Jammie J's Quest

Loathe:

* The engineer/designer who determined it would be a good idea to design a car with a strip of chrome on the rear of a car at seated eyeball level. I would like to take that person and stick him/her behind the car that he/she designed with chrome at eyeball level during rush hour traffic when the sun is setting behind us. Then I would like to point out to him/her the fact that chrome reflects sunlight JUST LIKE A MIRROR.

* When my cat, Tug, goes feral. It’s only happened 2 times in the last 8 years, but I think he was a feral cat before he was rescued by the pound in Texas, which is where I adopted him. He had “words” with a neighborhood cat through our screen door on Tuesday night. Whatever that cat “said” to him wasn’t good because Tug was ready to kill that other cat, and that’s no understatement. He was so upset that he turned on me, and our other cats. Had I not had something with which to restrain and remove him to the garage, my arms would be a bloody mess. It took him over an hour to calm down.

Love:

* I painted my fingernails dark navy blue last Saturday. When I went to pick up our bird the next morning, she was really, really scared of my dark blue fingernails. I worked with her for an hour to remove that fear. What I love about that whole incident is that it tells me how aware she is of things around her. For some reason, I find it really endearing to know that she notices stuff like that.

* Seeing rainbows in the reflective paint of street signs. Have you ever noticed the iridescent paint used in some street signs reflects rainbows when the sun hits them?

* Fireworks. Especially at Disneyland. Do you see Tinkerbell flying in front of the fireworks?

* Random conversations with my husband. Tonight’s went something like this:
Me: Watch the road! You never know when a stray elephant is going to run out in your path on the freeway!
Him: *laughing* Now that would be something to explain to the insurance agent.
Me: You never know. He could have fallen off the trailer going to the county fair!

One Last Thing:

On my way home from work Wednesday evening, I saw a guy driving a Toyota Prius. The freeway on-ramp we were on had one of those traffic control lights (a beef for another day), so I had plenty of time to observe him. Dude was smoking a cigarette with his window down, and when he was done with it, he flicked the cigarette butt out the window — the window of his Prius.

He’s so concerned about the environment and gas mileage that he drives a hybrid, but he pollutes the air and then litters?

I am officially heralding that as The Oxymoron of the Month.

Loathe:

* Gardening gloves and how they make my hands smell and feel. Ick.

* Making coffee and then forgetting to bring it with me to work. It only happened once recently, but I’m thankful that my coffeemaker has an auto-shut off feature.

* Brownie mixes that take 50 minutes to bake! For an 8×8 pan! Ridiculous! Brownies should only take 28-30 minutes to bake. Next time, I’ll check baking time before I buy.

* Am I the only who thinks that cigarette smoking is rising in popularity? I can’t seem to get away from it! On a 3 lane on-ramp to the freeway, I got boxed in by smokers — one in front, one behind, one on each side. It didn’t matter which way the wind blew, I was blanketed on all sides by cigarette smoke.

* The concerns Tony is carrying about his job. Please keep him in your prayers, if you would.

Love:

*Free movies at the park. There are a few places around here that do that, and I love it. Not that I go, because I don’t. But I love that they offer it, because it means “summertime” to me.

* With the exception of the gardening glove thing, I love everything about gardening. The smell of the dirt, the fragility of the plant roots, the beautiful green leaves and blossoms, and how centered it makes me feel inside. I should have been a farmer, I think.

* Dark chocolate brownies. I’d like to plant a big kiss on the cheek of whoever decided to recognize the dark chocolate lovers (me, me!!) out here.

* We’re going to San Francisco for our anniversary next month. I’m so excited, I could spit! *patooie* Bonus: I contacted our favorite hotel and they’re giving us a discount on the room. I love San Francisco and I love discounts.

* This weather. It’s been drizzling in the mornings and 65° to 70° in the afternoon. The pool doesn’t get as warm (sadly), but that just means I get the pool to myself! I’m hoping it’s gonna be a cool summer.

One Last Thing:

A long-time friend of ours asked us to be godparents to their baby daughter. We were honored by that request, and attended her baptism. It was a beautiful, touching ceremony and we were given this picture as a gift commemorating the occasion.

Forgive me, perhaps I’m a biased godmother, but isn’t our goddaughter the most adorable little girl ever? I’ve studied this picture several times since we received it, and I swear our goddaughter bears an uncanny resemblance to the baby doll I had as a child.

I’m definitely biased.

Loathe:

* People who switch lanes at the last second at a red light, so they’re half in the one lane, half out of the lane they’re coming from, and then they don’t pay attention to the light cycle. The light turns green and there they sit, blocking two lanes of traffic.

* Also, people who are in an all-fired hurry to pull out into the lane and then don’t accelerate. Of course, they’re the ones who have that bumper sticker that says, “I may be slow but I’m in front of you!” For the record, I loathe that bumper sticker, too.

Love:

* Q-tips. Really. What would we do without them?

* This picture I took of my cats, Tug and Snug. For some reason, it makes me think of those old-fashioned pictures that were taken back in the 1800’s of great-great grandpa Samuel and his wife, Martha. Serious expressions, stilted posturing… so I added sepia coloring and it makes me laugh and laugh. Here you go, Great Grandpa, Tug, and his cat, Snug.

* The quiet time I take at lunch. I usually park under a tree at work (a bit risky with all the crows who hang around there), then at lunch I roll down the windows and just read. It makes me feel refreshed and balanced. One of my co-workers spotted me today in my car, and he peeked in and said with a bit of envy in his tone that I looked really cozy and relaxed, in the shade, in my car, with my book. I suppose that was a fairly accurate description of how I felt. It made me smile.

* My husband, who fixes things. He recently fixed the ice maker in our freezer (yay!!) and the button on my coffee grinder (yay!!).

* We think we solved the Mystery Pooping Cat. It’s been a week now and I’m currently knocking on wood, but there’s been no random poop yet. If it is truly solved, in a couple weeks, I’ll tell you what we did.

One Last Thing:
It’s been a doozy of a week at work. I worked 12 hours on Monday, 13 hours on Tuesday and 9 hours on Wednesday. It was a bit of a war room thing, preparing for a big meeting. The thing I didn’t think about while we were agonizing through the creation of the presentation, was the bond that would forge between the four people who were in that room. One of whom was me.

I mean, it makes sense. You spend a lot of time with people in an intensely stressful and pressurized situation, you’re either going to hate each other or get along with each other. But either way, you’ll have that experience in common.

I’ve felt like I have major jetlag for the last couple of days. I’m definitely looking forward to some sleep. If that mockingbird out there would ever hush up!

Loathe:

* The big, fat zit on the side of my nose. I remembered to wear my sunglasses the other day and discovered that this big, fat zit is exactly where they needed to perch. That was not a happy moment.

* People who are more worried about covering their a** than working as a team player to get stuff done. In these times, I understand why they feel like they have to be that way, but it’s such a waste of time. Really! It’s OK to not know stuff, just ask for help rather than doing it wrong and then throwing everyone who tried to help under the bus.

Love:

* My alarm clock. I think the thing is at least 15 years old, if not older. Even though the CD player on it doesn’t work anymore, I can’t bear to get a new one. Why? Because it has a motion sensor snooze button on it. That’s right! I wave my hand in front of it and THAT is my snooze button.

* Swimming in June gloom weather. It means I have the pool all to myself. I savor these pre-summer days when I have the pool all to myself.

* I finally have my pre-pregnancy figure back. Even though I was only pregnant for 3 months, my body was ready for the long haul… waistline expanded, larger bosoms, etc.. I feel a little shallow admitting this, given the way the pregnancy ended, but it’s nice to fit in my clothes again.

* When our little birdy gives me kisses. It’s so sweet.

* The 4 goldfish we bought seem to be doing well. We put the hospital tank away. That means more counterspace in the kitchen. Healthy goldfish and more counterspace = love.

One Last Thing:

Supposedly the “formal offer” to make me permanent has been approved, it just needs to be signed off by one more person. There’s a couple things I’m concerned about that makes this a mixed blessing for me. But, hey, it’s better for the Money Hump that I’m employed and it’s not like I have any better offers on the table.

Soooo, maybe Monday?