chips dinner that was OUT OF THIS WORLD! BIG and I mean BIG props to my cousins Michael and Jim for their trek to Alaska to bring the fam home fresh Halibut. For the last 2 weekends we've have amazing meals out of it and the end isn't in site!
Then Saturday our good friend Jesse had us over for a BBQ. Much to his shagrin it was a wild and crazy night that ended with someone's chonies in the fire pit - and before you ask NO THEY WEREN'T MINE, the host reliving the 2 or 3 bottles of red wine he had consumned and the clan of us almost kick the crap out of his neighbors who from what I remember I didn't like. All I can say is Good times, good times! We will definetly have to hit up the Casa de Torres again soon!

Then Sunday was pretty low key - I think we were supposed to clean but I talked Rick into a trip to Costco for a "window shopping" trip. Then we went to dinner at Terra's - Mmmmm tacos! Nothing better for food the day after a party than home made tacos! Super tasty!

So now starts my week. Mondays are always crazy at work. Especially since I am trying to upgrade my resume to apply for the job I am currently doing. Nothing harder than that. Oh well the week can only go one of two ways - speed up and get crazy or slow down to the status of boredom - hopefully though we can find a happy medium! Until later though, I must bid goodnight. I am falling asleep typing and thats not really great for the keyboard!

Long time

Okay okay, I know. I am a terrible blogger, I haven't blogged for 12 days. It's been busy and my home computer is DOA right now and is being looked at by my wonderful cousin in law.
Works' been - well its been work and lets leave it at that. It has sort of consumed my life the last couple of weeks.
But, labor day is here and we're ready to chilax and get our weekend on. I am sure that will bring LOTS to write about.
TTFN - I'll update when I have: a. more time, b. something fun to say and c. a computer at home!!

Personality Test

It's amazing how they can so accurately fit me into a catagory just by answering a bunch of random questions. Check it out - then find out where you rate at www.similarminds.com :

Jung Ideal vs. Real Test Introversion 50% 43% Extroversion 76% 56% Intuitive 56% 53% Sensing 53% 50% Feeling 66% 73% Thinking 66% 50% Judging 76% 46% Perceiving 56% 56% ideal you real you ideal type - ENTJ, real type - ENFP

Take'>http://similarminds.com/p_jung.html">Take Free Jung Ideal vs. Real Test
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Go Big Blue!

I am bulldog. Not in the four legged, drooling, farting, snoring sense of the word (and I can verify that bulldogs really do all that stuff, ours did), but rather in the school mascot sense. I was a happy graduate of the class of 1996 from Folsom High School – you know "may the loft sierras watching over you" and all that crap. My 10 year class reunion was this weekend, I know I said 10 years, I get it - I am old.
Growing up in Folsom was like walking into the middle of cast call for Varsity Blues versus Dawsons, complete with wacky school mascot that goes to all the big parties and teen angst running amuck. Ten years ago Folsom wasn’t the 2500+ population school it is now, it was smaller and more intimate and for the most part I could recognize any of my class mates either by sight or name. I wasn’t what you’d call “A” list popularity, but I wasn’t a total loser either. I like to self appoint myself a B list popularity wise, I knew the A list and was cool with them, I just didn’t call any of them my BFF’s. Spending four years at FHS (go, fight, win), can be classified by simply saying “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. I didn’t hate high school while I was there. I actually rather liked it – except of course the last 3 months of my senior year which NO ONE ever likes. So I was excited to go to my reunion and see people I've know since elementary school but haven't seen since the summer of 1996.
We arrived at Sutter street around 9:15pm - the reunion started at 830pm, and I figured this was the perfect time to arrive, I was right. For the reunion, since its all FHS alumni classes, they close down a part of Sutter street and much to my amazement tried to charge a $15 per person fee which Rick and I were able to side track by stating we needed to get cash first - never went back to pay that fee, you can bill me later alumni association! We made our way over to the Sutter Club- loving known to the bar crowd as the Gutter club, where we found friends we had planned on meeting up with.
After hooking up with our friends and getting cash from the near by ATM - it began; I saw a lot of people from my class. Some I was really glad to see and catch up with, some it was painful standing there for 5 minutes while they prattled on about their lives. And then there were the ones who I tried to refrain from making eye contact with but some how later in the night after a few drinks you couldn't avoid - you know the ones that bring their old senior year book in hopes of getting everyone to sign it, if I didn't sign it then, I am not signing it now. All in all I had a great time. We ended up leaving earlier than expected because of Rick's back (he'd been laid up all week). But I did get to see most of the people on my list of the ones I wanted to see.
The next day was a BBQ that I had not planned on attending due to the lameness I thought it would hold. However on Friday everyone was talking about it and kept asking "are you going?" "Going tomorrow to the BBQ". Unfortunately we had already made plans to help our friends move so we didn't make it. I was able to get the gossip from my friend Jesse - who gave me the low down on the people who weren't there Friday night. Talking to him about it made feel like I was 16 again though, as we gossiped about who was there, if they had kids, if they had come out, made something of themselves career wise or still stupid.
All in all it was a lot of fun and I am glad I decided to go. It’s hard to remember sometimes that I did like high school and that I did have a TON of school spirit. So all I can say now is:
BULLDOGS IN THE HIZZY! GO DOGS!

Fast Food

I think of myself as a fast food expert. I mean one doesn't become obese by eating vegetation only - it takes a large amount of grease, preservatives and carbohydrates to balloon to the sizes I've been before. That is why it is mind shattering to me that I have never known the joy of the Taco Bell Enchirito prior to yesterday. How is it that my 10 year old cousin knows about this and I don't? It is a travesty and saddening.

For those, besides myself, who have never had the pleasure - the enchirito is burrito with meat, beans and cheese in a flour tortilla that is then covered in a wonderfully tangy and taste bud exploding red sauce, and cheese and then stuck under a broiler long enough to melt the cheese. The full rich flavor of the seasoned meat mixed with the beans complement the spicy sauce nicely causing the person partaking in the enchirito to have to consciously stop themselves from scarfing this wonderful entrée. And at only $1.59, the enchirito is budget affording as well. I've had enchiladas at many a Mexican food restaurants that couldn't compare to this delicacy.

My fast food hat is off to Taco Bell for this lovely menu choice. And my fist shakes in the air at all who knew of this and never told me, shame on you -I say, shame on you.

Not for the faint of heart

We talked about this before - simply stated - I am an animal person. Most of the time, I prefer animals over people, they understand more and even if they don't, they're good at acting like they do. That is why this article from the AOL new wire upset me so much. I warn you, if you are faint of heart and an animal person you will find this disturbing at best.

As I read thru this I was overcome to think that just because a government couldn't get the most basic of disease under control they are punishing the not sick. I don't know what I'd do if they made me kill my dog. I wouldn't. I'd refuse. It wouldn't happen. No wonder China is overpopulated - they won't let people have dogs.

So I have now added another boycott to my list (my list really isn't that long, only 2 places that I adamantly WILL NOT frequent - Carl's Jr. - for their anti- abortion relations and Kentucky Fried Chicken - for the refusal to buy chickens from humane farmers ) and now I add anything from China - this may take a little more vigilance since its pretty easy to just NOT go to the other two places - but I feel strongly and I will not buckle - non-China items - BE GONE!

Questions

I am aware that I might be slightly jaded. I don't have the same daily experiences with the public that most do. I work in a call center - I deal with the lay person all day long and, for the most part I don't mind educating them on how their health insurance works or on what doctors they need to see. The people that bug me the worst though are the other professionals that call and are complete and utter simpletons. Nothing gets under my skin quicker or raises my voice octaves higher (at work octaves are how you can tell how my call is going - the higher pitched I am the more irritated)than someone calling from a professional office who doesn't know what he or she is doing.
First of all - YOU called me, I shouldn't have to BEG what YOU want out of YOU. If you called me you should know if you want a quote of benefits. If I ask you "Did you need benefits on this person" and you say "NO" please do not then turn around and say "Can you tell me what their coverage for an office visit is?" I am sorry no I can't you had you're chance - next contestant please.
Next if you don't want to listen to what I am saying - why did you waste your time calling? I understand that in this day and age we all multi task at our jobs. I can be working on 3 different projects, emailing my friends, answering questions and I still manage to listen to the person on the phone. It is down right rude to ask a question and then because you're prattling on to your coworker about your date last night - you miss the response so you get annoyed AT ME and ask me to repeat what I am saying like I wasn't clear the first time. When people do this it takes all of my will power not to ask them about the personal conversation like "Oh WOW so what did you wear?" Not because I care but rather to point out their rudeness in the most embarrassing way possible to them - although I somehow doubt it would phase most of them.
Lastly, and lets be honest here, their jobs and mine - NOT that hard. We're not performing the surgery we're quoting benefits on and I SHUTTER to think that some of these people are actual nurses. These are information that people call for is so simple that even the lamest lab monkey could do and YET these people have a hard time with it. How many times do I need to repeat S-L-O-W-L-Y our billing address, its a freaking PO Box! Seriously if these people can't handle these positions I know pride industries has a ton of overly qualified workers who could help them out. Now don't get me wrong there are a handfull of bright and qualified people I talk to everyday. They're on the ball and those calls even when complicated take under 3 minutes. Sometimes even members are more on it than the providers they go to see and they call us to whip the provider into shape.
I am not asking for much here I don't think. I am just wanting competent, comprehesable callers. Thats all. Nothing more, nothing less. Please...

Caffeine

There is this little café downstairs from my office. They sell coffee, juice and sodas. In the mornings for breakfast they have toast, breakfast burritos, biscuits and gravy and for lunch they have sandwiches, salads and soup.
I frequent this café almost everyday to get an Iced decaf Americano and sometimes breakfast. They have a "frequent buyer" card - you know the kind, buy 7 cups of coffee get a cup free. Its like using the Starbucks at Safeway! So of course on my free cup days I always get a more expensive drink! Today I got a mocha freeze (I know, I know NOT trainer friendly but what can I say - it was free) and I ordered it decaf - but the girl was new and I think she made it regular caffeinated because LET ME TELL YOU! I can't stop moving! I am completely hyper and yet exhausted at the same time. I love the zing caffeine gives me but NOT the tummy ache.
I think I'll go run laps around the office now!!

Off the Chain

I hate the saying "off the chain" and all its different variations: "Damn! That was really off the chain", "totally off the chain". What the HELL does that mean? What chain are they talking about? Why do I want to be off it? Call me old but I just don't get it. I really don't. And I bet if you asked someone where that saying came from, someone who used it all the time, I bet they wouldn't know. How can you say something and you don't even know yourself what it means? That's totally stupid. For all we know "Off the Chain" could mean something very vulgar to people of another country.
I think that we should be more conscience of the pop culture phrases we pick up and pass on. Whatever happened to the cool sayings of our past? I mean if someone was acting like a know it all he was a wiseguy. If you screwed someone you would be screwing the pooch. And, my all time favorite, if you wanted to really drive you're point home - the proof was in the pudding (because really - who doesn't love pudding). I think we should resurrect these old time sayings and out these young whippersnappers and their jive talking lingo. Because really, should my 57 year old mother be saying "That is really awesome" or is it more fitting to hear her say"Cool Daddy-O, real cool", I think we both know!

Drink buddies

So I just got shit from my BFF Terra who said I NEVER talk about her on my blog. The fact is that I don't talk about her on my blog because most of the time the interesting stuff I have to say could get both of us in a lot of trouble!! But she insisted so here it is!
Take for instance the night the two of us decided that 4 bottles of wine would be a good idea. Or the night Terra decided that waking her husband up to let us into the house we'd "locked ourselves out of" was too difficult so Terra, much like a monkey on the National Geography channel, scaled her wooden fence and fell off the other side "SPLAT" and layed on the ground as no help to us to get in the house! I however was able to knock lightly on the bedroom window wake up Rob and have him proceed to tell us that the back door was not in fact locked (I swear it was. I don't care what "sober" Rob says IT WAS LOCKED!).
Terra and I tend to get ourselves in and OUT of trouble quite easily. But then thats what were supposed to do, we're BFF's that live a block from each other!

Heat wave

Its hot. In fact its 108 degrees but feels like 112 degrees hot right now. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. We have our air turned down to 70 degrees and it's 74 in my house right now at 240pm. At 6pm it will be up around 78 which in my opinion is WAY to hot for my house to be. If I wanted it to be 78 degrees in my house I'd set the thermostat at 78 but I don't, I set it at 70 because I like to be cool and I like to be comfortable and at 78 I am neither of those two things.
Its so hot that last night I thought to myself "Self I bet if you sprayed down the front walk and patio it would cool it down a bit" so I did just that, I sprayed the entire entry walkway and porch. Only to make it NOT cooler but muggy. How is it that I created my own humidity? This is out of control.
How did we go from bearable heat to out of control heat within like a week period of time? And people say there is no global warming. Its so hot that even the idea of swimming in a pool is too hot. The only place I think would be bearable would be the river since we know that water is cold and it might off set the temperature. I think I should go buy a tiny tot pool, put it in my living room, fill it with water and ice and watch a movie. Hmm, I wonder if that would work at the drive in . . . . I am off to WalMart, wish me luck! Keep cool!

Book club

Ah the joy of reading. To wrap yourself in the images created by the written word using someone's else's idea but morphing it into you're vision. Its almost like painting by numbers only without the paint and the bossy numbers. Friday night was book club night and as much as I'd like to say book club is about the love of reading. It's really more about the love of females getting together to chat, laugh and have a good time.
Our lovely hostess was Jody this time. She welcomed us all into her beautiful home and made a wonderful paste dinner. We sipped drinks and discussed this months book which was P.S. I love you by Cecelion Adhern. It's amazing how much tastes can be different, some of us really loved this book and hated last months (which was another book by the same author) and some of us hated this book but loved the other. I was in the second party. I loved last months choice but felt this one fell short of hitting the same mark.
I think what is even more interesting to me is not our likes and dislikes of the books but rather our ability for a group of women - all from different walks of life, generations and families to be able to sit and discuss how we felt about these books. For a lot of people reading is very intimate and sharing those thoughts can be very difficult - I think its so wonderful that we can sit and honor each others feelings all the while sharing our own. I love book club night!

Singing in the Bathroom

There are certain rules and etiquette that should be recognized when using public restrooms. Your company restroom is NOT the American Idol stage and YOU are NOT the next Kelly Clarkson or the next SoulPatrol. No body wants to hear your rendition of The Greatest Love of All while they are trying to pinch off a loaf.
Remember in the bathroom the quieter the better. You don't need pleasantries or comments about someone else's outfit. Try to avoid eye contact and please please if there is more than one stall open DON'T ALWAYS go the one right next to someone. You're immediate attention is appreciated.

Lost and Found

I misplaced my sharing sunglasses this morning. Somewhere between my bathroom and the kitchen they disappeared. My 10 minutes search came up short and I couldn't find them. How many places could there possibly be for sunglasses to hide at?

Reunions

Last night I had dinner with an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while. While catching up on what is currently going on in our lives, our conversation was drawn to an upcoming anniversary we share – 10 years out of high school and thus our high school reunion.
Admittedly I wasn’t part of the A list but I had a great group of friends and network, and I can’t help wondering what a reunion of these people will be like. I haven’t kept touch with many people from high school mostly because I didn’t want to. It’s funny to think back and remember thinking “I am going to be friends with FOREVER.” And now lives in a trailer park in Rio Linda, is missing half their teeth and you haven’t spoken to that person since you were 19 - my how our times change.
10 years is a long time though to not see people you basically grew up with. Schools are SO big now and graduating classes have more students in them than my entire high school had when I graduated. We were a pretty close knit class I am anxious to see some of the people I haven’t seen in 10 years. While true, the reason I want to see most of them is to laugh – I do genuinely want to see a few people I liked but lost touch with.
Since the reunion is in August – I’ve gone into overdrive with my working out (this epiphany just hit me last night) – I am secure with who I am however, I’d love to look better than I did in high school, is that so bad?!

Summer Sick

I am home sick today. My throat feels like I decided snacking on molten hot glass would be a good idea. I don't know how it happened. I felt fine when I went to bed last night but, I woke up about midnight and my throat was on fire. Poor Rick. I tried waking him up to tell him he just wasn't that interested.
I tossed and turned for the next 3 hours - trying to get comfy, trying to decide if breathing thru my nose was better or my mouth - which hurt less. Around 4am Rick woke up to go to the bathroom and I followed him. He's such a good care taker at 4am. He made me take some IBprofen and an antibiotic (from another cold I had) and then put me back in bed. He even got me an ice pack for my neck and throat.
Now I am home alone while he's off working and socializing and have a great time (ok that maybe a TAD overstatement on the great time front) while, I am stuck on the couch squinting at the TV (I don't know where my glasses are and I don't have the energy for my contacts) wishing someone would shoot me like an old horse and put me out of misery. I hate being home alone while sick - I want some here to "poor baby me", I think that comes from my mothers inability to baby me when I was little - we tease her all the time that her favorite saying was "Suck it up and go to school - you're fine!" even though you had a 102 temperature and got dizzy standing up. So here I sit, waiting for an email since talking on the phone is not a possibility and on the computer I am able to prop myself up by my elbows.
I think I'll go lay on the couch and squint at the TV more that seems to move the day along quickly. Note to reader - getting sick in the summer SUCKS!

Camping 2006!

Every year my mother and aunt take a week (or longer) camp trip. Their usual spot is at the Lodgepole camp ground at Yuba Gap. This is a great little camp ground Rick and I stumbled into one year while looking for a place to camp(it also happens to be where Rick proposed – so it has a sentimental place in my heart). The last 3 years Rick and I have spent in Vegas living the Rock’n’Roll lifestyle for the weekend however, since the 4th fell on a Tuesday and funds were running low – we opted out on the Vegas trip (not to worry, I am hoping to go for my birthday if we can’t figure out a quick trip sooner) and ended up going camping on Friday after work.

Other than the mosquitoes (darn rainy winter), it was the perfect weekend for camping. The weather was mild both at night and during the day and the company was great! Nearly my entire family went. Mimsy and my little cousin Killian had drove up early Friday to secure our spot and then Rick, Auntie, Willow and I headed up. Earlier that day, my other cousin Sallee and her family (husband and 2 daughters) went up. The only people missing were my cousins Jim and Mike who ended up joining us Saturday morning just in time for breakfast.

Being with you family is so different when you’re an adult from when you’re little. Being the baby of my family I always felt a little left out but, now being older and more mature (okay not really but at least now we’re all on the same mental level) I get along with my family so much more.

I had a blast sitting around the campfire talking with everyone. Discussing everything from our great grandparents to the new boat my cousin bought for fishing (Mmmm Tuna). It was an experience like no other. Both Rick and I were sad to see Sunday night come, I think that is why we opted to drive home (I had to work Monday morning) and then head back up after work on Monday for the night especially when we were only staying for until noon as we had a BBQ at a close family friends house to attend. That brief night was well worth it though. Good camp food, great camp fire and tons of laughs!

I am trying to plan a trip now to Dillon’s Beach for Labor Day weekend with friends. We’ve camped several times at Dillon Beach and it so much fun! I can hardly wait – hope we get to go!

Girls night in

There is simply nothing better than week night with girlfriends, drinking pomegranate martinis and talking. Something about it soothes the soul, renews your outlook and makes you feel wonderful.
Today during an all girls email my friend Jody made the mistake of stating "My man is working tonight, my kids are away and I am basically home alone - who wants to come over for drinks". Sadly for her - she had hit me during a rough time of the day and even though I had a lot of stuff to do at home to get ready for this weekends camping trip - I eagerly answered. After high pressuring my close friend (her sister) into attending also the night was set. We had hoped another friend would join us however she inevitably baled due to children issues (apparently swimming is more fun that sitting around with Mommies friends).
Our gracious hostest welcomed us around 7pm with an open bottle of wine and promise of a delightful dinner. After predinner toasts we ate and talked. Call it the martini but I could feel myself relax with ever syllable spoke. We talked about everything from ex husbands to friends ex girlfriends and everything in between. From a fresh bottle of Skye vodka to the last 3 inches of it - we had a great time.
Dinner with girlfriends is the best thing after a stressful day! Thanks to all my girlfriends that know a martini and a talk can cure the worst of day - hugs and love to ya!

Sniffing it out

I have an uncanny ability to smell things that no one around me can smell. I am always the first to smell the daily office perpetrator that burns the microwave popcorn or if the roller on the printer is jammed and getting hot. It has always been this way for me. My mother says I get my sense of smell from my great grandmother - Grandma-ma. She was legally blind my whole life and we've all heard what they say about your other senses kicking into overdrive when one is no longer working. She once walked onto the back porch at my grandparents house and could tell that the night before (she hadn't been there) that someone had been sitting on the porch smoking even though no cigarette butts or ashtray lay around stinking up the country air.
Not only can I smell things others can't at first but, I also like weird smells. For example - I am crazy about walking into a shoe store - especially cheapy PayLess. Something about the fake leather and cheap rubber smells amazing to me. And Rick can only shake his head every time I sniff my Ugg boots and smile before I put them on!
For me - my olfactory works overtime. Therefore it should really be no surprise to me that today while waiting in line at the cafe downstairs my nose tempted me into ordering a sandwich I knew I wouldn't like. Something about the ham today just smelled good. Boy was I wrong! First I am not a big deli meat person; it's slimy and just plain gross. Second I am not a ham person - the occasional seasonal (i.e. Easter) ham - but never deli ham. And third I don't eat white bread on a normal basis - I like sourdough or french but just regular white - NEVER. Of course then what do I order? A ham sandwich on white bread with mayo and mustard. WHY WOULD I DO THIS? My nose - that's why, it smelled good so I ordered it.
So, here I sit trying to swallow slimy meat and sticky white bread. I am thinking of trashing the whole thing and opting for a vending machine lunch of poptarts. Poptarts smell good - like fruit and pastry and all things right from a vending machine!

My own personal Office Space

Much like all 20/30 something - I adore to movie Office Space. It felt like every scene was from a day of work. I bonded with the stapler guy, felt sorrow for the receptionist and wanted to ease the flare blues of my TGIFriday's waiter.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when takes apart his cubicle and pushes it down to see out the window. Many people think I like it because we all want window cubicle. Let's be honest here though I like the destruction of it all. Just ask Rick- he'll constest to my love of destruction.

In order to emulate this, I've devised my own plan which, not only allows me to be destructive BUT also allows me to vent my frustration at work. Whenever I go to the restroom I will take a dime with me and visit by visit, I shall unscrew the bathroom until with a simple PUSH it shall all fall apart!!

Now I know I spoke of doing this at my last job however, I never had the audacity to actually do it. I figure now, SCREW IT! I am in! Unscrewed stalls here I come. My only worry - should I wear gloves so they can't finger print it????????????

Exterminator

I don't like snakes. Most people know this. It's my one weakness. I do well at maintaining in most panic situations - unless the slither are involved. Tonight, however - I proved this to be incorrect when I screamed like a 7 year old school yard girl that was being chased by the boys so they could throw a frog on her.


Let me give you a short back story. About 2 weeks ago I was home, alone, and someone knocks on the door. A door to door sales man tries to sell me a exterminator package. Feeling bad for the little guy I agree. Then later call and cancel when Rick says no no no!

Fast forward to tonight. I am walking into my bedroom to get something and as I turn on the light, I see something scurry into the hall. I don't freak out right at first, I figure its a frog, or maybe a cricket - which I will catch and nicely put outside. I look closer as it tries to wedge itself under the dog gate. It's at this point that the 7 year old school yard girl kicks and I start screaming and jumping up and down. Poor Rick! He freaks out and runs into the hall where I am jumping, screaming AND pointing at this THING - that is neither a frog or a cricket.

Grabbing a close by shoe he smushs it. And we investigate what turns out to be a HUGE SPIDER. I MEAN HUGE! I am not talking dime size. Or even quarter size. This little beast was at LEAST the size of a silver dollar. GROSS.

Tomorrow - Rick is calling the exterminator back - bye bye monster spiders!

Insomnia

AUGH! It's 1:30 am on Monday morning or Sunday night however you prefer to think of it. And, for some reason I am suffering from what I am sure is self inflicted insomnia. You'd think after my happy pill (which usually knocks me out after 15 minutes) and 2 glasses of wine - after having wine and a beer at my sister in laws house, that I would be passed out, much the same way that Rick is yet here is I am, blogging at this early/late hour.
The last few days have been a trial of mental proportion. After find out my aunt (on my fathers side) had passed away, I was torn with the decision of making the long trip to Oregon to attend the funeral or staying home. One would think this NOT a hard decision. However, after not speaking to my father in over a year and the fact that I would spend close to 20 hours in the car to attend the funeral for 3 maybe 4 hours I decided not to go. Let me say that I am NOT close to my father side of the family at all. However this aunt (and uncle for that matter) are quite possibly the only members of my patriarchal family that were ever kind to me and that ever showed me any type of love (including my paternal grandparents). It was difficult to make the decision to not go, but I feel like my aunt would understand and know that in my heart I was thinking of her.
Other than that I had a good weekend. Friday my good friend Terra came over for dinner with my beautiful baby girl Amelia (I've decided to adopt her, only her parents won't agree - so Rick and I have the honorary title of aunt and uncle). We all hung out and chatted until Amelia decided it was time for bed! Then Saturday I worked which is great for the pay check! And afterward went to Killians 2nd to last baseball game in the playoff series.
The game it's self was good! They of COURSE won and will be playing their last game Monday (if they win, they will be the champion of the Sacramento area). The kids played excellent and other than a few issues with "blue" it was a good game.
After the game we ran home, showered and beautified ourselves and went to meet our friend Becky and Greg to drive to SF to go to see 3 for all (BTW- thanks to Becky who explained to me how to link a website to a word on blogger). They were amazingly funny and we all enjoyed the show. We dined before hand at one of Rick and I's favorite restaurants Ti Couze in the Mission District. We all enjoyed a rich dinner which included the meat and cheese plate, the organic green salad and then of course a savory crepe. Greg and I opted for the special which had Fontina cheese (I LOVE CHEESE), grilled sweet red onions and a red pepper sauce and Becky and Rick both had a scallop crepe (EW!). We were all delightfully satisfied but ran out of time for desert (SCREWED!) and had to leave for the show. After the show we tried to hunt down a good place for desert. We went to Ghirardelli square in hopes of finding something. The actual Ghirardelli desert place had a HUGE line so we opted for Lori's diner (also in Ghirardelli square) - we should have waited in line. The weird smell should have been our first clue that we shouldn't stay - but of course we did. We all ordered desert. I made the mistake of thinking that the hot fudge sundae would be a safe choice. Needless to say - it wasn't. We finished our desert and left unsatisfied and ready to rid ourselves of the foul smell.
I've ended my weekend with a very surreal fathers day (which in NO way included my own father). We had a WONDERFUL family breakfast at my Aunt Billie's house - with our traditional biscuits and gravy (this is the stuff fatty thighs are made of - SO GOOD!). Then Rick and I came home and had a few hours of nap time before heading off to Sissy's house (Rick's sister - LOVE HER). We had a great dinner there with wonderful food, wine and conversation.
Now here I sit at 2am trying to go to sleep. I am hoping that any minute the exhaustion will kick in and I'll just pass out! I guess I should be lying down in case that happens. Off to bed I head! Happy Monday all!

YAY FOR RICK!!

At Blue Shield they have an employee recognition program where their coworkers can send a recommendation for someone who has gone above and beyond to get a bonus. Rick has been making big impressions on all the uppity ups and today his supervisor told him that he has been award a bonus!! He was elected by his supervisor, manager, director and project manager for a presentation he did in regards to a new program.
I am super proud of him! YAY RICK!

Happy Wooden Anniversary to me!

On Saturday, June 10, 2006 Rick and I celebrated our 6th anniversary (which the proper “modern gift” is wood – how that is modern I’ll never know)! YAY US! To commemorate this happy occasion we decided to spend the weekend in San Francisco doing the normal touristy stuff as well as see a musical that Rick has been dying to see.

We left Friday afternoon, a little later than originally planned – however traffic was super light and we made it in record time. After a recent bachelor party Rick had attended in Reno he’s become interested in Horse Racing so we decided, for our first night to go to Bay Meadows horse track since they had live racing. I was skeptical to start – I figured it would be SUPER boring! Once we got there though – it was a whole different story! First it was college night and Rick just happens to be wearing a San Diego State sweatshirt so we got in for $1! Then it was $1 hot dog/$2 beers – what could be better than cheap beer and hot dogs? Let me tell you – WINNING, WINNING is better!! Our first race we bet $3 to win on horse 4 (Riverun Thruit – named after Brad Pitt of course) – he was slow out of the gate, but blew the competition away on the final stretch! I was so jazzed up, I was jumping up and down and screaming and grabbing Ricks arm (spilling his beer on the chair of the cranky lady in front of him - opps)! For a $3 bet, we won $26!!! We only placed bets on 2 more races, neither of which won, but we still had a ton of fun. And our winnings from the first race paid for our drinks, snacks and bets!

After horse racing we went and found our cute little boutique hotel in Union Square, Hotel Metropolis. Super cute décor and amazingly friend staff made this hotel one of my favorites. Also they had a great internet special where we got free valet parking with in and out privileges as well as a $10 gas card every night we stayed. In addition to this great special every afternoon from 4-6 they offered free wine in their “library” – it wasn’t the best we’ve had, but it was worth its freeness! The only down fall to this hotel was it location, which wasn’t the best neighborhood ever but aside from that, it was a lovely place to stay.

On Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed out, we had full days ahead of us! Our first stop was breakfast. We have a tradition of always going to Ti Coupe on Valencia whenever we go to the city – they have the best Hungarian crepes and TO DIE for blood mary’s and hard cider! We got there about 9:45 – only to realize that we forgot we were on SF time and that nothing was open yet! We walked around until they opened at 10, when we were able to enjoy our mushroom, cheese and sautéed onion crepe, cheese plate, berry crepe, cider and blood mary. We left feeling full and ready to conquer touristy SF.

We took our car back to our hotel and left it, then walked the 2 blocks to the trolley car station. In all the times I’ve been to San Francisco I’ve never ridden a trolley car – we bought all day passes and took off with our first destination being China town. When we jumped off the trolley in China town we didn’t know what to expect – in the past when going there, it’s usually closed down – this time was so different. The streets were packed with shoppers buying fresh fruits and veggies from corner merchants that had lined the sidewalks of their stores with all different varieties of produce. Some items I’ve never seen in its natural state before – like water chestnuts - I always just thought they grew in a can pre sliced! We went to the fresh fish markets where people pick the fish they want from HUGE tanks. They also had frogs and turtles – which were HUGE and super cute. As long as I didn’t think about what was going to end up happening to them, I was okay. We walked around and bought a few things – some cute slipper shoes and different trinkets. Then on our way out, Rick saw something that caught his eye, he stopped and was enthralled by it. Not positive he was seeing it correctly he asked the merchant what it was, to which the response was “Paper shirt”. A paper shirt you say – what could be more entertaining to Rick than a paper shirt and tie – the next thing that was going thru his mind was ‘who could I buy this for?’ To make sure he’d heard correctly he said “I am sorry did you say ‘a paper shirt””. Apparently the merchant thought this rude because she then yelled “YES! Paper shirt to burn for the dead!!!” Startled by the yelling and amazed at the thought of a paper shirt being burned for dead folks, we quickly left the store and thus ended our trip to China town.

Next stop on the street car trolley was of course Pier 39. Our plan was to go to Alcatraz. When we got there it was a little later in the day than we’d planned so we decided to put Alcatraz off until Sunday and we caught the F line back to our hotel where we partook in the afternoon wine drinking! We met a delightful lady and discussed SF and the Haight street fair that was going on the next day. Since we wanted to catch a comedy show at the small comedy club across the street we headed to our room and changed for the evening. We headed across the street to the 50Mason Lounge where we saw 6 different comedians. The funniest by far was Ali Wong . She reminded us a lot of Margaret Cho who has been our favorite comedienne for a long time.

After the show the night was still young so we grabbed the trolley and head out to find some food. We ended up in Del Monte square – where we saw a marquis that had Kyle Dunnigan as the headliner (for those who are crazy and don’t watch Reno 911 – Kyle Dunnigan plays Trudy Wiegels’ serial killer boyfriend, he is also the guy in the Carls Jr commercials who shakes the cow to make milkshakes). We decided to see if we were too late to catch the show luckily we weren’t and we got there just before he took the stage. Let me just say – he’s hilarious. He did an amazing job of cracking up the audience and not going blue while doing it; both Rick and I were very entertained and left the show feeling like we’d gotten our monies worth.

Sunday was our last day in the city by the Bay and we ended up going to Ghirardelli square as well as the Maritime museum and Ripley’s believe it or not. The highlight of the day however was our evening plans where we had tickets to see the Broadway musical “25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”. If you haven’t heard of this musical, it’s about a group of kids in the finals for their counties spelling bees. The plot of the story does a great job of attaching you quickly to the competitors and fast paced and humor full songs make the musical a delight, it is definitely something we’ll go see again.

And fair reader that wraps up our anniversary trip to San Francisco. The last thought I want to leave you with is this: I now want to move to SF. Rick and I have always been big fans of the city. However this deal sealed it for me. Its so amazing there, I love the hustle and bustle of the streets, the diversity of the people and the fact that even at 10pm on a Sunday the streets have people everywhere. I was born to live in an urban city I think. And if I could afford it, I’d move in a heartbeat – so I am saving my pennies and nickels and hopefully . . . .

Chore day

What is it about chores that make me revert back to being a 13 year old? I always hated "chore day" when I was a teen. I thought of it as a medieval torture device my parents used on me. Do the dishes, clean your room, scrub the toilet, it was murderous the tasks I was assigned. I would drag my feet and get distracted doing other stuff trying my hardest to avoid the inevitable. In my opinion chore day is what gave me the A.D.D., I have self diagnosis myself with. It never fails I'll start cleaning and I'll find something to side track myself with. Even today - I took half a day off so I could pick up my house because we're going out of town this weekend for our anniversary (YAY US! 6 YEARS!) - I have this "thing" about having a clean house before I leave on a trip - this too is my mothers fault. And, yet here I sit blogging to you - to avoid cleaning.
I have found a technique that helps me clean. It involves at LEAST 2 cans of GO GIRL (which I highly recommend to one and all - male or female - super good with vodka or Bacardi mixed in), my Ipod filled with my ‘get psyched mix’ and being alone. Each of these are important qualifiers to getting my tasks done.
The GO GIRL's give me so much energy that sitting around isn't really a choice. In fact if you could see me right now you'd see why - I am typing faster than I ever have before and bouncing my leg as if trying to keep the beat to a record of the Chipmunks set on high speed. Whenever I drink GO GIRLS, Rick calls this me getting stoned - only because I do get all jazzed up and I talk really really fast!
My ‘get psyched mix’ on my Ipod is also very important of my cleaning. Without it I have to have the TV on and that will cause me to sit down and get interested in something, for examply my favorite teeny bopper reality shows on MTV that I have DVR'd and that Rick refuses to watch (hmmmm...speaking of which I have a few new episodes waiting for me now). Give me some 80’s rock, popular hip hop and the best of Garth and I’ll have this place shining in now time while, the neighbor may NOT appreciate my singing along it really helps me (and besides that F my neighbor the old hag who lets Willow go – ergh)!
The last part while, I know sounds funny, is true I clean much better alone than when Rick is home. I don’t want you to think for a minute that he’s not helpful – he’s actually better at this than me. However when he's here, I want to spend time with him. I get diverted from cleaning the bedroom if he's cleaning the kitchen, I would rather be in there with him. Then I pester him to stop so we can play! So if he's not here, I can zip around and get it done so that when he is here, we can be together!
Now that I have successfully wasted about 15 minutes and my fingers hurt from the speed of typing I think I should set off the start cleaning! It's 4:27 now (yes, I know - I got off work at 1:00 - but I had to find a hotel on line for this weekend, and then I was IM'ing Taylor, and emailing Rick and looking at things to do in SF and before I knew it 4:30 - see how easy I get distracted and how well I make excuses!). So now I go to clean before Rick gets home at 5:30! Watch out scrubbing bubbles - here I COME!!

America's favorite pastime

Take me out to the ball game! Take me out to the crowd - buy me some nachos and snack bar snacks I don't care if they do make me fat. Let me root root root for my cousin’s team if they don't win - it’s a fixed game! For its one, two three kids crying in the old ball game!

This season marks the 3rd that my adorable cousin Killian has played baseball. Now usually Rick and I could give a crap about all sports in general - however for this little fella we pull out all the stops and try to attend as many of his games as possible. There is a key problem with this however, neither of us are HUGE baseball fans in general, we only know the basic idea behind the game
I am lucky that I married a man who much like isn't big on sports. But we both pull out all the stops for Killian and go to the games, where we are often distracted and unentertained except when Killian is up to bat or doing something great in the field. I know we SHOULD cheer for the other players, but honestly - I don't want to, heck they got families let them cheer and ring cow bells.
Add the fact that I have NO idea what the "strategy" behind baseball is, although I have been assured by baseball fanatics that there is one. From my prospective, the strategy was to hit the little ball with the big bat and run like hell - apparently there is more to it than that. At a recent game I heard the coach yelling to the batter "the Easter Bunny is still coming" - I looked around to see if anyone else thought this was odd, but no one blinked an eye. Next batter up when I yelled with all my might "Santa Claus is coming to town!! GO GET 'EM!!" I am pretty sure that the ump called the local asylum to see if someone had escaped. My thought was 'hell, if the Easter Bunny is coming, SC must be here too!” apparently not though! Rick and I both find ourselves coping what other people yell and cross our fingers that we're not insulting someone!
Tonight we cheered and made up sayings and watched as Killians team finished their normal season in the first place spot putting them into the playoffs. Next Monday they start the grueling task of seeing how far they can go. Of course we're going to be there to cheer our boy on because not only do we love him a ton - but if by some chance this baseball thing takes him somewhere in the future and he becomes a famous famous player, I'd like for him to remember us sitting watching these little league games, in the hot hot sun on the hot hot metal bleacher and think to himself "I should really buy Ricky and Terri a summer house in Hawaii"!! Okay, not really (although I wouldn't turn it down!) but I want him to know how much we love him and how proud of him we are!

New American Idol idea

Last night I sat, with millions of other Americans, and watched the unveiling of our newest 'idol'. I sat in awe as they announced how many votes had been cast for this season American Idol. My awe was not because I felt like one deserved to win over the other, I actually (much to the dismay of the group I was with - all who were chanting "Soul Patrol") could have cared less. But rather I watched in awe as Ryan Seacrest (douche bag that he is) announced that there were OVER 64 million votes. Do you realize that is almost half as many as people who vote for the president of the United States? In the 2004 presidential election there were roughly 121m votes!
So I pose to you an idea - a turning of the century if you will. Screw all this months and month on the campaign trail. All the mud slinging, hand shaking and baby kissing our politicians do. I say that for the 2008 election we invoke "American President - the search for new blood". It really is a perfect idea if you think about. AND talk about getting the young people to vote!
This is how it would work - we get the top 10 candidates for the job. And for 8 weeks we the America people watch as every week they face political mock ups, sleep deprivation and swim suit competions. At the end of the show, America casts it vote and someone gets the boot. For the season finale - we'll place the final two in sound proof rooms - and give them both fake National emergencies to see how they deal under pressure, lack of sleep and a studio audience.

Then when the vote is in, the one with more votes wins and the other is the Vice President. No more electoral college. No arguments about hanging chads. Gone are the days of the Democrats, Republicans, Green Party and Liberations. And here are the times of - who looks best in a bathing suit. Come on, I mean - THIS IS WHAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT - this many viewers can't be wrong.
I am serious here people, I writing to Fox, I want to host it. Hell, if Ryan Seacrest can - why can't I?

Lions and Tigers and Frogs? OH MY!

We all know I am an animal person. I mean, the proof is in the pudding - pudding which I usually end up sharing with my dog Willow (this is a new saying I've taken to - the proof is in the pudding, I don't know why but it cracks me up). It's also a well known fact that I've banned from bring home or having any more pets. Even these adorable kittens I've found I had to find a home for (much to my chagrin - I've grown QUITE attached) and mine was NOT a choice.
There is however a tiny way that everyday I stick it to the pet patrol. In many many MANY ways and the reason behind it isn't even my fault! A couple of years ago we attempted to landscape our backyard. Our half hearted attempt was mostly because we were throwing a party and wanted to do it outside! We ended up with shrubs, sod and a pretty pond (this is where it gets interesting). When we filled the pond my cousin Jim decided that we needed fish to go it - so he took us to the pond store near our house. This place is SUPER cool. They have Koi from gold fish size to 2 ft long, they also have water plants, water snails and (drum roll please) tadpoles. The tadpoles were free all you had to do was catch them - we only left with 3 fish but they had the company of at least 20 tadpoles.
Years have passed and our backyard has "over grown" shall we say. The fish long ago fell prey to the white cranes from the near by wildlife lake. But every year during the winter when the rain refills the pond - those 20 original tadpoles come back and leave HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of new tadpoles. Which over the years have turned into HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of frogs (loving called Hoppers around our house). In the spring and summer you can hear them croaking out their song in perfect unison. It's almost comical how they start and stop at exactly the same time.
This year we've had an especially big batch. Everynight we have to watch were we step going thru the front door in fear of stepping on one. They range in size from no biggger than my pinky finger nail to a half a dollar and I love each and everyone! Sometimes they want to see what its like inside the house and we'll find a rough frog in the entry way, the most adventurous was the one I found in the master bath earlier this week! That guy traveled a LONG way!
Rick thinks they're ridiculous - or at least he says - I think he loves them as much as me though!

Bag of surprises

Crazy things happen to me. I don't know why or how, but it always seems like I have the most random of things occur. Last night was no different. Innocent me stops on my way home from a party at friends house to tan. Its late, around 9:15 -ish, but they're open till 10 so why not right. I am in the place maybe 20 minutes (I just started tanning for the season so I am only going for 7 minutes so far). When I walk out I notice that there is a bag behind the wheel of my Jeep normally, I wouldn't have noticed but with the warm months approaching and reptiles awaking I am now on "Snake Watch 2006". I approaching thinking that some litter bug has left a bag of their car garbage there, when I peek into the bag - low and behold what do I see? Two of the cutest little kittens. I look around - checking to see if Rick is lerking in near by bushs testing me (I have strict orders NOT to bring home new pets). I glance about for the owners thinking maybe they put them there for safe keeping while they rented a Merry Maid, but alas, there is no one. Now I do try to make a good decision, I even tried to call Rick for advice (see prior orders on NOT bringing home a new pet). So I am left with the only decision one in this position could make, I put the babies in my lap and away I go. One wouldn't think that driving a 5 speed manual Jeep with the top off and no windows would be difficult, I mean I do it everyday. But if you add to that 2 kittens in my lap, my cell phone on my ear (trying to find someone to help me), a cop behind me - it makes driving this particular vehicle a little cumbersome. Since I had accidentally left the bag in the parking lot, I ended up having to dump the tupperware from my own lunch bag in order to have somewhere to put the little fluff balls for the ride home since; a) I couldn't put them in the passenger seat for fear of them falling out the non existant window b) I couldn't put them on the floor of the Jeep for fear of them getting hurt or jumping out and c) I didn't really want to have to explain to an officer of the law WHY I was driving with 2 kittens on my lap, trying to talk on my cell phone and shift all at the same time. Half way home I had an inspired idea - I called my friend Terra. My inital thought was to suck her into this situation with me and hopefully talk her into taking the kittens THUS allowing me to not break my afore mentioned orders. I was very vague when I talked to her and simply asked if I could stop by for a moment on my way home. When I got to her door, I took the kittens up in my lunch bag. After being let in I set them on the bar and told her to look in the bag. From the look on her face, I knew, she knew that when Rick knew - I WAS BUSTED! I tried with all my might to talk her into taking them and I knew if it was just her I had to convince I would have accomplished my mission. But there was a bigger obstacle - Rob. Rob is not a "cat person" as it were. He told her she could keep them but there were rules. His list was long but the few I remember had to do with furniture and the bed. After my sales pitch to the Brown's failed, I packed up my cargo in my lunch bag and headed the half a block home. I'd been trying to contact Rick all night - but I kept going to voicemail. Once home I didn't know what to do with them. In hopes of gaining more ideas, I took them into the computer plopped them in my lap and IM'd my friend Gina. Needless to say she offered no assistance with the kittens but she did remind me that we want to start a book club! Rick finally called home and suck what was up out of me. I figured I would be spending the night down the street when he heard - but of course my soft hearted hubby couldn't stand it and said we could keep them overnight and find them a new home the next morning. He was even nice enough to help me get some pictures of them to send out. For example this one:
As you can see - he was a hard ass about them, my sweet soft hearted husband had nothing to do with them. They however did take to him quite quickly! He thought we should name them for the time being just so we could tell them apart. We ended up with two rather odd names (as is our norm - look at our animals to date: Buffy [as in the vampire slayer], Fudgee Feet [long story], Willow [buffy the vampire slayers bff] and our two animals who are not longer with us: Pudgy face [Oz] and Fattyman). The one in the picture that is kissing Rick's nose we've been calling Andee Rooney - because she has white wispy eyebrows and the other that is on his chest - well meet Mz. FluffsyDazy. They really are as sweet as could be.
Today via email I tried to hock my wares. I was mostly unsucessful. One person at work said she would take them if I couldn't find a home for them in a week. So for now we're hoping that pans out. And as I sit here - writing this with them once again on my lap a little part of me wishes that we could keep them and a little part of me knows we can't. I am trying to not get attached - but its hard when all they want to do snuggle and play. I know we can't keep them. Our other 3 animals I think would go on strike - but the animal lover in me can't help it. Maybe if we keep them and add just a few more animal varieties we could charge admission and call "The Boyd Zoo in Mather". What do you think?

Promotion versus Integrity

Recently I was promoted into a Lead position at work. I was glad for the promotion, especially considering I haven’t been here quite a year and my last job I was there almost 5 and I NEVER got recognized or promoted or a raise for that matter. And now that I’ve gotten this promotion I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth – but I am annoyed by a little something called nepotism.
The other person who was also named a Lead is now getting ready to abandon us and go to a different department. A department that I’ve been trying to get into since before I got hired for the job I am doing now, a department that I am more qualified to be in than the STUPID supervisor.
So why, you maybe asking yourself is this other person getting the transfer while I sit here stuck in the dungeon? One word: NEPOTISM. Because this other person flirts, are skinny and a bimbo they’re getting the transfer, since I refuse to use anything other than my skills and brain to get what I want, I sit stuck.
Now not only am I faced with this annoyance but ALSO the moral dilemma on whether to tell my supervisor this is happening behind her back or not. I don't want to be a tattle tale yet I also don't think its work ethical for them to go behind my bosses back to plan this. Why do people have to be shady and underhanded? Why isn’t job integrity and morality important anymore? Come on people at the end of the day do you want to have integrity or a promotion.

Stupid people

Why are people stupid? We have customer that is going thru on line open enrollment - it scares me how stupid these people are. This is a group of people who should be intelligent enough to figure out a simply walk you thru it enrollment and yet - they're NOT.
I spoke with a woman this morning that was having a hard time logging on. When they first sign in they have to change their password. My conversation went a little like this:

Woman: I was making my changes and my computer locked up" (If she was making changes she's gone past the change your password portion) now I can't get back in it says my User ID or Password is wrong
Me: When you signed in the first time - did you change your password?
Woman: Yes
Me: And now when you're trying to sign in, which password are you using?
Woman: Well the paper says to use the last four of my SSN & my year of birth.
Me: Yes when you originally sign in - but did you change it the first time?
Woman: Yes
Me: Then you need to be logging in with the new password you picked.
Woman: But the paperwork says to use my SSN & Year of birth
Me: Yes but you reset the password - so you have to use the new password
Woman: I don't think that’s the problem
Me: That’s the problem. Use the new password
Woman: That’s not the problem
Me: Try signing on with the new password and if it doesn't work - we can reset you
Woman: I'll try it, but its not going to work
Me: Ok, let’s try
Woman: (typing sound in background) Okay I am putting in the new password…..Okay I am in.

Well no kidding – look at that! We should put all stupid people together on an island or secluded area so that they don’t infect the rest of us and irritate us.

Bleeding hearts

I am one of those people who has a hard time passing homeless on the street. I hate when they ask if I can "spare my change". Of course I can - but do I? For the most part I don't. I have, like most people, become immune to begging of the drifters and the homeless. In the back of my mind I always think 'a quarter for your beer fund or mine'? And, while its not a proud thought we've all thought it once when approached with the same spare change dilema.
Tonight however I saw someone who was able to pass thru my immunities and hit me close to home. While pulling out of a parking lot I saw a man with a sign that read simply "dinner 4 2" next to this man was a dog.
Most people know that I am an animal lover. Other than reptiles (snakes) I can't think of an animal I don't love. Rick has often commented that he doesn't know anyone else openly cries at road kill. I've always loved animals. I believe it is my nuture versus nature kicking in. Neither of my parents were huge animal people - but I have been from a very young age. Always I begged for new pets, a kitten, a dog, a bunny. While my home at times has resembled a kennel of sorts (at top capacity we had 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 roommates with 2 kids) - I've never stopped asking for more. I constantly try to stop on Hazel Ave at the home with the sign posted boasting of "Baby Bunnies". Stray cats love me (probably because of the occasional kitty kibble I leave for them), the neighborhood wild turkeys know my soft spots and I have 'saved' numerous dogs from miscellaneous parking lots only to track down their owners and return the pets which they do not love enough to keep inside.
Tonight when I drove by the homeless man with his dog and his sign reading "Dinner 4 2" my bleeding heart was pierced. I pulled over and conferenced with Rick asking if we could help. Of course he agreed (the other bleeding heart here is HIM!) however, not wanting to be taken advantage of we devised a plan. Being less than a block away from PetSmart we swung in their parking lot and bought a bag of dog food and a pigs hoof for the dog - then went to buy a gift certificate for Subway for the man. Unfortunately Subway doesn't always have GC so we decided just to give him the money. Being that today is the day before payday - all I had was $5 and an American Express gift card. With the dog food and hoove on the GC, the cash went to the man.
When we pulled up next to him Rick took the dog food and money to him. The man was very appreciative and thankful. While Rick asked if he could pet the dog the man explained that he wasn't 'supporting a habit just an appetite' it made my feelings of doubt dwindle. The part that broke my heart was when I tried to approach to pet the dog which immediately started barking. The man stated that because they live on the streets the dog is very weary of strangers as so much has happened to them. It makes me sad that this beautiful dog has to worry about people hurting her or her owner and can't have the carefree and happy life that my dog Willow has.
As we pulled out of the drive way both Rick and I were moved to tears, rather than book off with the money we had given him the man sat and fed his dog first. Here is a person who was hungry and yet his top concern was that of his canine companion. I know not what has put this man in the place he is today. I don't know what actions he has or has not taken to become homeless. What I do know is that he's lucky to have a friend out there with him, one that will love him and adore him regardless of what he looks like or how he feels about himself. He has a friend that will watch after him and be loyal till the end - how many people can say that?
On my way home I was thinking about it - I am going to look into joining a local charity that provides help to homeless people with pets. Maybe I can help one homeless owner/pet, maybe I can help many. Hopefully I can help many homed petless people realize what they are missing.

Phobias

For a girl who enjoys cute cloths, pedicures and the color pink, I am actually pretty tomboy-ish. I like getting dirty, camping and playing with cars. Heck - I even want to go into a profession that’s male dominated. I can handle spiders, mice and bugs with the greatest of ease. However, put a snake in my sight and I turn into a panic attack, hysterical freak.
I've always had a phobia about snakes. When I was little my grandpa used to tie rubber snakes into his fruit trees to keep birds from pecking the fruit, I wouldn't walk under the trees with the snakes. Also prior to moving to Folsom my family lived in the Mojave Desert. On the desert they have snakes there called Mojave reds and greens and they're very deadly. Every morning before I could go play with my toy box toys that were outside my mom would have to go dump everything out to make sure no snakes had crawled in there during the night. In the evenings I wasn't allowed to walk across the street to my friends’ house without a parent with a light because the scaley, slithery, cold blooded reptiles would slither onto the road for warmth.
My phobia has only gotten worse. One time while driving to a picnic for the bank Rick worked for, I ran over a snake that was in the middle of the road. I cried the whole way to the park (not for lose of the reptile but because I was convinced that snake was going to get me). Once I arrived at the park I sat in the car hysterically crying refusing to get out of the automobile. After 30 minutes of Rick inspecting the car from the outside to make sure the snake hadn't somehow attached itself and was waiting to bite me - I finally got out of the car. At the state fair a couple of years I was walking with friends by the booths, one of the vendors had a beast size python slithering around – uncaged. I flipped my lid. I screamed like someone was stealing my purse and took of running in the opposite direction. When my friends finally caught up to me, I was so hysterical I couldn't tell them what occurred. After I had finally calmed down - I spent the rest of the day looking behind me and on the ground, praying that large beast hadn't fled its bohemia habitat to find and attack me.
You would think as I grow older and wiser (ha!) that common sense would slip in and I would realize the feelings of despair I have would slow down and disappear. However, yesterday proved that age does not stop this phobia.
My trainer has this great new addition to our workouts. After a set of squats, knee raises and calf lifts - he thinks its real fun for us to "get some fresh air" by going outside and running down a hill to mailboxes and then running back up the hill (everyday I think he gets a little more masochistic). To begin with I hate this because I hate running. I don't get how people run for pleasure (I have a friend Becky, who is an ultra runner - in June she's running the Western States which is 100miles. Love her - but she's crazy! Check out her blog to see all about her prep for this race http://beckyjsacto.blogspot.com) so the fact that I am doing it for exercise just makes it suck that much more. Out the gym door we go, I am of course lagging behind trying to avoid the inevitable. Out of the corner of my eye I see movement in the flower bed - my full attention is taken to a squiggly wiggly thing - I scream and run quite faster than I am sure Evelio has ever seen me move back to the door of the gym. Rick checks it out and says he didn't see all of it but thinks it was only a lizard. My response - don't care close enough - not gonna do it, gonna go back in - hit ya up when your done running the hill. Rick and Evelio persuade me to come out and walk around to get to the hill. I run the hill (or rather walk it). And back in for another set - the whole time I am watching the door to make sure the little spineless bastard doesn't come in. Second hill run happens without incident. Again inside for 3rd set - I am getting a little more paranoid now, constantly looking at the floor. During the 3 hill run I again see movement and I freak running up the hill once again faster than I think my trainer has seen me move before. Once inside I go to the bathroom and completely lose it. Hyperventilating, crying, pacing - the whole 9 yards. It took a couple minutes to pull myself together but once I had finally gotten a modicum of control I went and finished my workout. All the while chanting "I HATE SNAKES. I HATE SNAKES." I am telling Evelio Wednesday - no more outside running - sorry Charlie I have my mental health to think about here!
With summer coming I am frightened by the thoughts of more and more of these things popping into my life. Can you buy snake repellant? And if not – WHY NOT? I am not afraid of having to wear deer urine or wolf fecal matter – I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them away, close to becoming a shut in. Any ideas?

Cinco de Drinco *revised*

First a quick thank you to Mexico for having an independence day in May! What a better time to celebrate our Mexico neighbors than party like its 1999! **I've been informed that Cinco de Drinco is in fact NOT Mexico Independence day - I guess they won some war or something - whatever - I still get to get my drink on.**

This Cinco we decided to keep it real authentic and had dinner at Paesano's (yes, yes I am aware that its an Italian restaurant! But they had a special on $10 pitchers of Sangria or draft beer)! And we got a piece of Mexico from the place across the street - Zocalo's. My only problem with our outting Friday night was my Saturday morning - NOTHING worse than a Sangria hang over - yowzas!

Take me home country road

In the biology classes I've taken, I've been told that the olfactory (the part of the brain in charge of your sense of smell) is only sense you have that erects emotion and memories. When you smell cut grass it reminds you of Saturday afternoons when your neighbor mows their lawn, coffee can make you think of Starbuck. We all have memories that are triggered by smell.
A couple of days ago they had cut the grass/weeds along the road on the way to our house. It's now drying out. And the smell is of hay that's been cut and laid to dry before being bailed. On my way home from the store tonight in the Jeep - I pulled over on the side of the road because the smell overwhelmed me so much. It took over my body and for a couple minutes transported me back to a simpler time in my life.
I grew up in Folsom. From the time I was 3 or 4 I've called the town my home. However the home in my heart was always my Grandparents'. They lived in Anderson (just outside Redding), on a small farm in the country, on a road that wasn't paved and down the road from them lived my Great Grandparents. My youngest memories are of there - family Christmases, Easter egg hunts, popcorn made on the stove. Even my first dog was from there.
My grandparents had a dog named Lady, she was a Shepard mix. And while she lived with them, in her heart and in mine, she was my dog. Because my great grandparents lived so close to my grandparents (they were maybe 100 yards away). From the time I could toddle well enough to make it the distance, I would walk down to see them. However Lady Dog had self appointed herself my body guard. If an adult hadn't told her I was allowed to go - she wouldn't let me. Off I'd set down the driveway, she'd nose me back to the house. I'd throw a fit, show my stubborn streak and put my hand on my hips and tell her I was headed to Grandma-ma's. Attempting to be off again, I would only be nosed back to the house. Finally when an adult would tell her it was okay - she'd walk by my side all the way there. I loved her so much. When I was 6 - she got into some snail poison and had to be put down. I recall my grandpa calling to tell me. He was crying as much as me.
At my great grandparents house my great grandfather built me a sand box in their yard that I would play in for hours. In the summer I always wanted to be out there, never caring it was 105+ degrees and not an inch of shade in sight. He was always afraid I would get overheated and have heat stroke but rather than say "No I couldn't go play" he'd sit on the front porch and watch - whittling his piece of wood and spitting his chew into my Grandma flower beds. Even though I was only 3 when he died, I still remember him - his smile, the twinkle in his eyes and most of all the way he smelled. Whenever I smell fresh tobacco (the Tinderbox in the mall especially) I think of him.
No one was immune to farm in Anderson, regardless of age. My grandfather had a nice size garden that had everything from potatoes to asparagus in it. During planting time, we'd go help plant the garden. My contribution being especially important. It consisted of making sure everyone was well fed.Trucks would drop off mountainous piles of planting soil to which I would climb like a mountain climber to Everest. With me on my voyage, I would take only old kitchen utensils, water and old tin pot pie dishes (back then the oven pot pies came in little tins, grandma would save them for me - especially for this occasion). Pie after pie I'd make delivering to everyone from Grandpa to my cousins. I was famous for my mud pies! Everyone got one before anyone got seconds - I was always fair if nothing else.
When harvest times came I again had very important jobs. The first was to help my grandma pick the strawberries from the patch (I think her and I got this because at the time - we were the two closest to the ground in height). I'd put on my little blue jeans with Sylvester from Loony Tunes on the back pocket and out we'd go. We'd get a gallon or two every time and that meant dessert that night would be strawberry shortcake. Sometimes on good days - we can sit with Grandma and talk about picking those strawberries and she'll seem to remember. She just doesn't realize the little girl helping her is the young woman now sitting across from her.
My other jobs were more covert and undercover. Grandma put me in charge of Grandpa when it came to picking the green beans and tomatoes, only Grandpa wasn't to know I was in charge. We'd make him think he was helping me, but I was really bossing him. Grandpa's color blind so, had we let him pick alone we'd have eaten green tomatoes instead of red ones and bean stocks instead of pods.
My last assignment usually consisted of helping in the barn. I loved the barn for several reasons. First of all - I loved the smell of the hay as much as I loved climbing on the bales, secondly I loved the animals. The cows were friendly and would let me pet them, the goat would eat oats out of my hands while tickling me with his whiskers and the feral cat that had her kittens in one of the feeding troughs - let me have one of her litter for my first kitten, Tiger.
All of these things rushed to me on the side of the road while I sat in the Jeep, just from the smell of the cut and drying grass. I love my grandparents and great grandparents. My grandfather always had hugs and kisses for me as well as bedside stories I will remember all my days. And, while my grandmother wasn't the Betty Crocker of grandma's, she taught me an appreciation for Harlequin romance novels and ice cream cones at 11pm. I'll never crawl under a homemade quilt or make top ramen without thinking of my great grandma-ma and the saying "frog in your throat" will forever make me think of my great grandpa. I was a lucky little girl to have them and had I known then what I know now I would have savored it more. Perhaps I would have slowed down from the splashing and playing in the irrigation water, stopped from climbing the cherry trees to chase after my cousins and I would have taken more memory snap shots so that I constantly have them with me today, instead just of the side of the road in my Jeep.

Fun with wine tasting!

This last weekend we went wine tasting for my BFF Gina's birthday! Here are some of the pics from our trip home!

Since it was so nice out we took the Jeep. My big head is totally blocking Gina!


AW! How cute! Gina and Jenna in the back seat! Nice glasses Jenna! :o)

Yes this is totally safe for me to put a camera in the drivers direct line of vision while driving (after wine tasting all afternoon) @ 60MPH!

I think Gina & Jenna's road soda's had kicked in! Nice hat & hair! See the glasses Jenna has on. We've all three got a pact to share them. They're like the Sisterhood of the traveling Sunglasses - only we're adults & there won't be teen angst involved! Gina has them for May, Jenna gets them in June and I get them in July. The Gina gets them again!

This was the car behind us. These people were NONE to impressed with us rocking out to our 80's music! Spoil sports!

Inspired

When I first decided to start a blog - I searched out many other blogs for ideas on format and content. I ran across this one and I've found the info on it to be interesting. I realize that as an aspiring paramedic/firefighter that I am of course more drawn to it than the average person. However on the blog I found this and it brought tears to my eyes. Not only because of the pictures but also and most importantly, because of the quotes from our amazing forfathers. Who could have guessed that these amazing people would say things that still ring true today.
Every once in a while, when politcal tension is high, sides are fighting each other within our own 50 states and young people are abroad fighting a war most of us don't understand, we sometimes lose our sense of National pride our hope for our future. The words of our founding fathers helped me to remember how lucky I am to live in America. Even with politics, religion and points of views I don't always agree with. At least I live in a country where I am allowed to disagree. I hope this video envokes in you similar feelings.
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Patience

I am NOT a patient person. I’ve never claimed to be. Call it one of the only traits I have as an only child. I am the first to admit I have the patience of a firework fuse. I don’t like lines, can’t stand hold music and most of all I HATE to wait for important news.
Today is day two of “Mail Watch 2006 –the wait for the letter”.
A few months ago (end of February to be exact) I sent out several applications to different CDF districts in hope of scoring an interview and ultimately wowing them into a seasonal firefighter position. I ended up interviewing at 2 different districts.
I relieved to say, I feel like my interviews in both locations went well. And in fact I’ve gotten a ranking back from one of the locations (the other had stated they would not be sending these), and I was rather pleased with where I ranked considering it was my first EVER firefighter interviews and I was as nervous as a kid on his first date.
So now I wait. Hiring usually starts in May. When exactly you ask? I DON’T KNOW! They don’t give you exact dates – just approximations, too many variables to tie them down to an exact time. And the waiting I am sure will kill me! It’s only May 2nd and already I am running to the mailbox as soon as I get home as if I am hoping it will have a check for $10,000 in it (although that would be nice too – if you wish to send me $10g I am game).
Alas today my mailbox search found only Penny Savers and Costco coupons which, I so sweetly left for Rick to pick up when he gets the mail tonight. I shall stock the mailbox again tomorrow in hopes of something in an envelope with a CDF return address.

LOST FLAP! REWARD IF FOUND

****************LOST GUM FLAP*********************
Last seen: old contact container
Appearance: whitish pink - larger than normal in size
Suspected Flap-napper: UNKNOWN!
****************REWARD IF FOUND******************
(ok not really but do you really want to keep my gum flap?

If found please return!

New Food invented

On Thursday night Rick and I went to Taco Bell with Rick to get a quick dinner before he scurried off to rehearsal and I to do errands. Rick ended up ordering a Crunch Wrap Supreme (Mm good I know) and a Mexican pizza (*note to self DO NOT tell trainer about dinner Thursday). While devouring our tasty cheap run for the border I had an amazing thought - what if on a crunch wrap instead of using a tostada shell they used a shell from a Mexican pizza? Flakey, crispy and light - Mmm HOW GOOD WOULD THAT BE? I shared this epiphany with Rick who agreed and today sent the suggestion to Taco Bell. How cool will it be if they decide to come out with a new product that I invented? Let me tell you - SUPER FRICKIN' COOL! Also I want to go on record to say, I invented it first!

To challenged to wear shoes

I got up a little earlier than usual this morning specifically to find an outfit that matched my very cute new shoes (Can't beat Payless BOGO for cheap summer sandals). I even ironed a pair of pants specifically to wear with them (I never iron for work). So dressed to match my shoes I head out. All the while thinking to myself – Hmm, these aren’t very sturdy. I get to work and unbeknownst to us today we had a fire drill – I work on the 3rd floor. 3 floors of stairs down and by the bottom my feet hurt and I was most saddened by the prospect of these being labeled uncomfortable. Luckily since my job doesn’t require much movement away from my desk, I was fine until lunch. While at the store buying lunch, I was thinking “why aren’t these shoes more comfy? Should I have gotten a smaller size? I just don’t get it – how do women wear these, how do they keep them on?” I pondered this idea while on my way back to work. When I got back to work it finally dawned on me – MAYBE I should tie the ribbon AROUND my ankle instead of behind my heal (which is how they were tied at the store). Once on at my desk, I switched the ribbon and low and behold – suddenly these shoes stay on my feet! Suddenly they’re not uncomfortable – imagine that (see the picture of said shoe below – NOTE this is off the payless website – the ribbon in the store made it look like it went to the heal not the ankle!!). Now my feet are riddled with blisters from wearing them wrong for more than half the day.
Moral of this part of the story – I am too retarded to put on shoes alone.