Category Archives: Love/Loathe

Loathe:

* Fish drama. I know, for such “quiet” pets, there’s always something going on in those tanks. This past Monday, I arrived home from work to discover one of the large rock ornaments in the big tank (the tank that freaks me right out if something goes awry in it) had been knocked over. Presumably by the murdering male. One of the female’s eyes was injured… now I’m doing extra water changes to hopefully keep an infection from setting in. I swear, if it’s not one thing, it’s another with those fish. (sigh)
Her eye is supposed to be black…

* Orly nail polish. I bought this nail polish and was all excited because I loved the color. So, I put it on and it dried super fast, I thought that was pretty cool, and I still loved the color. Then I woke up the next morning, and the polish had fallen off! Weirdest polish I’ve ever used. Total waste of money. But… a pretty color.

Love:

My cubicle at work is coming right along. This is what it looked like this morning. I added some more stuff before I left tonight, but I was in such a hurry to get out the door that I didn’t take a picture of the changes. My competition is pretty fierce, so I’m pulling out the stops tomorrow — we’re bringing Boney Barney in. On a leash, of course, California has a leash law.

* York Peppermint Pretzel Sandwiches. Yum.

* Gettin’ sh*t done kind of days. Today was one of those, and there ain’t nothing like feeling as if you’re checking stuff off your to-do list.

* Finding stuff I thought I lost.

* My community has continued heating the pool I swim in to 82°F until November 1st. They said they were going to stop heating them on October 1st, but I guess they extended the time to November 1st instead. I’m so thankful for that. I love swimming outside, with my pool bunnies, beautiful trees, scents of plant life, etc., so very much.

One Last Thing:

Every chance I get, I remind myself to do an “in the moment” check — basically reminding myself that tomorrow will take care of itself, and to use the grace alloted to me for the day for the day I’m presently living. It doesn’t always work, but it helps.

Today I was grateful to have a half hour at lunch where I didn’t have errands to run or things to do, so I sat in my car with my devotional book and just relaxed. Sometimes I close my eyes and mentally digest what I’m reading, other times I watch the clouds puff by on the wind. Today I glanced at the side mirror on my car and was struck by how beautifully the mirror framed the scenery.

It was a nice moment.

Loathe:

* Antibiotics, or rather, what antibiotics do to me. I had a procedure done this week where I had to pre-treat with an antibiotic. I think I dreaded the pre-treatment more than I did the procedure.

* Our gym is switching over to the fingerprint identification system. Not sure if or when they’ll make it mandatory, but I’m being a rebel and declining to change over. For some reason the whole fingerprint identification system really creeps me out. Maybe it’s because I associate it with “criminal” identification? Creepy. Big brotherish creepy.

Love:

* The statement on prescription advisory sheets, after listing all the possible side effects, like — oh, say heart attacks, or kidney malfunction — that reads, “This medication has been prescribed for you because your doctor believes the benefits outweigh the risks.”

* I use a calling card when I call my mom overseas, and I finally took the time to figure out how to insert a pause in the auto-dial feature of my cell phone. This is important because I have to dial an access number and then the overseas number, totaling 21 numbers. Now I press two buttons, listen to 21 beeps, and then I’m patiently waiting for my mom to pick up the phone.

* Swimming in the rain — it’s just glorious. Also, I usually have the pool all to myself (except for the kid who wanted to try his remote control boat, but that didn’t work too well for him since my swimming made the water all choppy)!

* Down time and/or sleeping. Also, naps. Naps are wonderful.

* This cat, feetie jammies and the green chair.

* Being greeted by this when I get home from work

One Last Thing:

My company is having a Halloween decorating contest. Needless to say, I pulled out all my “work decorations” and went to town on my cubicle. Spider webs, spiders, fun-scary things.

Yesterday I was refreshing my makeup in my powder compact and in that tiny little compact mirror I noticed that my hair appeared to be standing on end. In that split second I thought to myself, “What the hell is going on with my hair? It’s been raining, I shouldn’t have static electricity!”

I looked again and realized it was an optical illusion.

Talk about scaring myself silly!

Loathe:

* That poor little fishy. That’s what we called him. All our goldfish died over the last couple of days. We just weren’t able to eradicate the parasite that infected them. We tried and tried and tried. Sadly, one of them suffered longer than he should have. We kept thinking he’d get better, but he didn’t. It was really sad and we kept calling him That Poor Little Fishy.

* People who are just plain mean and somehow ended up in a supervisory role. The thing about the specific person of whom I’m thinking is, he’s usually right, but he goes about his “rightness” with an attitude of ballistic anger and calling people stupid, which isn’t conducive to inspiring loyalty in those who report to him. It’s truly chilling to watch.

Love:

* Glide dental floss. I ran out a couple months ago, so was using my back-up dental floss, Oral B’s version, I think. Have to say, Glide has no comparisons.

* Green salads. I love me a great big plate of lettuce, arugula, onions, bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchinis, red cabbage, radishes, and any other veggie that strikes my fancy that I can pile on top. A dab of zesty Italian dressing and I’m in salad heaven!

* Persimmon and pomegranate season has arrived. Yum!

* The Angel Trumpet trees in my back yard are finally blooming. Oh! They are so beautiful!

* I am excused from jury duty. Again. Until next time.

One Last Thing:

This past Saturday, I flew back and visited my aunt and uncle, who graciously allowed me to spend 3 nights with them, or as I’ve affectionately termed their home, “Sleep Boot Camp.” See, when I’m home, my sleep schedule gets all messed up. But they maintain a very strict schedule. So it’s kind of like pressing the reset button to my sleep schedule.

Some of the highlights included attending their church — it’s truly a beautiful church, it’s even listed on the historical buildings list, and I love going with them. And brunch afterward is always delicious.

We walked across the recently completed “walking bridge” that hovers over the Missouri river, bridging Iowa and Nebraska. It made for a nice morning walk, and a visit to a year-round holiday store in Old Town Omaha, and then lunch after.

Also, the trees. I mean, you know about my obsession affection for trees. Trees that look like they’re on fire because they’re all covered with red and orange and yellow leaves — be still my heart! I’m pretty sure that I came back with, like, 500 pictures of trees and 5 pictures of people!

We visited my dad’s grave, as well as my grandmother’s, and I always treasure hearing the stories of my dad, his parents and all the other relatives that I never really had a chance to know. Although, I always leave feeling as if there’s one story that’s been left untold.

Plus, there’s always someone’s headstone in the cemetery that begs a good-natured joke — even an unintentional one.

We were leaving the cemetery, and I noticed an enormous monument. I read the name, pointed and said, “There’s the Bone family over there…” Then noticed all the smaller headstones surrounding the monument and revised my statement, “Ummm, wow, there’s a whole lot of Bones over there…” Then realized what I’d said and we started laughing together.

Loathe:

* Driving in the rain. First rains of the seasons fell this week and all the yahoos in the world were on the freeway at the same time I was. Ugh. Also nice to think that I was someone else’s yahoo, right? It was one of those weeks when I remembered with fondness those mornings of unemployment, listening to rain fall on the roof and having nothing on the agenda but to curl up with my cat and read a book with a soft blanket around my shoulders and give thanks that I wasn’t on the freeways.

* When our field sales people come in the office. They sit in the cubicles next to me, and they clearly are not used to living in cubicleville. They play music loudly on their computers, use their speakerphones when making calls, yell (truly, they yell) across at each other and are just generally oblivious to everyone outside of their happy, boisterous sales bubble. But hey, at least I don’t have to try and focus on writing the company newsletter while listening to all their noise. Yay for small miracles.

* When my bosses travel which, truth be told, they do quite often. My life is so much more hectic when they’re out of the office, which is the opposite of the way most people think it would be.

Love:

* Number nerd alert — 10/10/10 is coming up — I love synchronized dates like that.

* Search engine hits. The “search hits” area telling me what people searched for to land on my blog is on the front page of my admin area, so I can’t help but see it. Tonight I opened my admin area to respond to comments and saw that someone had searched for “swim cap blow job.” That just set me off to giggling and I couldn’t seem to stop. Whew. So if that was you, thank you, I needed that.

* My signature scents. During the summer, depending on my mood and the weather, I switch around on my shower gel and lotion scents — I love doing that. But during the fall and winter seasons, I generally find that I revert back to my “signature” scents of Night Blooming Jasmine and Camille. If only for a moment when I use them, or get a whiff of them, they make me feel safe and content. I’ll take whatever moments like those that I can get!

* My plumeria plant in my back yard. It has yielded so many beautiful bouquets of flowers this summer, and it just keeps blooming. Even now, it’s blooming.

* Each of you. Thank you for being supportive and true friends through the rough spots — life is not easy, but there are times when friendships and love can act as a balm to chafed emotions. You guys are the best emotional Chapstick EVER!

One Last Thing:

Earlier this year, my sister-in-law declared that she was going to do a Summer of No Pants. You can read about it here: LINK I was inspired! Summer of No Pants — how creative!

So I quietly made my own declaration. I would have a Summer of No Top! I decided I wasn’t going to put the top up on my car all summer long — hey, it’s California and convertibles should have their top down!

I mean, I did have my top down when I drove places, but … well, let me explain.

See, when I bought my Miata in March of 2002, I installed a 4-point roll bar and had the boot (the leather cover that goes over the folded down top and window) modified so it would fit around the roll bar. Yet, after the money I spent on that, I had only used the boot a couple of times over those 8 years of ownership. Putting the boot on is a commitment of snaps and straps, stretching here and tucking there. It looks nice and protects the folded down top when driving somewhere, but it’s time consuming to take the boot off and put it on every single time I raise and lower the top. So, I had taken to just lowering the top when I drove somewhere and raising the top every time I parked. Which causes lots of wear and tear and sun damage to my top.

Part of my strategy of the Summer of No Top was to order what is called a “cockpit cover.” It’s like a mini car cover that covers the windshield, seating area and deck, secured by four straps that reach into the wheel wells. My goal was to use it as a temporary top when parked, and then the boot cover would protect my top when driving. My other option was a tonneau cover, but that was a lot more expensive.

I was a bit concerned about the security of my belongings, so I made sure to lock the glove box and center box, and take anything of value inside with me. The exceptions to the Summer of No Top was if it were raining (not misting, but truly raining), or if I parked in an unsafe area.

I’m here to report, I successfully completed the Summer of No Top — the top only went up 2 times over the last three months due to rain — and I absolutely loved every second of it.

Summer of No Top — Epic Success!

Loathe:

* How the end of the month just sneakily snuck up on us. One month until Halloween — yikes! Better remember to buy candy now!

* Getting a jury summons. I mean, they KNOW who’s on unemployment, why the hell don’t they just call them? Truth be told, I would have happily served during the 6 months I was unemployed — if they had called me. But no. They called me 18 months ago, and now they’re trying again. So irritating.

* How hot it’s been. This was taken around 7pm on Tuesday night and THAT felt cool. Ridiculous.

Love:

* Our new fan (see previous post).

* Those chocolate oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I mixed up? The cookie dough was really good, and I’m pleased to report the finished, baked product is quite delicious.

* Reed avocados. I’ve been waiting all summer for them to show up in the store, and they finally did! Their consistency is as smooth as butter, yet they stay firm even when ripe, and they’re the biggest avocado I’ve ever seen. This from the girl who grew up in the Avocado Capital of the World.

* Hawks. I saw two of them perched on the top of a street light watching the sunset behind me on my way home from work a couple nights ago.

One Last Thing:

I saw this sticker on the back of some guy’s work truck driving down the road. How much do you want to bet that sticker serves a dual purpose? A pinch warning for his fingers when he shuts his tailgate and also as a sort of pinching mistletoe? Because you know, every time his woman gets back there, he probably gives her a good pinch, right?

Loathe:

* Burning my hair off. I reached across the stove the other day for the scissors we keep in our knife block. As I turned away, I was assaulted by a smell… *sniff* “Oh, man, don’t tell me I just singed my hair! I just had it trimmed! Ruined a perfectly good haircut.”

* Regenerating pimples. Surely I’m not the only one with the mystical pimple that regenerates itself month after month, am I?

* My early “no traffic” day is no more. Oh, I still have my early day, but I guess the “no traffic” part was a summer thing.

Love:

* My 4-color pen at work.

* Our Parallel Lives Neighbors continue to bring us baked goodies. Answering the doorbell is becoming less of a scary thing for People Phobic Me if I know there are yummy things on the other side of it!

* My string of pearls plant. It’s a succulent that grows long strands of (what look like) peas. The tiny flowers it makes are so pretty and they smell like cinnamon. It’s such a unique plant and I just love it so much.

* Tony ended up with free tickets to a pre-season Ducks game (ice hockey team) and we spontaneously went last night. It was a fun “school night” outing. Breaking up the routine is a good thing.

* The silliness of my husband. We accidentally crossed hands tonight and he ended up with a fingerful of goop that I was removing from an item of food. He then rubbed some of it off on the end of his nose and it was just a laughfest of silliness. He’s so good for me.

* Nature’s symbolism… driving home yesterday I had the moon in front of me and the sun behind me. Made me want to reach for the moon, baby.

One Last Thing:

What, exactly, would you would call this… a dichotomy?

Hot Cocoa Ice Cream

*

Loathe:

* Emotional rollercoasters. We have a couple things, really big things, that we’re dealing with right now. Which I can’t talk about because they’re not really mine to talk about. Combined with an especially difficult hormonal cycle this month, I’ve really not felt like doing much of anything but cry. Or sleep, which I would love to do, but these hormones of mine are throwing nights of insomnia my way, just to make it interesting.

* Insomnia and fear. Also, oily skin and pimples. So tired of it all.

* Whacked hormones.

Love:

* Trees. I really love trees. One of the primary reasons I live where I live is because there are trees here. My realtor called it a “preference for mature communities” which makes it sound like I love living in retirement communities, but what it really meant was there are mature, tall, pretty trees here. Which I love. In case I didn’t make my point.

* Smallville. In preparation for the new season starting up (which I probably won’t watch until NEXT season), we’ve been watching all the old seasons. Tony has them on DVD. We are calling it “homework.” There have been a couple evenings this past week when we’ve had to focus on other bigger things, and I can be counted on to bemoan the fact that we’re behind on our homework. Priorities, you know.

* Friends. I’ve taken the premise that I apply to exercise (if I don’t feel like doing it, it’s probably the one thing I really need to do) and applied it to my social life. I’ve leaned pretty hard on Grace, bless her heart. I also got in touch with a friend I’ve not seen since… 2005? We had lunch, and he bought me this balloon. It was so silly, and so spontaneous of him, and I had no idea it would make me smile every time I see it. Even still, because you know that thing is so well made it’s probably gonna last until I’m 80.

* The new health network I transferred into. Even though there were some (in my opinion) weird authorization glitches that needed to be handled, it all sort of makes sense now, and my appointment yesterday morning went really well. They even saw me 15 minutes EARLY. AND I had a voicemail from them, before I even reached my office (15 minutes after I left their office) about scheduling an appointment I had requested. THEY called ME. Maybe all this doesn’t mean much to you, but I continue to be speechless at how well-organized they seem to be. *cynical look*

* Pool bunnies. These two bunnies nibble on the grass that surrounds the community pool that I use. It’s so sweet to watch them. As long as I’m in the pool, I can do whatever I want and they really don’t care, including paddling over with my cell phone to take their picture. But I can’t get even remotely near them if I’m out of the pool. The pool bunnies have rules.

One Last Thing:

The last weekend of August, Tony and I went up to the mountains and hiked our anniversary hike — back to the top of the rock where we got married 5 years ago. It is a special thing for us.

While we were up in the mountains, as usual, we visited our favorite breakfast restaurant and our conversation with the cook came around to wondering just how big of a pancake he thought he could make and successfully flip. His “normal” pancakes hang over the plate as it is. Plus, after many, many years, the handle on the spatula he uses had broken off — a spatula to a cook is what a favorite pen is to an author.

And so the “Two Plate Cake” challenge came to be. We mentioned we were hoping to make it up last weekend, which we did. As we eventually rotated into our seats there, we were surprised to notice that not only did he NOT forget, the challenge actually made their calendar.

And he made good on the challenge.

Now THAT is a pancake. Next up, we’re thinking a Three Plate Cake? That’s something you gotta practice for, right? So… maybe in December?

Loathe:

* The little old lady in me is getting stronger than the 12 year old boy. I know this because I can now see the benefits of products like this.

* When people have an attitude of entitlement.

* My commute to and from work involves 3 large bridges that I go underneath. For some reason, on my drive home from work in rush hour traffic, it never fails that I get stuck under two of the bridges for a span of at least 30 seconds each. For at least a minute every day, I ponder how my car would hold up should a bridge fall on it due to an earthquake. Let’s not dwell on that. Moving along…

Love:

* Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets. I am beyond excited to learn that they are putting one in our neighborhood.

* We took our bird in to get her wings clipped. It was time. Last week, Tony had her out of her cage and was enjoying quality human/avian time with her. Or so he thought. She apparently got bored with the whole quality time thing and so she flew back into her cage! Independent little buzzard.

* I am fascinated with summaries and love using as few words as possible to make my point. Thus, I am really enjoying following along on this guy’s Twitter summary of the Bible. He summarizes one chapter a day and does not use abbreviations. Fascinating.

* I saw a herd of leaves galloping across the street today, finally coming to rest for a moment in a pile against a curb. Fall is coming.

* Laughing. And this cracked me up. Best of all, the dude’s for real. It’s a real day care. HA!

* Getting a watermelon and cracking it open to find it’s so ruby red inside that I couldn’t capture how red and sweet it really was.

One Last Thing:

I was checking out at Walmart over the weekend and one of my purchases was this plant.

It was just the perfect size and, at three dollars, the right price for my needs. The cashier rang it up, and then looked it over, turning it this way and that. I’ve never seen a cashier so curious about a plant. I looked askance at him, but he didn’t look at me, so I shrugged it off.

He finished ringing my purchases, and then went to bag the plant, and finally asked, “What kind of plant is this anyway?”

I smiled and replied, “I have no idea. The three dollar kind, I guess.”

I don’t know why some nurseries don’t label their plants better, but that entire cashier conversation was really funny to me… maybe you had to be there.