Monthly Archives: November 2009

November 24, 2009 · 2:27 am

Love & Loathe — 11/24/09

Loathe:

* That each company these days wants applicants to complete their online application instead of just submitting a resume. That really wouldn’t be so irritating, except they all use the same software and the “resume importer” of that software is just simply pathetic.

* Being such a night owl. My sleep hours are all jacked up, it’s gonna be tough to get back to normal when I get a job.

* There is *always* something going on with the gym’s pool. This week the pool’s heater isn’t working, so the water is pretty frigid. Since I’d gone through the effort to get there, I swam anyway. Cold water is not a good friend to hot muscles and now I’m suffering with sore arm muscles. Plus my goggles never seal right when the water is that cold.

Love:

* Green bags. Read about them, found them for cheap in Ross. Tried them. So far, they’ve kept my lettuce crisp, just like new, for over 2 weeks. All my other veggies fresh, too… onions, zucchini, cucumber, everything. Unbelievable.

* Turkey pepperoni. I make homemade pizza with a salad every couple of weeks for dinner, and I was surprised at how tasty turkey pepperoni is vs. the regular sausage pepperoni.

* Orowheat Sandwich Thins. Tasty and low calorie. Kinda pricey in the grocery store, but I found them in Costco for cheap. Cheap makes me happy.

* Having book reading days. I’ve been reading a lot of books lately.

* The movie, The Blind Side. After the 3rd try, we finally got in and got a decent seat. Yay! La-la-la-Loved the movie.

One Last Thing:

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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22 Comments

Filed under Love/Loathe

November 19, 2009 · 1:30 pm

100 Things.

To commemorate my 1,100th post and 5 1/2 years of blogging, I present to you 100 Things About Me. I’m thinking you’re lucky I didn’t go all the way to 1,100.

I’ve worked hard on this, although I fully expect that there are only three people who will read it in its entirety. HA! If you’re not my mom, my husband or Grace, and you read it all the way through, I’ll be surprised!

Without further ado:

1. I dislike stepping on a wet bathroom rug from someone who’s showered before me.

2. I never use the label “miscellaneous” for files. There is so much about life that’s miscellaneous, I don’t want my entire life stuck in one folder. Kind of like the “eggs in one basket” saying, I suppose.

3. I find it amusing that men watch TV so loudly because they “can’t hear the dialogue” and yet they can hear the word “sex” whispered from upstairs, in the shower, with two doors closed between.

4. Lipsticks that profess to be “12 hour color” never stay on my lips more than an hour. I guess I’m a nervous lip gnawer? When I die and they do an autopsy, they’ll probably find a rainbow in my a**, courtesy of L’oreal.

5. People who do not pre-write their checks while standing in line at the grocery store really annoy me. Come on… just write the date and store name, at least!

6. People who brake when approaching a green light also really annoy me. IT’S GREEN!

7. I believe that acne and bloating/water retention are defects in God’s creation.

8. I love elephants and red finger nail polish. Not necessarily ON the elephant, mind you.

9. I learned to swallow pills when I was 8 years old by swallowing M&M’s.

10. I also learned how to properly paint my fingernails when I was 8 years old. A lady by the name of Lynn taught me how. She was a beautician with a strange story. I’ve since learned that strange stories are fairly normal.

11. When I get sick, I REALLY get sick. My body likes to make a big show of things.

12. I called in sick once to work when I wasn’t sick. I ended up getting sick that day with a cold and was miserable. I haven’t faked sick since then.

13. I love onions and eat them raw, like an apple, every chance I get. I especially love onion hearts.

14. I also love eating raw potatoes. What a yummy, starchy treat!

15. I love beets and radishes, too.

16. I think I generally just love root vegetables, although I’ve never had turnips.

17. I despise mixed vegetables and, if you fix them for me, will totally insult you by not eating them. But I don’t mind vegetable soup.

18. I don’t eat seafood. Although, oddly, I get a craving on *very* rare occasions for smoked salmon or oyster stew.

19. I’ve never tasted alcohol, but I will sniff it and I like how it smells.

20. My father lost his family and, eventually, his life as a result of alcoholism.
Continue reading →

30 Comments

Filed under Who I am

November 17, 2009 · 11:18 pm

Love & Loathe — 11/17/09

Love:

* I took care of traffic school today online. Passed it with 100%, thank you very much. Which really means I shouldn’t have gotten a ticket in the first place. I knew better.

* Doing traffic school online while wearing my feetie jammies.

* Priceline.com — bidding on a hotel room, having my bid accepted and getting a sweet deal. I love sweet deals.

* Turkey sandwiches.

Loathe:

* Having cold feet and hands.

* White kitchen sink. I really miss the stainless steel sink I had at my former condo. I’m sure I hear you asking “Why, what difference does the sink make?” Well, if I don’t bleach it after every usage? This is what it looks like.

One Last Thing:

When I bought this t-shirt last week, I made the comment to Grace, who was with me at the time, that “Boy, there sure are a lot of inspection stickers inside this shirt…” Based on my comment, she assured me that the shirt was indeed well-inspected and likely safe to wear.

Yes, I would say so.

19 Comments

Filed under Love/Loathe

November 16, 2009 · 2:15 pm

Simple Life.

I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I’m just really enjoying the simple ways in which I pass my time these days. For the most part, there are no complications from external sources. No strange undercurrents. Just the general concern of the timing of when I’ll land my next job, but I know that I will eventually. When the time is right.

While I love where I am right now, I also know that life has a way of changing rapidly when you least expect it. So if I’m in the midst of calm, then I should hold onto the experience as hard as I can and savor each moment, because experience has taught me that calm precedes chaos.

That being said, here’s a sample of a simple amusement in which I take joy.

My phantom cat, Snug, has always known that he is Tug’s cat. Never mine. I got him to entertain and amuse Tug, who as a kitten, was single-pawedly, destroying my house and rearranging my silverware. Snug is neurotic and intelligent, beyond the normal feline intelligence. He “tattles” on the other cats if there’s something amiss (when Tug escaped, for example), he figures out how to disassemble things (like pulling Christmas lights out with his teeth), and he can calculate precisely when the automatic scent dispenser will activate so that he isn’t sprayed (we use that to keep the cats off the kitchen table and from under the Christmas tree), among other things. When he looks at me, I feel as if I’m being mind-read by a cat. It’s disconcerting to say the least.

Anyway, lately he’s established a way to let me know that he wants to be loved on and held. It’s a course in feline to human communication via body language. This is how it goes.

First, he kneads his cat bed for awhile.

Continue reading →

15 Comments

Filed under Kid Substitutes

November 12, 2009 · 2:56 pm

Dress Code.

I present my new favorite t-shirt.

I told Tony I’m gonna wear this t-shirt every day, 24 hours a day, from now until I get a job. Except when I’m interviewing.

He said he’s looking forward to that… me getting a job, that is. Not seeing this t-shirt on me every day.

22 Comments

Filed under Best Husband, Entertainment can be Cheap, I feel Amused

November 10, 2009 · 1:56 pm

Love & Loathe — 11/10/09

Love:

* Time in the mountains. I’m so appreciative that we’re able to go up there when we want to and have a place to stay, thanks to Tony’s parents. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my in-laws?

* The breakfast restaurant we go to while in the mountains. It’s sooooo good and the staff now knows us and shoots the breeze with us while we eat.

* Participating in surveys rating my shopping experience at various stores (*1) with a chance to win a gift card. Wouldn’t that be something if I did actually win?

* More jobs for which I can apply have started showing up in the ads.

* People who actually know how to interview. Conversational type interviews are the best. Yes, it takes skill to actually be able to work interview type questions into a conversation naturally, but once that skill is learned, it’s less stilted and awkward for everyone involved. And, bonus, the person you’re interviewing won’t resent the fact that you are employed and she isn’t. I mean, come on! Anyone can read a list of questions and write down answers — in fact, if that’s how you choose to interview someone, let me write my own answers, it’ll take less time.

* I’ve started Christmas shopping — oh yes, I have! I’m so excited!

Loathe:

* Scaring myself with computer things. I installed drivers for my mouse and I guess it conflicted with my OS, because my computer kept freezing in the booting process! Eep! All is well now, but note to myself to remember F8 (safe boot) and must back up my stuff for the month of October!

* Still no fish babies. I thought we were in business a couple weeks ago since one of the females was holding eggs. But she dropped them after 2 days which means they weren’t fertilized.

* Waking up with a headache. I hate headaches.

* My aunt Marjorie is ill with a fever… please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. We’re waiting to see what her doctor says, but I’m thinking I’ll reschedule my trip to see her to next month (instead of this Thursday), that way she can enjoy our visit and not worry about entertaining when she doesn’t feel good.

One Last Thing:

Back in August I bought one of those small Topsy Turvy (*2) things at the store. I was so disappointed in my tomato plant and it’s production of tomatoes this year, I thought I’d give it a try. $10 was seemingly a small price to pay (for an employed gal) at the time for an experiment. In September, I finally got around to putting a small tomato plant in it, I filled half of it with soil (didn’t figure a small plant needed so much dirt as all that), hooked up a spot spitter into the top, and ignored the thing.

On September 19th… awww, look at the baby plant

On September 30th… it’s already curving upwards…

It’s now mid-November, 85°F today, and look at this plant! It has super thick vines that are about as thick as my index finger, and a whole bunch of new flowers. I love how it’s curving upward and to the side toward the sunlight.

Flowers up the side…

Flowers underneath…

Four good size tomatoes…

Look how thick those vines are…

I am really enjoying my $10 experiment!

*1 — Check the bottom of your receipts!
*2 –As seen on TV.

10 Comments

Filed under Love/Loathe

November 6, 2009 · 12:26 pm

I Really Should Get a Job.

This week I’ve been on a quest to find another Boney Barney. Remember I mentioned the one we have, and how effective he is at keeping the cats off the hood of my car? I wanted another one for the trunk of my car, and if I were lucky, I was hoping to find one for Tony’s car, too.

I’m here to report that I’ve been to every Target within a 15 mile radius (that would be one, two, three, four, five, six, SEVEN Targets), and none of them have a Boney Barney.

To console myself, I bought some cute (and I use the word “cute” in the context of scary, freaky or weird) Halloween clearance stuff (junk?) for pennies on the dollar. Stuff like next year’s Halloween costumes for the cats, a countdown sign, a t-shirt, cookie cutters and more, all at 75% off! My People, how can you go wrong with that?

Bonus, I bought all that stuff — several bags worth — for right around the $20 range!

But still, no Boney Barney. Extinction of his kind? A skeleton dog? Who knew?

Happy Friday to you!

17 Comments

Filed under I ♥ Sales, I Stimulate the Economy, Weird is Fun

November 3, 2009 · 10:06 pm

Love & Loathe — 11/03/09

Love:

* Tater tots. Such a simple pleasure.

* My pumpkin cookies. With chocolate chips. I made some with raisins for Tony, but chocolate chips are the best.

* Pomegranates. Preferably without worms in them. *shudder*

* I got an extra day before they turned the heat off in the community pool. I’ll take that as an unexpected birthday gift.

* Halloween sales. Yes, I got my Halloween tree at Hallmark. *grin*

* Disneyland on my birthday. They give you a pin to wear, and when Disneyland employees see it, it’s their cue to say “Happy Birthday” … I received 19 Happy Birthday wishes in about 2 hours. Love it.

* Having a novel reading day just because I feel like it.

* Family & friends. I simply love them. I love that they took it upon themselves to make a fuss over my birthday.

* We’re going to the mountains this weekend. I love the mountains.


Loathe:

* Ummm, huh. Not coming up with anything for this week.

One Last Thing:

Last week I made shredded beef burritos for dinner. Since I was clearing out the meat in the freezer, and I wasn’t sure how long the beef I was using had been in there, I tossed the beef in the crockpot and used one of those slow cooker liners that I love so much for making clean-up easy.

A few hours into the slow cooking process, to my surprise given how well-sealed my crockpot is, I heard it sizzling over there and thought I should go check it out. The heat and pressure had apparently created a suction effect, which had caused the liner to puff up and actually lift the 3 pounds of beef on a cloud of hot air.

What a cool science thing!

12 Comments

Filed under I have Family, I have Friends, I Left Home for Awhile, Love/Loathe