cranky girl

Day 5 of Vacation

2012-02-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

So I decided to take some time off after the new year primarily so I could hang out with Charles and Deb's new baby Logan X. I took about a week and and half off (absolutely the longest vaca I have ever taken) and even though I wouldn't mind squishing that nice baby every day I am also using this time to hang out with my friends. If I spent that much actual time in C & D's house they would probably kill me by the end of it. I think it was Aunt Thelma who said that "houseguests like fish, starts to smell after 3 days".

So far I have gotten to hold a baby, have breakfast at Blue Plate Diner with Deb, Logan and Angel, see Bobbisue and Layne, visit with Juanita and eat dinner at Maddox (squeee!) with Naomi. Today we went to church where it was so fun to see all my old neighbors and then Naomi made a very good dinner. We are all sitting around on our computers now because that's the way people interact now I guess. I'm not complaining, it's just funny.

X Men

Logan is the sweetest of babies, in fact he may be a little too nice because when he starts fussing and acting like what I consider to be normal, Debbie thinks he's having a rough day. That's because she isn't raising Neil at that age...

Thursday morning time-killer

2012-01-12T07:19:00.000-08:00

so I'm killing time waiting to leave for work and I can't figure out why it's so difficult to be late for work when you're TRYING to. I show up and clock in at 8:11 every morning - don't worry, Rachel (my SM) knows and expects nothing else - because that is what I do, but yesterday and today I am cutting some OT I accrued while unloading the truck on Tuesday so I'm trying to go in a half hour late and it's hard! I am already dressed and ready just tapping my foot waiting to go.

I wish I hadn't gone in late yesterday however because there was a 9:00 mtg in my office which is chock full of clearance merch and boxes of broken crap with no UPCs on it. I have a lot of weird little jobs at my store and taking care of junk no one else wants to/has time to deal with is sadly one of them. If it was just the remodel crew I wouldn't have raised an eyebrow but Wanda came running in and said "Scott's on his way".

I JUMPED up and started barking at the bike assemblers to bring ladder carts to load it all on then Wanda found a hiding place for it. I raced out and got 2 tablecloths to replace the dirty, Christmas ones on the 2 tables in my training room (the tables are ugly underneath or I wouldn't bother) and told the nice store set up people "hey, I need you all to pick up your stuff so I can replace these table cloths before my market mgr gets here, or I can do that magician's trick where I just yank it off and see if your stuff stays where it is" They were more than happy to help and everything was in order when Scott walked in.

The reason this is an issue is that Scott stepped in my office the other day and asked "when are you going to get your office back?" and I said "probably never" in a snarky way. He looked unamused and replied "oh yes you will, because I'm really OCD about the offices" I snapped "well it's a good thing we don't work together then isn't it?!" Rachel was urging him to move on and away from me without actually pulling him into the hallway. Every day is an adventure at the place, I tell you what.

baby Logan

2012-01-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

I don't have much to share - football season is over, the holidays are gone BUT I did finally get to meet baby Logan Xavier this past weekend.

sleeping on my lap

TJ and took a whirlwhind trip north on Friday, I did nothing but hold the new baby on Saturday then we left again on Sunday. He is perfect and beautiful. That is all.

This is shaping up to be a great week, what with my store manager being on vacation and all. I may get some actual work done - v. excited about that and last night when I got home from cycle, TJ was outside (in January in his shirtsleeves) grilling burgers which is just about my favorite meal ever.

I was telling associates how to get their W2s online yesterday and told my friend Janis that I was in NO hurry to get mine as that means I'll have to get all my tax crap together and she agreed and said "oh I have to pray about mine". I called Tina to ask her if praying over your taxes is "a thing" and she just laughed and wished Janis luck. We are so blessed to have a smart accountant.

unexpected road trip

2011-12-22T06:43:00.001-08:00

so I'm sure everyone knows my poor daddy-o fell Tuesday night and broke his hip. He was walking the dog and tripped over one of the eye-bolts that used to hold down his old awning. Btw? that is now gone - mom called the maintenance man yesterday afternoon who came a fe minutes later and cut it off to ground level. Anyway apparently he made it inside thinking he was okay but then he couldn't get back out of his chair so knew something was broken. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital where he got to lay in bed like a slacker for the next 26 hours on a drip of hydrocodone.

If you know my father you can imagine how miserable he was not being able to move out of that bed or have surgery in a timely manner. He is an excellent and sweet tempered patient however and finally an operating room opened up about 7:45 p.m. A couple hours later Dr. Green came out and said that it went very well and even though they initially thought they would have to do a total hip replacement, they only had to do a half. Whatever that means.. Audrey?

I already had yesterday off and even though I hate like hell to leave work 2 days before Christmas, I drove up to hang out with my mom and pester my dad. I will be going home tomorrow morning however because a. Angel will be here on Saturday and b. TJ got me hockey tickets for Christmas and the game is Friday night. My boss called yesterday to see how things were and I assured her I would be closing the store with her on Christmas Eve.

St George is so congested and traffic-y anymore, I don't know how anyone can stand it. Also? may be full of douche-y coowboy types like the one I was behind in traffic yesterday who kept chirping the tires on his diesel pick up and blowing tons of black smoke out for his dog who was standing on the tool box in the bed of the truck (I HATE people who let their dogs ride in the back because it falls out and I hit it with my car, I am kicking someone's ass) to inhale. I knew this guy was extra cool because there was a decal on the driver side window that said TAKEN. Really? now I'm depressed because I really wanted him for my man.

I did get some Taco Time for lunch if anyone is jealous because TT is awesome and there are none in AZ. The most delicious thing on the menu are the Mexi-fries which are just tater tots fried perfectly and tossed with season salt. Just like heaven.

Let's go Cardinals Let's go!

2011-12-12T06:35:00.000-08:00

I am so busy right now because I have 2 jobs - my regular WM job which kind of awful-ish this time of year and my stadium job during football season. I have 3 games in December and 2 in January then it will be just the occasional soccer game or weird event until next August. However I did manage to get my Christmas cards out and the very few things I send are in the mail which makes me feel like I'm ready for the holidays. I'm not btw and have bought almost nothing.

Yesterday at the San Francisco game there was apparently a fight right in front of my stand where one guy got kicked in the face. Which I missed because my line was long and I am focused on moving it. The kid that works beside me said they were both Cardinal fans so who know what that was about?

After the games I texted all my friends "We won we did - suck it haters!" and Charles replied "that's exactly what Logan said when he saw the final score! Logan is a Cardinal fan if you didn't know. I told Chuck to tell the baby not to say "suck it" because that is for when he is bigger. Sally replied to her text saying now she needs to get all the Cardinal merch out of her backroom because it sells when we win.

(Hathaway update) Nick is working over nights at the Trader Joe warehouse and Neil just finished his fall semester plus is going to Las Vegas for some bowl game so they are both doing well. TJ went fishing yesterday and caught 3 fish in his new boat. The dogs are cold and the cat is insane. That is all.

Best Turkey ever.

2011-11-29T06:25:00.001-08:00

I woke up this morning with a giant crick in my neck because dogs get cold and like to hudddle against me for warmth. It must have been really chilly this morning because I found myself halfway off the bed when the alarm went off and my neck at an extremely uncomfortable angle.

Also? I dreamed all night but the part of the dream I can remember this morning was this - I climbed a big tree to find something and when I found it and was coming down the tree, I realized it was full of bats! Wonder what that means.

Thanksgiving was as usual here. We didn't have any visitors, I worked 6 hours then came home to a delicious brined turkey that Nick and TJ cooked, made the side dishes and had dinner with my family. Perfect.

THEN I took a nap so I could go back to work at midnight and work the Black Friday sale. Awful - just awful. I you are one of those people that clog up the stores on the day after Thanksgiving and fight over video games or tvs - shame on you. Stop it. I don't love the general public on the best of days as they are brainless, mean sheep but on Black Friday, I loathe my fellow men with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. And my store only had a couple of fights, not like Sally's store where they should have just pepper sprayed the crowd.

HOWEVER - after TJ picked me up at 8:00, I got a shower, changed into my lounge pants and hoody, we drove the boat to Saguaro Lake where I unrolled my sleeping back and pillow then proceeded to sleep for the next 6 hours while TJ fished. THAT is how you should spend the day after Thanksgiving - NOT trying to get an Xbox 360 with thousands of other people.

the best day off ever

2011-11-20T17:43:00.001-08:00

Actually I usually only have 1 day off a week so they are all the best. I try to NOT spend my whole day messing around on Facebook and actually accomplish one of the many projects I have in the works.

yep, that's it

Today? TJ went to the lake in his new boat so I slept in until 11:00 then saw a text from the band instructor at the high school wondering if I had gotten together 140 Santa hats for his band when they play in the Hollywood parade on Thanksgiving weekend. Nick was awake so I dragged him to the store to get the rest of them and took us both to breakfast at TJ's. I had the ham and mushroom omelette if you're wondering.

cats like to help

I have about a million baby quilts to make right now so I spent the afternoon sewing the top on one of them and it's ready to put on frames. I also need to finish a couple of beanies that Sally started but can't finish and a pair of socks I finally got more yarn to finish the second one. I also bought a new knitting pattern book and some yarn to do one of the projects from that. It's no fun if you don't a lot of WIPs.

and so we all must update our journals

2011-10-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

Can I just tell you how happy I am that the weather has finally cooled down a little here? It's still 100ish during the day but when I get up in the morning it's a lovely cool 70 degrees. I may even drag out the crates and crates of Halloween decorations after work and start putting them up.

JT is home from Wisconsin and enjoying his new job. The dogs and cat are enjoying having him home since all I do is feed them, walk them and bring them treats but I am no TJ. A funny story when I was at the aiport to get him, I was standing in Terminal 3 waiting, while messing around on my phone and I noticed this guy walking straight towards me. I thought "ugh, back up off, you're creeping me out" but it was TJ and man I need to start wearing my glasses all the time.

I had a game on Sunday so worked the Cardinal/NYGiants game which I thought we were going to win since we were ahead til the middle of the 4th quarter but that did not happen. It was an early game so we met Neil in Tempe for family dinner in the evening. Love to have dinner with my boys and look at them and make sure they're ok. They loathe my worrying so mock me relentlessly but that is the relationship we have.

I often text my sons with the words "Alive Check" when I haven't heard from them in a few days and they almost always reply with some sort of smart-assery. There was a dust storm in the east valley a few nights ago so I texted Neil; "Alive Check for the dust storm" and he replied "It was a glorious battle, but the dust storm was no match for me. Though I did lose my leg, but I hardly need that to play marimba".

This is just an "Alive Check" for my dad - next time I'm write something WAY more entertaining.

It's been a long 3 weeks

2011-09-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

So you may know that TJ has a new job with Sub-Zero (doing the same thing, just in a different, hopefully more stress free environment) and went to train in Madison, WI for 3 weeks. I have been busy while he's been gone; painted the walls and ceiling of Neil's old room and quilted Glenda's Halloween quilt to list my big projects. I have also viewed quite a few episodes of True Blood and and forgotten to water (and possibly killed one of) the trees to list my less stellar moments.

TJ lands at 3:45 this afternoon and I CANNOT wait for him to be home for 2 reasons. #1 - the coffee. TJ makes coffee every morning and leaves me half a pot so it's waiting when I wake up. It is absolutely my favorite thing about him, it make me feel loved and cared for and also? I'm not super sharp in the a.m. and working the coffee pot is a little much for me.

#2 - the animals. I am OVER getting up with them way before my alarm goes off because they are used to TJ getting up so early and they believe that I want to wake up and feed them their morning treats. BTW, I don't. The first week they tried to get me up at 5:30 but realized that I can ignore their whining and biting for a loooong time, so now they wake me up at 6:30. My alarm doesn't go off until 7 if you were wondering.

Brigit has been very good while he's been gone and I was worried because sometimes she freaks out when her boyfriend leaves and does naughty things but she just lays at my feet in a depressed manner in the evening. Tremor has leveled up in aggressiveness, I believe to take TJ's place in the household while he's gone. The cat? oh my goodness having a cat is hilarious. He is currently chewing the cord of my laptop and I'd make him quit but I figure if he electrocutes himself it will teach him a lesson.

that time I fell down

2011-09-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

I am pretty clumsy but I have great balance so surprisingly I don't fall down that often. Yesterday was actually a close call when I was trying to move some stuff around in the back yard and got my foot caught in the chicken wire that covers the the little garden plot. I then tripped, broke a wooden stake with the back of my leg yet still didn't fall down. I have a giant gash on my leg, I'm missing the skin off 2 of my toes and I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed my loud swearing. By the way flip flops are rarely the proper footwear.

The most recent and embarassing time I fell was in the shower at our hotel in Las Vegas when TJ and I met the Johnsons there to see Phantom. The master suite had a shower that is right off the bedroom, not in a separate room. It was a big tub and didn't have any non-skid on the bottom so if a person is trying to scrub the bottom of their dirty, dirty feet from wearing flip flops (see above) around the strip, there's a chance they could fall down with TJ across the room saying "are you all right?" Yes, but I feel stupid.

dress to show some skin

2011-09-13T22:01:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, back in the day I had no problem showing some skin but I haven't been able to pull that off in years. Also I try to remember my age and that I have sons I don't like to embarrass.

*********

So let's talk about my day. I tried to help an already unhappy customer get checked out more quickly when I was up front csm -ing this morning. She didn't think I was a. helpful or b. charming and actually she thought I was accusing her of not paying for the magazine she was reading in line because when she told me she didn't want to move to a line with no waiting I smiled and said "I understand, I get all my magazine reading done in line too" so she reported me to a manager.

It went something like this;
Angry customer - "I need to talk to a manager"
Me "ok, let me get you one"
AC - "and what's YOUR name?"
Me (looking down at my badge which was plainly visible) "Diana"
AC - "ok, just get me a manager"
Me (on the phone to Asst Mgr) - "hey can you come up front? I have a customer who wants to complain about something, possibly me"
Asst Mgr - "be right there!"

She told the Asst that I needed to learn customer service (I was 5 feet away) and as she walked away that assistant manager shrugged her shoulders at me and said "I've learned that you just can't make some people happy". True that.

The day got better after that with us getting some rain in the afternoon and ended with me going to the beauty school getting my hair cut and colored so I am sitting here in my quiet house enjoying the evening all zen. Audrey and I have decided we are over the Shame topics and she has created a whole new list of journal topics for us to start tomorrow.

declare my love for an uncool band???

2011-09-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

Wha wha what??? I refuse to entertain the idea that something I listen to and love might be considered uncool. I know different people hate different things I listen to for different reasons

Audrey - hates chick music - I LOVE chick music
Nick - hates anything that doesn't coincide with his ideas on what good music should sound like - I love a variety of music and mostly; I like to sing along with my music!
Naomi - hates anything too heavy "this song makes me want to kill someone" - I love heavy as long as it's melodic.

However Nick recently sang Be My Lover by LaBouche at kareoke night to win something free and he certainly wouldn't have known it if I hadn't had it on heavy rotation in 1995 so everything we experience enhances our lives in some way.

The other problem with this topic is that everything old is new again. We live in a remarkable time in history when everything you like whether it be fashion, hairstyles, music or whatever is ok. I love The Carpenters especially the song Superstar and where I wouldn't have mentioned it to anyone in the 80s, I certainly don't look unhip now saying so.

Stevie Nicks is one of my all time heros and I always say that I used to think I loved Fleetwood Mac but after they broke up I realized I just love Stevie Nicks. Please buy her new album and find out why she is still the greatest.

Every member of this family is a hardcare Rush fan and where they are certainly looked upon as a band loved only by geeks? we declare our undying love to anyone willing to listen. Me like an uncool band? I don't think so.

I DO like having a pre-selected topic every day!

2011-09-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

This is an odd one - Expose something messy or dirty that you'd usually hide. The part I can't quite reconcile is that I don't "hide" anything. I love me some social media - Twitter, FB and online journaling so things others wouldn't confess make the best journal fodder for me.

I guess the thing I don't really like people to know about me is that even though camping is NEVER on the top of my fun/recreation list, I am a really good camper. I went to 5 years of girls camp and the last year when we did the long hike in with all your own supplies was the year I loved the best.

TJ knows how I feel about the whole camping thing and doesn't force me to go but when I do he makes it pretty easy, setting up a chair, handing me a cold drink and making sure I have a book to read. Even better when I'm outdoors I get really sleepy and have been know to sleep entire days which he REALLY loves.

Some reasons I'm not the worst camper

I am good at setting up and breaking camp quickly and efficiently.
I am able to sleep anywhere so in a tent or on a boat makes no difference to me and the colder at night the better because I am my own furnace.
I know how to quit drinking anything after dinner so I don't have to get up in the middle of the scary night and find a place to she-she.
I know how to assist/clean up after TJ while he makes the best camping breakfast ever so that he will continue to do it.
in my heart of hearts I love animals and birds and the moon at night so being outdoors is pretty cool - even though I can practically enjoy all those things from my back patio without sleeping in the dirt...

Sweat

2011-09-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how sweating made it's way on 30 days of Shamelessness, I'm certainly not ashamed of all the sweating I do.

AT WORK
If you don't know that I live in Phoenix ie. The Valley of the Sun, then I will share that it hovers between 103 and 117 every day in July and August and it doesn't cool down much after the sun goes down. My store has AC issues every year around this time because even though we have many AC units on the roof, they break down 2 or 3 at a time because they can't keep up with the heat. This makes for departments in the store that are way less comfortable than others. Sometime my office is included.

Recently I had a customer stop me near electronics and tell me how hot it was in the store and that "someone" should do something about it ("someone" was on the roof where it's about 125 degrees charging us a kajillion dollars an hour to fix AC units). Ironically enough, I had just been out on the parking lot shagging carts and was sweating into my eyes while she complained. I pointed to myself and said "I know" while she went on and said "it's too hot for my baby in here!" so I said "then you should probably take it home where you have air conditioning that works". True story.

AT THE GYM
I have been taking cycle class 2-3 times a week since January and I always leave red-faced and sweating. The first time I walked in the class the instructor told me I only needed 2 things - a water bottle and a towel. The towel is extremely important if you want to keep a grip on your handle bars.

AT HOME
The only reason I mention this is I remember our Gma working around the house or cooking and after a while the back of her neck would be dripping wet. Can I tell you that it's hereditary?

Yo entiendo mucho pero yo habla poquita

2011-09-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

Today's topic is share my efforts at something I don't think I do well. 2 things jumped into my head when I read this - and they're 2 things I put a in fair amount of time and effort doing.

1- Knitting. I know Audrey will make a lot of noise about disagreeing with this one because god knows, she's tried to help me do it for 14 years but my skill is still small and my frustration is great. My ability to read patterns is ridiculous because as a hard core skimmer I only read what I want to read. And then I get to rip again and again and again. I was working on a sock on our recent road trip that I cast on no less than 6 times until I focused and practically read the instructions out loud.

Here's a shining example of my inability to figure out how much yarn I need, not 1 but 2 pair of socks that I ran out of yarn on the second sock = awesome.

2 - speaking Spanish. I have worked around Spanish speaking people for 14 years also and my skills are weak at best. I know millions of verbs and nouns but am unable to put them together in a functional sentence and I imagine it sounds a lot like "Me Tarzan, you Jane".

If you think that stops me from trying you would be wrong and I get plenty of help every day from kind people who are willing to teach. However before you think I'm completely without talent, I will tell you that I UNDERSTAND really well. It's well known at my store that you can speak Spanish to me and I will almost always get what you're trying to tell me.

My best and favorite teacher is Tony from produce who refuses to speak a word of English to me and tells me (in Spanish) "I remember when I first met you, you couldn't speak any Spanish and now you speak and understand". He is too kind but I also remember once trying to tell him something in my pidgin way and he just rolled his eyes and waved his hand at me in disgust because it was just too silly.

I learn a new word every day and yesterday was no different. Maria V was in my office working on some signing when Maria G came in to get her check stub and asked her how she was. MV started in with her standard enfermidad this and dolor that, so I asked MG how to tell MV "they shoot horses". MG looked startled and said "you really want me to tell her that?" so she did and MV (who by the way I adore and she is a great cook always bringing me delicious food) didn't even look up from what she was doing but muttered something ended with the word Infierno.

I said to Irma "what was that last word? I think I know what she said but I want to be sure" Irma was red-faced and laughing but said "you know where the devil lives?" Yep, I thought I had been told to go to hell. As I was leaving for the day I told MV "te amo" and she replied "yo tambien".

acting "girly" in a way I would normally avoid

2011-09-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

This is a difficult topic because for 24 years I have lived in the house of men. 1 husband, 2 sons along with all their knuckle-dragging friends plus 1 male dog (until Brigit came along) makes for a lot of testosterone and not much girliness at all. When I do something that is typically girly I often get criticized for being a girl then have to remind them THAT I AM.

I crave girl time and love to do shopping and lunch - that is the ultimate girly activity for me. I loved to go with Christine K before she moved and I love to go with Maribel whenever our work schedules cooperate. The best estrogen fix I get however is when I get to visit Naomi a couple times a year and make our late night visits to the grocery store. As you know I usually avoid grocery shopping like the plague but Naomi has all her lists and we do it around 11 at night when only weirdos like us are out so it's super fun - well fun to us.

I remember one time we were shopping, we got chicken from Kent's deli and were eating it as we walking throught the store and she was wearing on of my sandals to see if it was comfortable and we were laughing like crazy. It's even more fun when Breanna and Bobbisue can join us because they enjoy it too and are never embarassed to be seen with us.

a movie I like that isn't cool?

2011-08-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sure this list is infinite - I really have crap taste in movies. I mean bad. Let's see, where do I even start? Most of the vampire genre? - The Hunger, Bram Stoker's Dracula and of course Fright Night (both versions). The entire Will Ferrell catalog? except those are cool so strike that. TJ suggested Sense & Sensibility but tea party movies are very cool and he needs to shut up.

If we are talking about secret shame here which is the theme of these topics I guess the movie I like that I would normally not tell anyone about is Valley Girl. It came out in 1983 and I never get tired of looking at the clothes or listening to the great music and Valley Girl talk. Plus it has Nick Cage! Netflix it today and enjoy the sweet love story with me.

the topic today is WASTE TIME

2011-08-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

Oh this topic is deep, deep shame for me. As a raging work-a-holic I feel shame for all the time I waste and on weekends I will say to TJ "I really feel like I should be doing something more productive" even though he assures me that taking a nap or staring at the tv never hurt anyone.

My biggest, most shameful timewaster? Dr Mario. I'm sure you all thought I was going to say Facebook and don't think I haven't killed countless hours reading updates and playing Yoville, Vampire Wars and my new favorite Ravenwood Fair but nothing compares to the time I wasted playing Dr Mario when the kids were small.

I beat the highest level and could play endlessly even with the little pills dropping onto 1 empty line. I would see it in my sleep. To make matters worse I had terrible insomnia at the time so when I wasn't playing Dr Mario late into the night, I was watching Beavis and Butthead. I remember crawling into bed and telling TJ the lines that I thought were particularly hilarious. To this day he is still not amused.

eat whatever you feel like eating

2011-08-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

Well I was all excited to write this post because I just knew I was going to share how I worked at the stadium yesterday for the Pre-season game and how we get our delicious employee meal - a Jumbo Red Dog and a small drink. Except I did not get mine because Don the new HR guy did not let me leave check-in until the gates opened! Usually I have 15 minutes to drop the paperwork off to the office, hit the restroom and wolf down my food which I need because I am generally there 10 hours on a game day but not this season apparently. Will have to start packing a sandwich.

However. The hot dog employee meal is not my secret shame - we can also get half-price chicken strips, burgers and my personal favorite nachos. I love nachos in any way, shape or form. I don't think you can ruin them and the ones you get at 7-11 for $1.89 are just as delicious to me as the ones you get at Margaritaville for $12. My favorite dinner (sometime breakfast) is when TJ and go to the movie and get nachos, popcorn and Dr Pepper.

I know that nacho cheese is probably about as healthy as rat poison but just think about how it tastes on a tortilla chip with a slice of jalapeno on top. There now doesn't that make you want to run to Circle K and grab some?

next topic - look a fool

2011-08-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

This is easy for me because I have so little filter between what I think and what I do/say that I say that it's a constant source of embarrassing stories. In fact a couple of days ago at work I proved just that. There is an assistant manager at my store who is - wells let's just say not my favorite. Ok, he's not a LOT of people's favorite. Also you need to know there is a little corner in Cindy's office where I eat my sandwich and read a book every day at lunchtime.

Thursday I went to eat the egg foo yung which my little people greeters Margie and Bea brought me back when they went to lunch *joy* and who was spread out in my lunch space, keying in reports on his day off? The above mentioned assistant manager. I turned back to my office and hissed to 2 other assistants "xxxx is in my lunchroom! get him out!" then went off to hide out in the assistant's office and enjoy my lunch in peace.

Not 10 minutes later this guy comes in a apologizes to me! He said "I'm sorry, I know you eat your lunch there, I can go someplace else" "No problem" I said thinking about what I jackass I am sometimes. A few minutes after that the assistants that I had complained to came in and asked if he had left my lunchroom. I scolded them for letting me drag them into my drama and shared my fortune cookies with them.

what can I say? I like to watch people sew

2011-08-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

So Audrey and Sarah are doing a blog project called 30 days of Shamelessness. The point is to talk about things that you might be secretly ashamed of and Day One is A Show You Watch That Isn't Cool. I had to think hard about it and initially came up with Rock of Love but threw it out because you KNOW that's cool.

However when there's no one around on a Saturday afternoon I do love to turn to PBS and watch Sewing with Nancy. She makes the old-ladyest of projects and has that odd way of speaking out of the corner of her mouth with her Wisconsiny accent but I still love to watch her show.

Nancy Zieman is my hero

Life never ceases to surprise me

2011-08-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

The surprise this week is that we are now living with a cat - a kitten really, named Scrambles the Death Dealer. Nick took him off some friend's that needed to get rid of him and now he is ours. After living with dogs for 14 years my allergies are much less crazy than they used to be so if I keep popping my Claritin this should all be good. I quite like him so far and he is tormenting the shit out of Tremor which is pretty fun to watch.

The end of the trip but on the upside, I get to sleep with my dogs again.

2011-08-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we woke up, grabbed some coffee and hit the road for TEXAS! I have never been in Texas so it was fun to just cross the border and see what all the hubbub is about.

Look Ma! I'm in Texas.

We didn't think we'd have time to stop at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park but we did and walked around Frijole Ranch while we were there. A long drive through the middle of NOWHERE and out of the blue was a tiny cafe on the side of the road with a full parking lot. We decided that looked like breakfast so stopped at May's Cafe. One of those stops that is well worth the time and definitely my favorite breakfast of the trip.

We drove on through El Paso and stopped at the Chamizal National Memorial which is right on the border. It's a monument to the resolution of the border using the river and all the parameters they had to set up determining what belonged to who depending on how the river moved. More interesting than it sounds...

That was our last stop on the way home except for the accident between Tucson and Phx which had us parked on the highway for about an hour. We took Kim and Troy to dinner as they kenneled our dogs at her home business - Ritzy Grooming and picked up our very excited Brigit and Tremor. So good to sleep in my own bed with my happy dogs after a long, fun week.

Things I learned on my trip

If your motel room seems inundated with flies and then when you wake up in the morning and it's not, it's probably because the toad that's sitting under the chair has eaten them all.
that commercial about Sprint and it's awesome all over the country coverage? Is a lie. I went through most of Nebraska and Colorado with little to no phone service.
If you get bored and start playing Brainage on your DSi as you're driving through Custer State Park, you will definitely miss the giant buffalo standing on the shoulder of the road and definitely not get a picture of it even though TJ tells you 3 times to get the camera.
If your husband pretty much hates to make idle conversation with strangers in parking lots or gas stations, leave his Arkansas Razorback t-shirt that you got him for a souvenier at home. Folks do love to talk about that t-shirt.
If you do not need a post office there are always plenty to be found. If you are specifically looking for one - not so much.
The entire Rush catalog will last you 2 full days of driving.

Animals we saw on our trip

Raccoon -2
Squirrel - 4
Deer - 7
Buffalo - 1
Chipmunk - lots
Lizard - lots
Red Tail Hawk - lots
Blue Jay - 1
Prairie Dogs - none in wild but a bunch at the tourist trap in the Badlands
Toad - 1
Bats - about 20-30 thousand
Flies in car - constant - should have grabbed the toad and taken him with us.

I love the little batties!

2011-08-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today was mostly driving, we went to the Salinas Pueblo Mission visitor center first thing but only watched the movie as we didn't have time to drive out to the ruins. With a quick stop in Roswell *joy* for postcards - may I say what an awesome tourist oriented alien presentation Roswell has - just what I like to see fake aliens all around and the playplace at the McDonalds shaped like a flying saucer!

The goal today was Carslbad Caverns which we made it to about 3ish and had time to walk the cave tour AMAZING, then run back into Carlsbad to get a motel and grab some KFC to go. We got back to the visitor center and ate our winner, winner - chicken dinner outside at the picnic tables then hiked down to the ampitheater to wait for the bats.

Every night in the summer about 7:15 the bats fly out for dinner en masse. It was so cool to watch, they just kept coming and coming and coming out to get their insect meals. Finally it slowed down and also got too dark for us to see them so we had to leave. If I lived in Carlsbad I would go there often because it's a. free and b. I don't think I'd ever tire of watching it.

We saw about a jillion redtail hawks while we were waiting and a mother raccoon and her baby hanging out on the rocks above the cave opening. Also there was a rock squirrel which again, TJ did not go and catch for me because he is hateful like that.

There is a valuable lesson to be learned in the cave tours we've been on and the bat flight experience. Our society is so full of false entitlement and instant gratification that when we're told we can't touch, or can't bring food in, or can't take pictures and must turn off our electronic equipment, we don't need to ask as the lady did behind me at the ampitheater "well did you ask her WHY we can't take pictures?". Because you can't. Sometimes that is just the answer. Just follow the rules and see if it doesn''t enhance your experience.

If I can go through that entire amazing Carslbad Cave and not give in to my demon impulses to touch or jump over the fence, so can everyone else. I just got through with my swim in the lovely motel pool and as I was headed out TJ said "don't drown, it happens all the time on CSI". "WHAT?" I screeched "that generally means someone's been MURDERED!" He just shrugged his shoulders and off I went to enjoy my night swim and not be murdered.

I've seen so much I hope I can remember to relate it.

2011-08-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

Let' me catch you up. Yesterday we ate breakfast then went to the Jewel Cave and hung out a while doing the hike and checking out the visitor center because the first tour didn't start until 9:30. Most park employees are friendly and wholesome looking but Surly Ashley sold us our cave tour tickets - I'm sorry you have to get up so early Ashley - try not to look so miserable.

After that we drove to Nebraska to see the Agate Fossil Beds. I was thrilled when I went in the visitor center and squealed "dinosaurs!" but the Ranger lady corrected me and said that these were mammals and that dinosaurs had died out long before these animals came along. Definitely my favorite visitor center.

We then drove to Scott's Bluff which now that I'm trying to journal everything - I realized I can't even remember* what it is - probably a fort - we've seen a lot of them. Mostly yesterday was about driving through Nebraska and Colorado and we ended up in La Junta through a cool rain and lightning storm. I got us a great motel room and found out that the FAIR had just started last night but TJ was saved from taking me there because of the rain. We had a great bbq dinner at Boss Hogg's then I went for a swim in the motel pool while TJ worked.

This morning we visited Bent's Old Fort which is a replica of the original and was very cool as they had a blacksmith on site, horses and even peacocks. We had breakfast at a little cafe in town, picked up some more fruit from a local stand then stopped at the local Wal-Mart to replenish our ice and drinks.

As we were walking through the parking lot we noticed a mother - heavy, unattractive wearing shorts she probably shoudln't have been wearing with a cigarette dangling from her lip as she loaded a trailer assisted by her two muffin-topped daughters. I said "wow I thought I looked kind of haggard today but suddenly I feel PRETTY!" I begged TJ to tell me I was pretty but he just said "I need to buy you a pack of cigarettes.."

We drove south to New Mexico and saw the Capulin Volcano (we saw a rocks squirrel!) and then drove to Fort Union which is huge and had a nice looong walk. Some more driving south through an awesome rainstorm, we thought we would find a motel and restaurant close to where we're headed in the morning but there is a whole lot of nothing around it and backtracked 30 miles to find a motel in Moriarty, NM. We went to dinner at the place our motel owner suggested but we will probably not take his recommendation for breakfast if Buford's Steakhouse is his best suggestion.

*Now I remember, depressing stop on the Oregon/Mormon trails.

The reason we went on this trip

2011-08-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

Today was the best sight-seeing day ever! Except for when TJ woke me up at 5:00 so we could get on the road. You can imagine I went right back to sleep in the car on my way to Devil's Tower, WY! Pretty Impressive and you get to drive through some beautiful countryside to get there. We ate breakfast at the only cafe near and did a whole lot of driving to get to South Dakota.

Our first stop on the passport trail in SD was the Missile Site located in the Badlands and then we drove through the Badlands National Park. Another long drive (and another nap), one stop at the Rapids City Wal-Mart which is frickin' HUGE and I know big stores, to get some lunch food and some cash, then we made it to the Wind Caves just in time to take the cave tour. The interior of the cave is covered with what they call "boxwork" and doesn't look like any other cave I've seen - so cool.

Oh, oh oh! I forgot about the prairie dogs in this part of the world! I saw a postcard that said "South Dakota, where the prairie dogs outnumber the people" and I think that might be true. There were fun signs around Devil's Tower warning us not to feed the prairie dogs because apparently they bite.

Now here's the deal, I would never have considered feeding them - until they told me NOT to! TJ practically had to wrestle the Cheeze Its out of my hands... Also there was a prairie dog tourist trap place in the Badlands where you could watch them where they live and feed them though those fatties hardly needed it. I begged TJ to catch me one but you know how he is.

Our next stop was Custer and on the way I was playing the motel game which landed us here at the Mile Hi Motel - awesome with all cable channels *foodnetwork* and free wifi! I told the lady who runs it about our game and she said "thank you for choosing us, I'm so glad we won your GPS lottery!"

We had just enough time to get to Mt Rushmore which is the entire reason we took this trip. I told TJ about 3 years ago that I would really like to see Rushmore and we finally have a year where we both have the time and money to do it. If you ever have a chance you should go - the mountain is obviously amazing and the entire facility is huge, beautiful and unapologetically patriotic. We had dinner at the cafe where you eat your dinner in view of the mountain and they play patriotic music while you eat. I've never had a meal set to Sousa's marches but I didn't hate it.

A co-worker had let TJ know that it's best to see it in the evening because they light it up and have a cool ceremony. They do and it is. I loved every minute of it and if we went home tomorrow I would feel I had the best road trip ever.

Day 3

2011-08-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today we got up early, grabbed some coffee from the gas station and headed to Florissant CO where you find the Florrisant Fossil Beds. We took a nice mile walk and got to see giant fossilized redwoods. Along the way were markers telling you what you were looking at and also apparently what you were NOT looking at because the marker with the picture of a dinosaur had me all kinds of excited until I read the bottom line Not Found at Florrisant. Um, really?

We drove through Colorado Springs, Denver and Boulder on our way to Rocky Mountain National Park which is gorgeous and amazing and the drive is along a beautiful river and all these little old summer homes I would love to have. We stopped in Loveland at a fruit stand for some delicious peaches and cherries to eat on the road.

Drive, drive, drive to Wyoming where we stopped in the charming community of Chugwater to get a soda then pressed on to Fort Laramie which is a very cool historic site with plenty to see plus has a visitor's center that stays open til 7:00 (we got there at 6:30) and where you can get SIX stamps in your passport due to it being a stop on the Oregon Trail, Mormon Trail, Pony Express and California Trail. Don't think I wasn't happy.

I am writing this from my motel room in Torrington, WY where we ended up eating dinner at Arby's because all the other restaurants close at 8:00. This is no place you want to live.
We hoped to spend the night at The Blue Lantern which promised a rate of $42.10 a night (remember Sight Unseen?) but when we pulled up to it TJ jus shook his head saying "no, no, no". Really? I said? C'MON! He assured me he would drop me off and picked up what was left of me tomorrow morning. I'm kidding, it was even too scary for me.

Road Trip

2011-08-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

Am sitting in a motel room in Gunnison, CO trying to remember everything we've seen in the past 2 days on our whirlwhind National Park/Mt Rushmore trip.

We left yesterday morning and headed for the northeast corner of AZ to see the Navajo National Monument (stamp in my passport) and then stopped at Four Corners (not a national park but a fun place to visit nonetheless and helps support the locals. TJ has never been there and I haven't since I was tiny - I thought it was cool but I'm not sure TJ cared much about it, I certainly couldn't get him to Twister in all 4 states for a picture..

We got a room in Cortez Co (a cheap room, I've got my motel picking job back!) ate some dinner and made our plans for the next morning. Btw? Cortez is a nice litte town but dammit the Walmart and True Value need to lock up the spray paint. Every sign and empty building was tagged - so ugly.

Today we ate breakfast at the Ute Cafe and headed for Hovenweep National Monument where we took a not TOO strenuous 2 mile hike then continued on our trip to Mesa Verde. Ok, usually when we visit Indian ruins, there are a few cars and a few people hiking and milling around but Mesa Verde is a. a huge facility/area and b. a go to site for foreign tourists.

Several of the hikes were noted as "strenous" and "need to purchase a ticket" so we dodged the crowds, got my book stamped and got out of there! The weather was beautifully rainy and overcast so I even got to wear a jacket! *joy*

On our way to Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Curecanti National Recreation Area we drove through some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen between Durango, Silverton and Ouray. There was enough traffic that TJ had to pay close attention to the windy roads and no where to pull over and take pictures but it was breathtaking. We had a few issues with "the girlfriend" and her directions on the way to Black Canyon but alls well that ends well and we ended up seeing everything we planned today.

I'm trying a new motel picking method - sight unseen. TJ pulls up lodging on the "the girlfriend" and I start cold calling them to see what their rates are. We are 2 for 2 - I hope my good luck holds through the rest of our trip.

update

2011-07-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

We had family dinner last night - I know in some other families the mother prepares a meal and invites the kids home but we started this tradition when Neil left for college; we choose a restaurant and the kids meet us there. I find it to be very enjoyable since cooking isn't so much my thing plus there's no awkwardness when people are ready to go home, we just leave the restaurant and part ways. We met at Oregano's last night which is probably our favorite.

We had a very cheerful waitress but she forgot our cheese bread so we ended up getting a free Pizookie instead. Yay! we love a big warm from the oven chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream on top. Neil has good news, he got a job as pit instructor with Skyline High School and is very excited about it. Less pizza delivery and more working in his field = v. good.

TJ has been working a TON lately, works all day then comes home and works some more so exciting stories a little scarce from this house but we did take a day trip to Jerome with our friends Troy and Kim on Sunday. The point to going north in the summer is to get out of the heat but it was 102 in Jerome so that didn't happen. However after climbing a bunch of stairs up the side of the mountain which was KILLING us folks from Phoenix (the altitude!) we did get to eat at the Haunted Hamburger which is delicious.

Finally I feel like a human

2011-07-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

So I have been suffering from some sort of plague for about 2 weeks where I have a screaming headache every day and am so tired all I can do is come home from work and lay down. Our niece Jacky who visits us every summer unfortunately got to be here during this and I'm sure thinks I am a gigantic drag to hang out with (sorry Jacky, at least you had Nick, Neil and David!!).

So I am pressing on every day because you know me - I'll see a doctor if I don't feel better tomorrow - and even spoke to my medical professional, Audrey (she's not a doctor but she plays one on tv) who suggested that it's probably a virus (translated - live with it). After a week and a half we were talking and mind you after the first few really horrible days I am gradually feeling better every day, I told her I am so tired of being tired and I think I may have Mono! We decided that maybe I should see a doctor just in case it something serious and I made an appointment for Tuesday at lunchtime.

I tell the doctor all my symptoms and concerns and she types into her laptop for a few seconds, looks at me and says "It's probably something viral. I'll write up an order for bloodwork so I can make sure". And then she left. THIS my friends is why I NEVER go to the doctor. I wish I could have Audrey bill my insurance for the exact same diagnosis without wasting my lunch hour and I want to go get my $20 co-pay refunded so I can mail it to HER! Thank you as usual Dr. Audrey - by the way I feel 100% as of yesterday if anyone needs to know.

In better news my store had it's annual inventory on Wednesday and we actually had a reduction in shrink from last year and was probably the easiest, least stressful inventory I can ever remember.

rare form Friday

2011-07-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

I think I'm finally at the point in my life where I need so many passwords and am registered on so many websites that I need to write down each password for each site! I used only few passwords but even so if you get it wrong too many times the site (say Sprint for instance) will lock you out like it's eating your ATM card. I am also using that for an excuse as to why I haven't updated recently, I couldn't remember the password and it was too much like work to figure it out.

I'm going to tell you a short funny story which may only be amusing if you understand my particular job for my store's inventory prep. Jackson gave me this job when I was a support manager so I guess that was 12 years ago and boy has it stuck even through 2 other store managers. My special job is to go through the entire store and find all the staplers, hammers, screwdrivers and other tools that people grab off the sales floor to use on their projects. If we don't sell it and we don't account for it then we shrink out a couple of departments big time ie: hardware and stationery.

So armed with a can of orange spray to mark what I've taken inventory of and a notebook to jot down the UPCs, I go through every desk, closet and hidey hole for every department. I decided to get on it today as it's July 1st and we inventory in 19 days and started with the Garden Center closet.

The department manager followed me in because it makes them paranoid to have me digging through their stuff and I asked her how many pair of dykes she felt she needed to do her job. She gingerly held up 1 finger and I held up 3 pair - all taken from the side counter in hardware and unsellable because they're USED. I then looked down at a box containing a turkey deep fryer and said "what's that?" because we only have those at Thanksgiving/Christmas and it should have been long gone. She said "I don't know but it's been store used" "Really?" I shrieked "because I don't remember eating any turkey!!"

I took the box with the words STORE USE written in bold black marker to the reclaimation dept and told Virginia, Doris and Cindy the story. They laughed (because if we don't we'll cry) and they took the box from me so I could continue sorting through my shopping cart of crap. A few minutes later Cindy walked by on her way out and said "Hey Di, I put the mail on your desk and there's some turkey in the lounge if you want some" I whipped my head around ready to say "really?" until I saw the wicked gleam in her eye.

She is evil but sometimes I am easily fooled like that - everyone knows about the time we were driving somewhere early in the morning and Nick said "Look! a monkey!" and I looked even though we were driving down the freeway in Phoenix at 5 a.m. He is still getting a lot of mileage from that one..

Vacation, all I ever wanted - vacation, had to get away

2011-06-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

Naomi has been planning on having 3 of her closest friends see Mamma Mia with her at the Capitol Theater for her birthday, practically since last year. I chose to spend the week before the event with her and her friend Susan from Oregon will be spending the following week with her. Lynnette lives in SLC and will join us for dinner, the show and the rest of the night out.

I bought Naomi a copy of the book Throw out 50 Things because she has been desperately trying to declutter her house. If that gives you the impression that her house is a junked up disaster, it's not. She just has trouble letting go of things because she is emotionally attached to EVERYTHING. She lets me help her because I don't care about THINGS at all and I can be firm and sometimes heartless, but I know when to back off.

Day one was very gratifying as we bagged up 6 garbage bags of clothes for the Goodwill and tossed out a bag of trash. Other things were set aside for her daughters to go through and take what they wanted.
Day 2 we tackled only 1 thing - a basket full of papers by her desk - Every scrap of paper is important to her because it reminds her of something fun that happened or she wants to file it for future reference.
Day 3 - Naomi's Birthday - we did not do anything because that's a rotten way for a person to spend their special day.
Day 4 (today) I am updating this as I wait for Naomi to get back from some errands she needs to run and I am not looking forward to finishing up the 2 drawer filing cabinet that is testing the bonds of our friendship.

Breanna is here and at one point as I was creating a "Naomi's Life Sketch" file said "you know that file will still be in that drawer when she dies" and I replied "and even though I will be crying and inconsolable, I will still come over and throw it out after the funeral". Breanna asked "can I get that in writing?".

I do love to paint!

2011-06-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

So I finally had a Wednesday off (my favorite day off of the week) and decided to use it to paint the accent wall. I bought the paint a month or so ago and have been waiting for a day to myself so I could get it done. as I hate to do work in front of other people. Weird but true.

With TJ and Nick both at work I got out my dropcloths, paint, roller and brush and started taping off the floor and walls. FYI? that new frog tape is expensive but oh so worth it. I lost track of my roll* at some point in the job and had to use my old blue tape* which kind of sucks.

I tried to channel my friend Chanelle as I worked who can paint without even changing clothes because she is so calm and efficient - not like me who spends much of the time spastically flailing and wiping spills* on my shirt. I used drop cloths, loaded my roller and did not stretch the paint, all the things I've learned about painting over the years and yet I was swearing so much and so loud that poor Brigit* made a run for her crate and stayed there until it was all over.

It seems like it should have been easy to paint one wall but you have to tape off so much and the corner that connects with the main living room wall was akin to trying to paint behind a toilet*. Also? thank goodness for drop cloths because I was dripping paint* everywhere!

I was able to put on a second coat a couple hours later after a trip to drop my sewing machines off to my Obama-hating repairman in Peoria, as it's pretty warm here so it dried fast. The red wall will now be known as the dark brown/almost black wall I was a little nervous about the dark color but now that it's finished - I love it!

*denotes BIG Swears.

New Mexico

2011-05-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

So we were supposed to go fishing at Alamo this weekend but with the ceaseless wind and road construction, JT decided to head east for another stamp in my Natl Park passport.

Silver City, New Mexico a small town about a 5 hour drive from us. You pass through no place you'd ever want to live in AZ (Safford, Thatcher, Pima) then cross the border and drive through miles and miles of beautiful landscape (like a postcard!) Actually I'm unclear on just how much was beatiful and what was just boring because I like to sleep on a road trip. A lot.

We rolled into town too late to head on to the Gila Cliff Dwellings so we (TJ) decided to get a motel room and find a place to eat dinner. You may remember that I lost my motel choosing privileges after the Tombstone trip. So even though I was DYING to check out The Drifter motel for $53 dollars a night, TJ chose a reputable chain with free wifi, cable tv and a clean but hard bed. So very hard.

Anyway the jokes on him because there was some sort of biker event in town and a good sized group was having a party in the motel parking lot right under our room so after a very delicious dinner at the local steak house, we stopped at Walmart to pick up some ear plugs for Mr. Light Sleeper.

This morning we got up early and had breakfast at Grandma's Cafe. It is this great little place with one older lady taking orders and serving food and another older lady cooking in the kitchen. Just like having breakfast in someone's home and the pancakes were amazing. We then headed up a beautiful mountain road to get to Gila Cliff Dweller National Park.

It was an hour long, gorgeous drive through tall trees and the hike to see the dwellings was a little steepish in places - enough to make me feel better about missing my cycle class today but not so steep that I needed to pass out on the side of the trail. We have seen quite a few native ruins lately (we do live in the southwest) and these were surprisingly complex plus I love the great room with the soot stained ceiling that looks like the night sky.

After that we grabbed sandwiches from a deli for the trip home and I believe I slept 90% of the trip (I can't wake up!!). Our crazy, crazy dog was waiting for us along with a note on our truck about how she howled all night long. Good times.

to all you moms out there.

2011-05-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Let me just say that you are not doing yourself any favors when you let your kids sass you or act like total heathens in public. I see insanity of every variety at work every day but today takes the cake.

I was walking through through the grocery side looking for some UPCs and saw a mom and her 9-10ish year old son. He was pushing their shopping cart behind her and I saw him get a mean look on his face and run the shopping cart right into his mother from the back! I just watched and held my breath waiting for her to unleash her wrath but all she did was say "don't do that, it's not nice!"

Really? who has so little respect for themselves that they let their kids treat them like that? I knew when Nick was a 10 1/2 pound infant that he was going to be a LOT bigger than me some day and I needed to raise him with an acceptable amount of fear. I remember an Oprah episode where mothers would go on and say how terrified they were of their 13 year old children. Huh.

My cousin taught me the most important lesson in child rearing -- to be the worst kid in the house. She recalled a story of her daughter's boyfriend standing in the doorway of the bathroom and not letting his mom out until she let him go somewhere. She said "I would have reached through and pulled out a kidney to get to the doorknob behind him if he were my son".

Btw, when the mother turned back around I glared at that little boy with the meanest face I have and he mellowed right out. If he had only known how badly I wanted to grab the hair on the back of his neck and drag him outside so I could scream in his face he would have run in terror.

my current project

2011-05-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

So you know for Mother's Day I got this cool little gadget that takes old-timey slides and converts them into pictures you can actually use on your computer. I was lucky? enough to inherit the family slides from Gma and Gpa Diehl plus the ones of us growing up from my parents. I still have the Montgomery Wards slide projecter and screen which I drag out about once a year and show to anyone who will look at them but no seems to have the same fascination for these pictures as I do.

I look at all these fun group pictures of Gma Diehl and her sisters? friends? who knows? and wish I knew them all. There are fun pics taken at dinner tables where everyone looks like they're having a great time PLUS everyone seems to be smoking because there weren't all those crazy health nuts way back when. I desperately wish I could show these pics to Gma so she could tell me one more time who everyone is.

There are great photos my dad took while he was in Vietnam of local people and places, countless pictures of the cousins in Ypsilant hanging out at Gma's or riding the Gpa's lawn mower and vacation photos from all over the west. I'm not through scanning yet but I hope to be soon and am working on filing all these photos into coherent files and possibly naming as many pics as I can. My plan is to share them with anyone who would like a copy so we can all wonder if that stretch of road in the picture is in Michigan or Florida...

in which we did not win our retirement fund

2011-05-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

When I was in Utah for my March Tax Trip, I was hanging out at the Johnson's listening to them make plans to go to Las Vegas for Breanna's anniversary to see Phantom of the Opera. I can't remember who asked if I wanted to go but I thought "sure, I can drive to LV to meet some friends for a good time". I called TJ and said "I'm going to go to see Phantom in Las Vegas in May with the Johnson's, do you want to come?" and he replied "well I'll go to Las Vegas....".

TJ and I left early Friday morning so we go to St George to have lunch with my parents (delicious Mexican food) and visit them for a little while. We then headed south and checked in to Summer Bay Resorts which is on an entire block that's under construction so v. difficult to find but oh, so worth it if you have a large party. There are 2 bedrooms and a hide a bed couch, so with Layne and Bobbi bringing their air mattress we put up 8 people for 2 nights for $208!

After we checked in (and made sure there was Food Network on the cable) TJ and I headed to the Venetian to find Mario Batali's restaurant for dinner as the Johnson's weren't getting there until later - btw there was a lot of arguing about the time zone difference and who would end up at what time but I won't get into that. Dinner was excellent and aside from me needing to stop at the Walgreens on the strip to buy flip flops because my shoes were giving me blisters as were about infinity of other women (not joking) the evening was a delight.

We got to the room in time for TJ to go get Breanna and Russ from the airport and what was left for Naomi and me to do but make a late night trip to Walmart? As I'm sitting there half asleep on the passenger side of her van watching her dodge heavy traffic I said "it doesn't matter that we're in Las Vegas, sitting here while we drive around late at night to run to the store just feels so natural" because that has entertained us for a LOT of years.

Next day we got breakfast at Tuscany Bay casino, hung out by the pool (me in the shade - please) then got dressed for early dinner at Ferraro's which is off the strip and a beautiful Italian place with amazing food. Naomi wanted to be at the door of the Phantom theater at a specific time and was a little nuts when we weren't quite on schedule (don't blame me, I can get ready in 5 minutes) but TJ dropped us off in time and we were in our seats 15 minutes before the play began.

Phantom? Amazing theater and stage sets. Gorgeous costumes. Beautiful singing. Super creepy and overwrought storyline. Was it fun? you bet. Do I need to see it again? nope.

We hit the strip to see the pirate show at Treasure Island and then TJ drove us around to sight see then we had late night dessert at Terrible's Casino. Next morning we all parted ways at checkout, TJ and I dropped Bre and Russ of at the airport and headed home. Good Times my friends. Good Times.

Vote for Kirstie!

2011-05-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Vote for Kirstie!

I didn't start watching Dancing With the Stars until Season 6 when Adam Carolla needed my votes and I voted for Brandy 2 seasons ago. However I have always LOOOOOVED Kirstie Alley (even read her biography) so I am using all my votes every week and I urge you to do the same.

Thank you, that is all.

May Day resolution

2011-05-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

So I came to a decision yesterday afternoon while I was sweating away on my cycle at LAFitness. I am going start doing some actual chores that need to be done around the house when I come home from work instead of just flopping down on the couch and looking at Facebook for hours AND I am going to quit being such a bitch about dinner.

The problem is I hate to try to think of things to make for dinner, hate to buy the things to make dinner and kind of hate making it after I've worked all day. If it were a perfect world I would eat cold cereal or a fried egg sandwich every night but it's not and TJ does enjoy having a decent meal.

Don't get me wrong, he cooks plenty - in fact he cooks dinner more often than I do because it's grilling season and if he can sit out on his awesome patio, cook food on the grill while drinking a cold beverage and getting dive-bombed by hummingbirds then he is in man-heaven.

I came home from the gym and made tater tot casserole which was well recieved and tonight I (wait for it) did the grocery shopping after work. I bought the fixin's for fish tacos (corn tortillas, pico de gallo, limes and shredded cabbage while he cooked the fish. I texted him to let him know I was in the checkout line.

Me - I'm in line now - a loooong line
TJ - I'm starting to cook the fish
Me- I'm starting to eat the food out of the cart

Our lines are always horrendous in the evening so as much as it sucks to stand and wait, I do get plenty of People/Star etc (scandal sheets as Gma called them) reading in which is good because the new issue is full of royal wedding photos.

Tuzigoot is a funny word

2011-05-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Things I have done recently

decided on a color and painted that color on my living room walls with very little swearing thank you very much.
decided on a color and purchased that color for the accent wall (will no longer be known as "the red wall") with very little help from TJ
made some decent headway into the hooded cardigan I'm knitting for Tina with only a normal amount of ripping resulting from my inability to read directions.

TJ wanted to road trip in his new car today (we have a new black, diesel VW Jetta) because it gets like 44 mpg and it makes him ever so happy to prove it. We decided to go see the Tuzigoot National Monument because it's reasonably close, we haven't been there and I love to get new stamps in my National Parks passport! The weather was beautiful today if not a bit coolish (75 degrees?) and there was no hiking required!

not such a good pic as the attraction is right behind TJ's melon

probably no snakes as it's still pretty cold here but a good warning for tourists!

Stopped in Cottonwood and found a great place for lunch called the Red Rooster and poked around a yarn/bead store. We then drove the back road home through Yarnell and Congress which is a nauseatingly windy road but also gorgeous and scenic.

I know it sounds like all we do is have fun fun fun but I did work concessions at the stadium for University of Phoenix graduation yesterday which was a lesson in hell. Who knew so many people wanted to eat nachos and super pretzels while watching their relative get their diploma? We were SLAMMED and I came home covered in cheese and exhausted. I did make 3 dollars and 25 cents in tips however which I spent on an iced passion tea at Starbucks on the way home.

Adventure Wednesday

2011-04-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

I love my Wednesdays off when I can get them because I accomplish so much. I cleaned up the front yard and back yard this morning. Took Brigit for a walk then forced her into the bath - she loves the bathtub for cooling off, she just hates actually being washed.

I made TJ an eye appointment and called the nice sewing machine repair shop in Peoria to see if I could bring in 2 (count 'em) machines that are not working well. His phone message explained that while he is open every day from 1 pm - 5 pm, he would be closed on 4/20. I think that says a lot about my sewing machine repair guy. He does repairs out of this tiny used book store so there's a lot of fun to be had if you visit.

While I was picking up assorted weeds and trash out of the backyard I noticed a small lizard sitting on a cardboard box. I also noticed he did not run away when I bent down to look at him and it's because he was stuck to the packing tape! I tried to pry his tiny - paws? hands? off the tape but he would put them right back down on it, so I yelled for TJ who was working from home today, to come help. I held the tape tightly while TJ gently peeled the little guy off. Mostly his BELLY was stuck to the tape and I felt just awful until he ran away as soon as he was loose.

Audrey said "you saved him! you should write that in your journal!" I said I would but it certainly doesn't reflect well on us because if we had thrown the cardboard in the recycle bin instead of on the rocks in the first place, none of this would have happened. I folded the carboard up and immediately threw it away while TJ made sure any tape made it into the trash.

After that excitement I did some other household chores, ran to the store with Nick and then settled down to watch movies on Netflix. I chose Emma first because I never get tired of watching it and my favorite line is when Knightley says "Try not to kill my dogs". I still had time on my hands until my cycle class so I put on Funny Girl which is a great movie plus the costumes are amazing.

If you don't know I've been doing cycle class since January when TJ and I joined LA Fitness. I go 3 times a a week and I love the grueling workout plus it's different every time with different instructors every day and fun music. My favorite thing about it is that I can't see the clock while I'm dong it so I'm always surprised when it's over.

The best part of the day was my dinner. I was whining most of the morning about how I didn't have anyone to go have breakfast with so TJ made ham and cheese omelettes for dinner. I Looooove breakfast for dinner. Heck, I just love breakfast - but not too early in the morning and not on days I work. Go fig.

Sunday morning and I have accomplished 5 things

2011-04-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

I won't bore you with the list of chores I did this morning and actually the list would have been longer but JT helped out yesterday while I was at work. In fact he did my most hated of chores - grocery shopping. Assistant Mgr Robin came in my office at one point and asked "is your husband in the store?" and I said "hell, I don't know what he does while I'm at work but he does spend a lot of time shopping here so it's very likely - wait! did it look like he was GROCERY SHOPPING?" Sure enough he was, *joy*.

We met our friends Troy and Kim for dinner after I got off work at BJ's in Chandler which was a good time because they are super nice people and the food was pretty darn good. I had a shrimp and pasta dish which was muy delicioso, but you know me - I've never met a shrimp I didn't like.

I have finally decided on a color for the living room PLUS I have come to a decision about painting the ceiling. 2 of my trusted friends Naomi and Cindy asked "why do you want to paint the ceiling?" and after listening to their reasoning I decided that I don't. Cindy said I shouldn't bother until I want to sell the house and even then she would tell them to knock a couple thousand off the price if I don't. Good Idea. TJ is going to Lake Powell for 4 days with his brother next weekend so that is when the fun starts.

TJ and I almost always go to Tomo for Sushi on Friday nights and I don't know if you know this about me but at the end of the meal I usually "sculpt" the leftover wasabi into something interesting. Here is my effort from last Friday.

The panko off one of our rolls had made my soy sauce all thick and sludgey so I decided on a corpse rising out of the ground. It's a little dark, I know but;

"Who knows where inspiration comes from. Perhaps it arises from desperation. Perhaps it comes from the flukes of the universe, the kindness of the muses." -Amy Tan

a song and a story

2011-04-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

My cousin posted about her taffy making experience which turned out badly as candy making so often does (I remember attempting taffy with a friend when I was a teenager which turned into a hard, blue, un-pullable slab on a plate) and it reminded me of my favorite Lisa Loeb song which in turn reminds me of my cousin.

My friend's got a bruise on his leg, A bruise on his leg
Everytime you speak.
My friend's got a bruise on his leg, where I press my knee
Everytime you speak.

My friend's got a bruise on his arm, a bruise on his arm
Everytime you speak.
My friend's got a bruise on his arm, where I shove my elbow
Everytime you speak.

My friend's got a bruise on his ribs where I poke my finger
Everytime you speak.
My friend's got a bruise on his ribs, his rib cage is now numb
Everytime you speak.

Actually, bottom line, you tell the truth sometimes,
And sometimes you tell the truth like you're pulling taffy

If you have EVER sat by my cousin in a meeting, or any other place where people say things that make her insane but she can't mention it out loud, I promise you she will pinch you HARD. God help you if you jump. I've heard her kids fight not to sit by her...

Now I don't have so many opportunites to poke at people so when I do it's not subtle. In face the last time I did it at the Office Associate breakfast, Angela said that Linda probably saw me kick her (Ang) twice as I did it while she (Linda) was babbling on.

trip to Tombstone and beyond

2011-04-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

TJ was going to Lake Powell this weekend but with the terrible weather forecast and the chance that all national parks would be closed, he decided to postpone his trip. He already had a long weekend off so he asked if I could take Friday off (and I DID!) to make a trip to Tombstone. We've lived in AZ almost 14 years and have never been to see that area of the state and there are a lot of National Parks to see along the way - even if they're closed on Saturday we could still catch some on Friday...stupid government.

So we left Friday morning but stopped for breakfast at a place call Over Easy on 43rd St and Indian School. I love it because 1. is featured on Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives and 2. has a breakfast menu item called The Wolfpack which is stack of hasbrowns, 2 eggs, bacon, cheese topped with more hashbrowns *joy*

On the road southeast we stopped first in Casa Grande to see the Hohokam ruins (1st stamp of '11 in my Natl Parks Passport) and then drove through Saguaro National Park (2nd stamp). We got to Tombstone, parked the car and started exploring. The old dear at the Information Center told us the best museum was the one in the Courthouse so we headed straight over there and gave our admission fee to a goth girl (dyed black hair, blunt cut bangs and heavy eyeliner) wearing a pioneer dress.

We also went to see the largest rose bush in the world? America? AZ? I can't remember now, but it is huge and Cindy told me to make sure we saw it. We finished up there in time to see the reenactment of the Shoot Out at the OK Corral. The best part of that was the Historama after where you sit in a little theater and watch a film plus cool diorama on the history of Tombstone that was made the year I was born.

We decided to eat dinner at the historic Crystal Palace (on goth girl's recommendation) then went to find a motel. This is actually where the adventure begins because I am always in charge of choosing motels. A motel for a road trip needs to meet 2 criteria; be super reasonably priced (cheap) and have delightful local flavor. I picked the Adobe Inn based on nearness to town, and the fact that it looked pretty full with lots of motorcycles parked in front.

I should have known it was going to be interesting when the guy running it told us we were in 115 and that the key was in the door. By the way, we were on the 2nd floor and shouldn't it have been 215? I'm just sayin'. So there was no key in 115 nor in 114 (I checked just in case I heard wrong) and went back to the office to tell the desk guy. He was checking in 2 people from Minnesota at the same time and grabbed both keys to walk to our room after he got them to theirs. The lady opened the door and said "this room hasn't been cleaned!" So the guy turns to me and throws me keys and asks me to bring the wrong one back.

I went upstairs and told TJ who was waiting patiently by the doors that ONE of these rooms were ours. He rolled his eyes and indicated that I should try the doors in case we were barging in on someone. I knocked loudly on 115, opened the door to discover a room that hadn't been cleaned, then knocked loudly on 114 to find a made-up room that had the other 114 key on the table. I told the guy in the office we would take 114 please not to sell it to anyone else.

My favorite things about the room? bed so hard it rivaled the mattress on slab of cement Sally and I once slept on in Mexico - pillow so flat that I snuck down to the laundry room and grabbed another one along with a pillow case so TJ would be able to sleep - and as I was laying there reading while TJ watched Swamp Loggers on Discovery Channel, I thought I'd turn my light on only to find there was no lightbulb in it and finally in the morning TJ said he believes that instead of blocking sound, the walls actually amplified it.

I may have lost my motel choosing privledges.

We got up early because we offically old people now and to prove it, nothing was open for breakfast except one little cafe where all the geezers hang out. Still we had a nice meal and some coffee then hit the road. We drove through some beautiful countryside in lovely overcast weather until we reached Chiricahua National Monument (stamp 3) and drove around the park to see the amazing rock formations and explore Faraway Ranch.

Some more driving on the back roads through until we got to Fort Bowie National Monument (4th stamp and I EARNED that one) The sign said it was 1.5 mile hike to the ranger station and historic site. TJ was torn because his back was killing him from terrible sleep on hard bed but said we would probably never pass this way again. We decided to try it and hiked mostly uphill past many interesting sites all clearly marked with signs and also a cemetary - I think everyone knows how much I love a cemetary - until we got to the Fort. The best thing about hiking uphill somewhere? the way back is easy.

We drove through Wilcox on the way home and stopped a couple wineries then met the kids for dinner at Sakana on Elliot to end the day.

it keeps me going back every day

2011-04-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

So I worked on Saturday and spent most of the day stocking in HBA (shampoo, vitamins etc) and the work itself makes the day fly by but the best thing is the people watching. Some observations of the day;

1. screaming babies/children. I am amazed every day how parents will walk casually around the entire store with a screaming child while they continue to shop and ignore it. I refuse to believe someone can't pick up the child and comfort it or take it outside and whip it's ass. Also? it's my place of work. Do I come to your work with a screaming baby and wander around with it while you try to work so you leaving with a screaching headache? I didn't think so.

2. young men walking around with their 1 or 2 size too small ball caps perched on an angle on top of their heads. Do you know that it makes you look like you ride the short bus? Please stop and girls, quit being seen in public with your boyfriend unless he buys a hat that fits his stupid melon.

3. young men shopping for home pregnancy tests. One approached Austin who stocks pharmacy to ask where they were and after he left I said "next time that happens, just grab him by the shoulders flip him to the opposite side of the aisle where we sell the condoms and say "if this all turns out to be a horrible scare, buy these from now on".

Later that evening we went to see Neil play in the Rhythmic Variations concert and I have to confess that when he plays in a program like that I watch him while he plays and then mostly zone out and think about what people are wearing when he's not.

However there was a lady who was acting like a groupie at a rock show, fawning all over the professors and having her picture taken with her friend between sets and talking so loudly through most of the show that Neil's friend Steve said he wanted to throw something at her because he could hear her while he was playing. He said he thought she might be someone's drunk mother.

While she was hugging various musicians I said to TJ "wow I hope she doesn't know Neil because if she throws herself at him Lisa (Neil's gf who flew in for his recital) will rip out a chunk of that blonde hair.
TJ said "really? do you think she's the type?" We both looked at Lisa who was seated a few rows away and I said "Oh yeah". Lisa confirmed this later by saying she was all set to yank out a weave if Groupie McDrunkface approached or hugged her boyfriend Neil.

Neil's recital on Sunday went awesomely. I assume he played well because the music students and his professor seemed to be impressed. I'm not going to lie to you, some of that stuff that is technically impressive is a giant yawn to listen to. We served little turkey and ham sandwiches for the nosh after along with some tiny cream puffs which went over well plus there was plenty without being too much. The entire event was a success especially TJ being able to stream it live. The link is still up if you want to watch www.ustream.tv/channel/neilrecital

2 stories from the Trifecta

2011-03-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

Monday Cindy was telling me how she hurt her back on Saturday while changing the sheets (lesson here, anyone?) and immediately took an Alieve but was still in pain and couldn't sleep that night. She told me how she found herself staring at the "other pharmacy"* in her refrigerator trying to decide between a muscle relaxer and a Vicodin. As she weighed her options she thought to herself, "what would Janis do?".

I marveled at how much pain she had to be in to even entertain that thought and she admitted that she didn't have any Hennessey to wash them both down with so chose only the muscle relaxer with some water. She is much better now if anyone wants to know. *Cindy keeps a well stocked bottle of a variety of pills in her purse for life's little emergency but apparently keeps the hard stuff in her fridge.

Tuesday I called Janis to tell her an associate needed a payout and she informed me that she hit a rabbit or a squirrel on the way to work! I asked if she checked her bumper when she got out of the car and she said "eww no, but I saw the feathers flying so I know I hit it". My friend Janis doesn't get out in nature very often and don't think I didn't post it on FB and this was her reply.

"See the thing is I.don't know. What it was just seen what look like feathers and remember we in the desert ...could be any dam thang. LOL lol"

Huzzah!

2011-03-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy the last couple months, what with all the home repair from the plumbing disaster to TJ working in California for 3 weeks and me doing the yearly tax trip that I thought we would never get to the Renaissance Festival. Fortunately I was wrong, and TJ and I went yesterday. The Ren Faire comes every year on the weekends for about 2 months Feb - April and it is always a ton of fun.

Of course first you have to drive an hour and a half to Apache Junction and park your car in a giant dusty lot but once you pass through the gates and are greeted "Good Morrow to you", it's all epic people watching and turkey legs from there on.

First of all may I tell you how AMAZING the weather was yesterday, not too hot or sunny with a lovely breeze. TJ did buy me a parasol with skulls on it from the Pirate Shoppe just in case I needed sun shade however. We didn't have any kids with us and no obligation to do any one thing so we wandered from show to show, starting with 3 Guys and a Bunch of Drums which stars Neil's High School band instructor, then on to the acrobats, caught the end of Tartanic and ended up at the Pirate Shantyman and Bonnie Lass show.

We did not even wander near the joust which is in itself unusual because we always have spent a couple hours broiling at the joust. I guess we couldn't top last year's experience when Neil played drums for it so why bother?

As we were walking around it was hard not to just say "omg look at that guy with the weird hair" or "check out that girl wearing 2 tiny strips of chain mail" so I would just look at TJ and say "to my left, to my left" or "to my right, to my right" which is system that seemed to worked out ok because people watching is no fun if you can't share you reactiveness/observations with someone.

Lunch was loaded baked potatoes and of course we had to get cinnamon almonds to snack on while we watched the falcon show and the bullwhip guy (I don't know what to call him, he cracks whips and it's entertaining as hell!). Worst part of that? sitting of the grass, well the actual sitting isn't bad, it's the getting up after sitting on the ground for an hour. I'm trying to decide when I lost my ability to sit on the ground - it may possibly be the same time I lost the ability to read fine print..

Anyway we cut out a little before it ended for the day to beat the traffic and on our way home stopped by Neil's music room and picked him up for dinner at Four Peaks before we went home.

Oh I love a wedding!

2011-03-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

My niece Laura got married yesterday and in preparation I told both boys to make sure they were scheduled off work and found an awesome dress at Buffalo Exchange for (drum roll please) 7 bucks! Well things never quite turn out as planned and Neil ended up substituting for the percussionist in Hansel and Gretel so we took David in his place. David is so much part of our family that I'm not sure anyone noticed the difference after a while.

TJ has been working in California all week and flew back home for the weekend Friday night but managed to work all day and up to and practically through the wedding - in fact I thought we were just going to have to leave him home but he managed to wrap things up before the ceremony was totally over.

The wedding was in Tonopah and if you get out your handy map of AZ, you will see that it is way out west even past B.F.Buckeye! As we drove past the power plant I texted Sally "omg this wedding is clear out to hell and gone! we just passed the power plant". She replied that if we got lost we should just keep going to California.

We got to the location and noticed a designated parking spot under a giant power line tower and a long dirt road. My initial reaction, thinking that we were going to have to walk a half mile in the dust was "ah hell no!" until I saw the park bench with a sign that read "wait here for shuttle" because they didn't want to raise a lot of dust near the wedding, I'm sure and the parking out there by the house? out building? was limited.

Aside from that the set up was very nice, with chairs set up bordered by paper lanterns and white lights surrounded by beautiful spring desert. My 3 nieces could not have looked cuter in their dresses and everything went off without a hitch. The ceremony was interesting with some native American flair, some woo woo plus a whole lot of "you don't own her" directed at the groom. TJ is uncomfortable through weddings as a general rule and usually mumbles uncontrollably through them but fortunately he was missing through half of it and I just raised a finger to shoosh him through the rest.

Nick takes after his father and was squirming through a couple parts of the ceremony but luckily his brother David was there to support him and so was his favorite cousin Jacky. Nick, btw way, wore a suit because he kinda digs wearing one and looked pretty awesome and even bought new guages to match. David said the clerk at Hot Topic was puzzled when they asked where the formal guages were...

We got delicious bar-b-qed pork and chicken sandwiches after with pasta salad, coleslaw and beans. Totally appropriate for a wedding where the bride wore cowboy boots under her gorgeous dress with the purple underskirt that was visible once the top layer was pulled back after the ceremony. There was dancing and cake and every fun thing you could ask for, we stayed until the end then took Jacky home with us so she didn't have to spend her last night in AZ with the 'olds'.

Dee invited us to his place this morning for homecooked breakfast burritos before Wendy, Jacky, Beck and TJ's parents had to head home. TJ just left for the airport to spend his second out of 3 weeks in CA and Brigit and I are enjoying some Norah Jones on Pandora.

It's the circle of life, Simba

2011-02-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, you know how sometimes you have large items to throw away and it costs 7 or 8 bucks to take it to the city landfill? TJ long ago beat that system with his ability to cut anything down no matter how large or unwieldy into garbage can size chunks to be put out on the curb each Monday. Does the carpet, carpet pad, 55 gallon drums, entire half pipe etc get thrown out all at once? Noooo sometimes it takes MANY Mondays but eventually it all goes.

We also have a fun event on the 2nd Monday of every month called large trash pick-up day which the city provides so that you can put your tree trimmings and other things that don't fit in the trash (ha!) on the curb and the city picks them up on...Tuesday. I don't understand it either but it's a great place to put any old furniture that's not good enough for the Goodwill and watch it disappear within minutes.

I don't judge the people that pick the trash from the curbs since that's where we got one of our computer chairs (oh I made Neil go get it) but I've never actually been outside weeding my front rocks when someone has pulled up in an old beater truck and taken my sh-t away! Until Sunday. I was facing the house and heard a vehicle stop and heard my dad's old ladder and Nick's old bike get loaded up and taken away. He left the one bike tire on the curb. Not to worry, someone came and got that an hour later.

Btw when I asked TJ to put the old ladder out on the curb he said "but your dad gave that to us!" That may be as that may be, but it doesn't make it any less of a piece of unsafe junk, dear.

so I'm IMing my 11 year old niece..

2011-02-11T06:02:00.000-08:00

S - gosh my x-boyfriend stole from my friend zack and now i get to 1 beat my x up and 2 buy zack a new gum pack

Me - well you don't HAVE to - but you can if you want. I don't recommend spending money on boys - they should spend money on YOU.

S - yeah well maybe I'll just get zack a special treat for valentines day

S -You know i hate boys

Me - well boys your age are kind of gross. actually they never get any better.

S -yeah my mom said they mature to a certain point and stop

Me - ha ha she could not be more correct

a birthday recipe

2011-02-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

It's my friend and co-worker Janis' birthday today and for 17 days we will be the same age. I was invited to her birthday potluck so when I asked what time the potluck is going to be and was told 10:00 a.m., I yelled "in the morning??" Shirley said "well Janis comes in at 5 (oh yeah, I forgot) and takes her lunch at that time. So I guess I am bringing my amazing shrimp dip to potluck BREAKFAST this morning. Make some if you think you're tough enough not to eat the whole bowl by yourself..

Soften 2 bricks of cream cheese
Stir in 16 oz container of sour cream and when I say stir, I mean use an electric mixer
Dump in 1 can of drained, medium shrimp (you can use tiny but the medium ones break up nicely for texture)
1 teaspoon of onion salt.
I always dump in some Lousiana hot sauce or Rooster sauce but you dont' have to.

Whip that up and serve with anything you like - I like RUFFLES

My words are not always what I want them to be.

2011-02-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

I just got back from walking Brigit on the short walk and I wish I could describe the layer cake of colors in the sky at twilight. Fiery orange and pinks withs stripes of slate blue and above it all hangs the tiniest sliver of a crescent moon. Sometimes I can't wait to walk the dog because I always see something new and interesting.

As we approached the mailbox towards the end of our walk Brigit was faced with an existential crisis*. Behind the gate by the mailbox was the neighbor's dog barking just begging for Brig to stick her face under the fence and give him a piece of her mind AND across the street was a big dog NOT on a leash. Brigit almost turned herself inside trying to decide who to go after but I had her on a pretty short leash and dragged her quickly home so she never had to make a decision.

*I'm not sure if this is really what I want to say and when I described it to Neil he said "are you saying that Brigit wasn't sure if she's really a dog?" because he is a college-educated smartass.

I am so looking forward to going to work today.

2011-02-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

So we had the plumber here for 2 days, not fixing our hot water leak as we originally planned but instead re-routing the lines through the attic. It's a long term fix so is of course more expensive but does not include having my kitchen floor jackhammered. Don't think we got out of it without any collateral damage because I am staring at 2 holes cut in my bedroom wall, there are 3 in the living room and one in the kitchen.

I asked TJ as I inspected them yesterday "so how are your drywall skills?" and he replied "should be pretty good by the time I get through with all these". Not to mention the 2 holes on the outside of the house that he can learn to stucco. Nick babysat the plumber the first day as he had the day off but since TJ couldn't stay home yesterday and Nick had to work, I had to take a personal day. Doing Nothing. With No Water. Not my idea of a good time but I did get some reading done.

And can I mention how nice the plumber was and how clean he worked? I mean he was cutting the shit out of the walls on Tuesday and I couldn't tell except for the holes and the burny smell when I got home from work because of how professionally he cleaned as he worked. Also he called me Ma'am about hundred times which is just darling, I don't care who you are.

We had tacos for dinner.

2011-01-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday evening and I'm thinking I should write an entry to keep my Daddy-O off my back.

Wednesday - had family dinner at Oregano's for TJ's birthday. Parking was more abysmal than usual due to some party of 20 that Nick was sure each had driven their own car. Neil parked a block away by a school and hoped he didn't get towed. (he didn't)
Thursday - had Official Birthday Dinner for TJ at Tomo's (sushi) with his brother Dee and sister Beck who is visiting for a week. Nick also ~~mooched dinner off of us~~ attended. We ordered the "boat" which says it feeds 3-4 people but actually feeds about 6-7.
Friday - Laura's wedding shower which I meant to take Beck to about 6:00 but ended up getting there at 7:45 because the lady that was supposed to bring the refinance paperwork for TJ and me to sign AT 5:30!! was running super late. We got there in time to see Laura open presents, make a scrapbook page and then take Beck back to Dee's house.
decided to stop by my friend Andrea's party before I went home because she kindly invited me; just in time to see the stripper! I cut out just when he started doing "private dances" because a. I have sons that age and b. had to work in the morning.
Saturday - worked all day then came home to relax while TJ grilled delicious pork steaks.
Today - TJ woke me up with the promise of breakast at Wildflower Bread Company and an early matinee of The Mechanic (with my boyfriend Jason Statham) which I recommend because it's everything you like in a JS movie.
TJ had to go to work after the movie so I spent the afternoon doing a million loads of laundry and cleaning house which is why I can sit here peacefully writing an entry because nothing makes me more zen that clean tile and bathrooms. I'm sure Brigit will just dog- hair it all up tomorrow but that is why some genius invented the Swiffer.

Oh, and I don't work tomorrow as Beck is still in town and I volunteered to entertain her, but part of the entertainment will be me waiting for the plumber because we have a leak some where in our hot water pipes! Not covered by homeowners insurance either! And I had to boil water on the stove to wash dishes this evening! And you can take a shower but it has to be short and you have to turn the hot water going into the house as soon as you're finished! Can you tell I'm excited about it?!

Why my cousin is brilliant and 2 recipes

2011-01-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

Often when I leave work, I wander over to the grocery side and think about what I can make for dinner when I get home. Why don't I already have a menu planned you may ask? Because I am kind of a crappy grocery shopper and do not make lists no matter how often I stay with Audrey and watch her do it. Sometimes I call TJ to ask him what he feels like for dinner and can I tell you that NO ONE hates to have this converstion with me more than him. Nick also hates it but loves to eat dinner so he gives me slightly less grief about it.

Today I spared them both and just called Audrey who was happy to give me advice on my Tacos? or Stuffed Shells? question. (I have to confess that I was just standing by the Valentine goodies display inhaling deeply into a bag of strawberry flavored marshmallows while I was talking to her because I love the smell of marshmallows more than anything)....oh anyway, she told me to get the ingredients for BOTH dinners and whichever one I didn't have tonight would be dinner tomorrow. The hot French bread at the front of the bakery made the decision for me so let me throw out 2 recipes you can use sometime.

Stuffed Shells

Cook one box of jumbo shell pasta until they're done. While they're cooking beat one egg, then mix in a container of ricotta cheese and a couple handfulls of shredded mozzarella. You can just season it with salt and pepper or get creative and use a couple spoonfuls of pesto or what ever sounds good to you. I think the original recipe had thawed frozen spinach mixed in so make yourself happy.

Drain the shells and give them a quick rinse with cold water or don't, and just swear as you burn your hand as you try to stuff them. Oh oh oh, before you start that, open a jar of Ragu or whatever store bought spaghetti sauce you like and pour a little on the bottom of a sprayed 9x13 for a base. THEN start putting the stuffed shells in the pan until you run out of room or filling, cover the top with the rest of the sauce, throw on some grated Parmesan and a nice amount of the mozarella. Bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes.

Everyone likes it and a monkey could make it!

Eve's Garlic Bread

Soften 1 stick of butter in the microwave and add to it some finely minced fresh garlic (how much is a matter of preference - I usually do one large clove). Slice a loaf of French bread into 1" thick diagonal slices, spread with butter and sprinkle with a tiny bit of parsley flakes. Place under broiler and watch carefully until toasted.* Now I never have parsley flakes and I love cheese bread so I just either put thin slices or piles of shredded mozarella on it before I put it in the oven instead.

*you can wander off like a baby duck (me) if you like but you can imagine that you'll end up with a cookie sheet full of charred, smoking bread.

NOT MY FAULT (it's really my fault)

2011-01-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

I just realized that not only am I doing a terrible job of updating my journal but SO ARE THE REST OF YOU!! I blame you - I just want you to know, and as I sit here thinking about things I could write about, that when you're down to 1 dog and 1 other person in the house - there is not a lot of activity to report.

I realized as I worked the last game of the season that it was my fun part time job that got me through the holidays at my other other job so thank goodness for that. I worked with the HR department at the stadium and learned to do employee check-in and re-arrange staffing at the last minute. Monday's BCS bowl was insanely busy and the only game where I had to contend with any mean customers. Step right up folks, I'm so your girl if you want to get ugly about beer sales being cut off. I am treating myself to a well deserved massage tomorrow with my tip money!

TJ kindly took me to the comic convention in Mesa on Sunday morning. After almost wandering into the wrong building where some big revival meeting was being held, we walked around looking at all the artists, all the stuff for sale, people dressed up but there was no place just to sit and watch as it was body to body tables and people so we finally split and headed to Oregano's for lunch.

I woke Neil up on the way to ask if he wanted to join us, he said yes and that he'd be there in 30 SECONDS. He got there quite a bit later even though the restaurant is about a 5 minute drive from his apartment. I gave my sonny boy a hard time about it when he finally arrived so he explained that "only half of what I said on the phone was a lie" which made TJ turn to me and said "see? he IS your kid".

If you know anything about me you know that if I am on the phone telling TJ that "I'll be home in 5 minutes" it most likely means I am at LEAST 20 minutes away. He knows the code after 23 years so he doesn't get too excited about it.
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Resolution Time!

2011-01-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of people who say they don't make resolutions but I always make a couple and #1 on the list is to care about journaling a little more. I am also going to use fewer disposable coffee cups and do some knitting that actually challenges me. That being said, here is my 1st entry of the new year.

Well as you may have heard, Schumtty ran away 2 more times and did not come back the 3rd time. I hope that he either found a good home or that the coyotes ate him quickly. Brigit is an only child now which might be making her more neurotic if that is possible.

Last night we were invited to celebrate the New Year with my friend Jennifer, her husband Josh and their son Jared who I babysit frequently. She cooked us a delicious dinner of chicken enchiladas and then we played games and watched movies while Jared did his best to entertain us in a variety of ways. He played charades for us and sang and danced to all the music in Shrek2. TJ and I could hardly stay awake (even though we had napped all afternoon) so at midnight we wished our friends Happy New Year and hurried home to sleep.

I hope you had a fun New Year's Eve and a good day today - I am going to work the Tostito Bowl in the freezing stadium!! Wish me luck.

Here is a blurry pic of Brigit and me napping on New Year's Eve afternoon.

a Christmas Miracle

2010-12-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

As you may know, Schmutty decided to go on walkabout yesterday which no one would ever expect because he's too lazy to walk to the mailbox much less any further. TJ thinks he slipped out while he was doing some errands going in and out of the front door, back gate or garage. TJ drove and drove around the neighborhood looking for him and when I came home for lunch I walked Brigit around to try to find him but no luck. I was not so much afraid that the coyotes would eat him (definitely a possibility) as I was that someone would take him home forever because he is so very friendly and cute. Oh, and tagless* and chipless because we are apparently bad dog owners...

Nick texted me around midnight to tell me that JJ (his v. good friend from down the street who is home from college for the holidays) said that some guy was asking if he had lost a little black dog, and that we might want to make some lost dog flyers and put them around the neighborhood. Can I tell you that that was a pretty big stretch for Nick because he kind of hates Schmutty. That is exactly what we did first thing this mornning - TJ made the flyers and I went out before work and taped them around the park and on the community mailbox which is where everyone posts their lost dog signs.

I had barely gotten to my desk at work when my phone rang and it was a lady from the neighborhood saying that Schmutty had spent the night at their house but he really missed his family and gave me her address. Btw she and her husband and friends go to the park every morning with a pack of dogs and I always grumble under my breath at them because their leashless dogs make Brigit completely insane when I walk her. I swear I will never say or think a mean thing about them ever again and I am going to get Schmutz a microchnip next week. All I ever want is for the people (or dogs) I love to be safe, warm and have enough to eat, so my Christmas is complete.

*the reason he has no tags is that he used to be the Burns family dog and I've never been successful getting animal control to change his tags to our address so I just gave up. I suck, I know.

glad I'm here and not there

2010-12-08T06:35:00.000-08:00

Every morning when I log on to the internets, I peruse IGoogle as I'm listening to the Adam Carolla podcast and look at the weather in all my friend/family's neck of the woods. This morning it appears to be 7 degrees farenheit at my cousin's house and I want her to know that I pity her but could not be more grateful to be here where it is a balmy 44.

We went to Neil's marching band Pass in Review last night which is always a fun show. It's indoors and the band performs all the shows they've done through out the football season. The best part is that you get to watch the baton twirlers up close and I don't care how dorky that seems, ASU has some seriously amazing baton twirlers and I'm so busy watching them and their darling glittery outfits that I sometimes forget to look at Neil. But only sometimes.

football December.

2010-12-06T06:43:00.000-08:00

It's only the 6th and already I'ved worked 2 football games this month. I have 2 more, one of those on Christmas Day but I don't have to be there until noon and hopefully the tips will be good. This is the second year I've worked for the stadium and when I signed up again in August I told Diane in HR that I would be willing to do any extra jobs they have as I noticed several concessions workers doing other odd jobs before and after games.

So now I do employee check-in before the games which is pretty fun and I am learning some new things. The only downside is that you sit in the cold basement for 3-4 hours which wasn't too bad yesterday but Monday's game was so cold I thought I would NEVER get warm. I check people in, make sure they have any paperwork they're missing and give them their stand assignment, which btw I don't personally give them but they complain at me like I do.

Good thing I have super thick skin from years of working with whiners and criers.

Morning is not my happy time.

2010-11-23T06:38:00.000-08:00

TJ has the entire week off so he got up early to fishing this morning and I woke up when he was leaving because a. I could hear him banging around and b. the house smelled like food. I HATE it when I can smell food in my sleep. It's so out of place that it wakes me up and Nick comes home late a either heats up leftovers or cooks something so it happens more often than you'd think. I had to get up and turn on the Scentsy so I could sleep for another hour. TJ says I have a super sensitive nose but he doesn't mean it as a compliment, especially when I come home from work screeching "what STINKS in here??".

It is only 40 degrees outside which is freezing and I am trying to decide if I want to walk to work in it but I should just cowboy up because 3 minutes after I start walking, I'm all sweating and overheated anyway. Really what I want to do is stay in bed and read beside Brigit who is snoring very loudly this morning.

Sunday morning

2010-11-21T08:38:00.000-08:00

I just got back from taking Brigit on a walk which was uneventful for me but plenty fun for her as she found a black cat hiding in a bush and scared it out. The cat stood up with it's back arched like a Halloween picture and ran off. Brigit just walked off the other way, knowing she'd done her job.

I am on day 4 of the stupidest head cold ever. It started out with a sore throat which I hate but I now just have the stuffiest head and runniest nose in the world. Don't think I'm not treating it with plenty of OTC medication but I am ready for it to go away.

Yesteday I got the opportunity to take my 67 year old friend Marjie to Defensive Driving class. Marjie is one of my people greeters and we are good friends also, so when she got in a wreck the other day (turning left and got hit by an oncoming truck - no serious injuries) she called me after she called her husband and I waited with her while the paramedics looked her over and her husband came to pick her up.

Since then I have taken her to some doctor appointments and signed her up for her Defensive Driving class. I picked her up yesterday and got her all checked in to the class then went back to work for 4 hours. She graduated with honors (or at least they gave her a card that says she completed her course) and we had lunch at TJ's to celebrate. TJ's the local cafe - not my husband.

I am on my way to meet Maribel for breakfast at Mimi's - don't forget to wish Beck a Happy Birthday everyone! Love you Beck, you are an excellent sister in law.

TJ's job is killing both of us but it's not really about me.

2010-11-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

When I got home from work early today and believe me when I say I RAN, not walked out because it's Nascar weekend so the store was busy and the lines were loooong, I did few chores ie. bathrooms, dog crap and a load of laundry. When JT still wasn't home by the time I went to babysit Jared for a couple of hours, I texted him and asked if I should be worried. He said he was on his way home and did I want to go to Manuels (only my favorite light supper EVER). I explained that I was on my way to Jen's and would be home in a couple hours.

When I got home I was under the impression that he was finishing up the longest conference call ever and then we would get food. After I played Petville, Vampire Wars and Yoville for over an hour I realized that I was getting my own damn dinner. So I sit here eating whats left of a chunk of gouda from Halloween and a few crackers and sharing them with the dogs. TJ is still on the conference call.

Oh and it has turned cold enough that TJ turned on the heat last night and I had to put Scmutty in his sweater this morning. I believe that's 50 - 60 degrees for you folks up north.

I really meant to post this on Halloween.

2010-11-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

I have a bowl of Halloween candy on my desk and ZMS Josh picked out a tiny box of Milk Duds and said "hey I love these Filling Stealers"

I had a football game to work on Halloween but it was an early game so I got home in plenty of time for trick or treaters which makes the holiday for me. I NEVER run out of candy because I always over-buy and it's Veterans Day and I STILL have a bowl of pixie stix and candy cigarettes on the table. Jennifer brought Jared over to help me pass out candy and we saw all manner of cute costumes.

I love the little pirates and the skunk and the Strawberry Shortcake and everything in between but my favorites are the teenagers who are taller than I am that I greeted with "hey! what year were you born?!" as I gave them big handfulls of candy. I don't care how old you are - trick or treating is the best.

Some of the last kids I got were some tiny tots dressed up as 2 fairies and a cowboy at first glance but I realized I was looking at 2 zombie fairies and 1 zombie cowboy and said "wow zombies!" and their dad who was waiting down the sidewalk said "she's the only one who figured it out!". Well, of course, I mean Chanelle IS one of my dearest friends.

Maribel came over as usual and added some delicious cheese and crackers to the finger foods we put out for dinner. She also brought the movie I stupidly requested for Halloween viewing - The Howling. I seem to remember it being scarier/better when I was a senior in high school but age has not done a thing for it. Still, I appreciate her not telling me to pick something that didn't suck so much but I don't think TJ did.

I write all this stuff down to journal it and my purse is overflowing with scraps of paper covered in scribbles

2010-10-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

I was at the library today, PAYING MY FINES and overhead some women say to the clerk the sentence I loathe more than anything. "Um, you're going to hate me for this..." - substitute "you're going to kill me", "you're going to be mad at me". Listen here sweetie, I know you've done something stupid and that's your way of confessing it to a perfect stranger who doesn't care one way or the other, but it's a librarian who won't remember you 2 seconds after your're gone.

Why do people preface a sentence like that? How dare you assume you know what I'm thinking or how I'll feel about something? People come into my office often and say "you're going to be mad at me" and I think "well I'm feeling pretty mad now even though I wasn't before just because you said it!". Seriously the one thing I know about human nature is that if you don't give someone an idea that wasn't there before, you probably get them to help you without them thinking you're a giant dumbass. There. Rant over.

So my co-worker Angela was acosted out on the salesfloor by some gentleman that wanted to give her information on shapewear he is selling and she said "I could tell by the way he was looking around that he really thought I needed it". I replied "I'm glad I wasn't in that aisle with you or he would have torn himself in half trying to decide who to sell it to first". Btw, Angela is a beautiful, curvaceous women with tons of gorgeous hair and I am jealous of her every day.

Angela said that she doesn't want to wear a lot of shapewear because eventually the man you're trying to impress is going to see what's under it. She said "Sell what you have. If you like it, then I'll show it". Words to live by.

She also passed on some information she'd aquired about one of our more drama-filled co-workers having a yeast infection and suggested that "her business is on fire" because of those super tight pants she wears. Cindy and I were rolling on the ground because a. that is comedy and b. poor Angela is studying to be a nurse so folks tell her all kinds of horrid personal details. Sound familiar Audrey? Rachel?

My store manager and I were talking about something the other day and I said "well when you're the Regional VP you can tell people how it is" or something like that and she interrupted me and said "HELL NO I don't want to deal with Prima Donnas lilke me!" to which I threw my head back and laughed because whatever I thought she wasn going to say - that wasn't it.

my idea of a vacation is slightly different than most

2010-10-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

This is what I've gotten done so far

prepped/painted the dining room
painted the upstairs hallway (I prepped that last year)
sewed Maddy's Halloween fairy dress (Audrey bought the wings to go with it and it's perfect!
finished knitting Maddy's Miss Dashwood hat - hatehatehate parts of this pattern - had to cast it on twice and do the bobble row twice.. errgh.

I am working on sewing a couple of sleep sacks for Miss Maddy, one is cut out but I'll finish them tomorrow. There is a super cute hat that goes with them I've already made and I want to make bigger ones for Chanelle and Lisa. Also Rachel cut out a dress for herself that hasn't been sewn because she didn't know how to adjust the tension on Audrey's machine which I hope to sew up for her before I leave on Saturday.

Audrey made bacon quiche tonight and then a batch of muffins we saw on Paula Deen. The recipe is this

2 cups self rising flour (important to use self rising or you have to Google how to make a subsitute)
2 sticks butter melted (yes I said 2 sticks of butter)
8 oz sour cream

Stir this together, drop in muffin pan (hell no you don't have to grease them) and bake for 30 minutes @ 350.

When you pull them out of the oven they don't look that impressive but when you eat one hot with a glop of jam on it, it's like biting into buttery heaven. You can imagine how we were both clutching our hearts waiting to drop over after a dinner of quiche and butter muffins but what a way to go.

business as usual

2010-10-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

Rachel and I were watching a commerical on tv a couple days ago for some brand of paint and I said "that's what color (sage) we need to paint the dining room!". Rachel is all about the painting project so we started prepping the room this morning. We peeled the big chunks of paint off which turned out to be peeling only over the repairs made over some cracks many years ago and then I washed the walls. After 2 trips to Walmart, I finished repairing the cracks and am now waiting for the plaster to dry to I can get some primer on it. I hope to start painting first thing in the morning .

I know it sounds like I do a lot of work when I'm here but in return Audrey takes great care of me and cooks every day something delicious for dinner. Tonight she made mushroom chicken served over baked potatoes which is quite good plus she also roasted a cauliflower head and served it with roast the other night. Last night she made the butternut squash polenta which is so very tasty and Miss Maddy ate the hell out of the leftovers for lunch today.

Audrey's new little dog Sonny is very nice and it's great to have a dog to walk when I get up in the moring. No one calls him Sonny by the way, he is Waffles, Waffle-butt, Sir Waffle-Butt or some other variation. I am following the house rules and do NOT let him lick my plate even though I'm sure he would like it.

just like a picture postcard

2010-10-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes. I know that traveling to Freeport IL to sit on my cousin's couch doesn't seem like a vacation to most (any) people, but if you could see the piles of autumn leaves and crunch through them as you walk around the neighborhood looking at porches full of pumpkins, corn stalks and Halloween decorations, you might see the charm.

Yesterday we went to the apple orchard in little berg called Orangeville and it was postcard perfect. You could buy bags of freshly picked apples and there is a new strain that is the rage this year called Honeycrisp which is everything you could ever want from an apple. We bought apples (for pie), a 6 pack of cider donuts, a gallon of cider for Kim and a container of homemade caramel topping for the pie or I guess you could eat it with a SPOON.

RA (Audrey's bff who kindly drove us through the "Holler" (think Hotshot in the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse series) to get there also picked up a box of cashew brittle that is so amazingly delicious and addicting that it very likely is made with heroin. Seriously buttery and just the right crispness, full of cashews. She took the half of the box we didn't eat in the car home - I may go knock on her door and ask for another piece..

I started on one pie when we got home as Rachel dutifully wrote down Gma Diehl's apple pie instructions. I added some information on how if you can peel an apple in one continuous piece then drop it on the floor, it should be the first initial of the man you're going to marry. Kim is either going to marry (E)dward Cullen (a joke - she loathes Twilight) or someone who's name begins with a Y as Rachel read the peel.

The most fun of the autumn trips are the spooky walks through the cemetary which is just a couple blocks from Audrey's house. During the day it is a beautiful historic cemetary but at night is a creepy, creepy place to walk with shadowy mausoleums - some of which seem to have open doors now. We (Rachel and I) love to walk through it at night just to enjoy the chills but Audrey does not so much and talks on her cell phone the entire time to avoid thinking about where we are.

What I learned in one afternoon in Chicago

2010-10-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

■my friend Catalina is an excellent tour guide and knows all the cool things to see plus extra political/gossipy tidbits

■downtown is beautiful and full of varied and amazing architecture

■the view of Lake Michigan as you come around the bend on Lakeshore Drive is breathtaking

■Millenium Park has giant art all through it though I especially love the fountain

■it doesn't matter what you've heard about "The Bean" - it's cooler than anything and the reflection of the cityscape at night in it's surface is amazing

■the Chicago Cultural Center is a beatiful old building that used to a library and has free concerts much like the one last night which seemed to be a group of men doing Gregorian chants and ringing bells. I also learned that 2 adult women can behave themselves while this abstract noise is going on and not laugh out loud until they reach the street.

■ finally I learned that if you have limited cash, do NOT use it to tip the waitress for your excellent lunch at the Park Grill instead, put the tip on your card because later when you get dropped of at Union Station and the lady inside stares at you like you have a paper head when you ask where you catch the bus to Rockford, and you have to call your friend back because you're having a panicky moment thinking you read the internet info wrong and realizing you have to pay cash to the bus driver for your ticket (not like at the airport where you can used your card) but you're short 10 bucks and have to borrow it from your new friend who is thrilled to give it to you if it will only get you out of her car so she can go home and relax in peace with her greyhounds; Thulia and Larry.

2 trees in 2 days

2010-09-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

If you look closely you can see the guy at the very top in an orange vest trimming the top of the palm. I noticed this on the way home from work yesterday and thought "I don't have the greatest job in the world, but I certainly don't have the worst job either".

I took TJ out for dinner tonight (payday - woot!) and as we pulled in the driveway noticed lights on a tree down the street. I was dying to see it up close and dragged TJ, Schmutty and Brigit (well Brig did the dragging) for a walk to see if it is what I think it is. Sure enough, some guy is already wrapping his yard with Halloween lights on September 30. TJ- you better get on it!!

Lisa Lisa, Lisa Lisa

2010-09-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it comes to my attention there are more people reading my blog than I know about which makes me feel like I have a duty to update more often.

This morning we had a walk from our Market Team which is kind of a big deal because different members look at different things so we have to ~~lose our minds~~ do our best to fix everything that's not right and pretty up the entire store in preparation. Someone asked if I was coming in early this morning and I said that I was not feeling it and would see them all at 8:06 as usual.

The MHRM showed up a lot later than I did (Human Resource market member) because she couldn't start her car - she didn't know there was a battery in her key with all those magic buttons on it (I'm sorry to say that she might be a moron) and so I was able to answer her questions about scheduling and benefit open enrollment and hopefully help her do her job a little better.

I have known the Market Health & Wellness manager since he was a TLE manager back in the day with Eric Kimbley. He bought me a cup of coffee and sent it back with his Vision Center manager because apparently I needed one. Later he was talking to the Trifecta (Janis, Cindy and me) and told us that "we manage by chaos". We told him his vision center was messed up and he reminded us that he'd gotten rid of the really bad people there and of the 2 working in there now "One is slow and the other is stupid".

The low point of my day was when I said good morning to the Market Mgr and he pointed out that our Harvest wall looks really good. I said "well it was over there 3 days ago (pointing across the aisle) and it will probably be on the other side of the store tomorrow so it's just like being in prison moving rocks from one area to another". He didn't miss a beat and said "welcome to retail". Later I texted my friend the Regional HR Mgr and asked her to help me shut up. She suggested I put a picture her on my desk and look at it before I spoke to anyone. That's not the worst idea I've ever heard.

the cricket in my room

2010-09-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

I know they're supposed to be good luck and I've heard that if you have crickets here, it means you don't have scorpions but the one that's singing near my window is driving me insane. We have all kinds of wildlife around with many gecko babies hanging around the light fixture by the front door, a million hummingbirds warring over the feeder and a lot of doves and other assorted birds hanging out by the fish pond.

TJ built a koi bridge to protect the gold fish from the crane who was using our pond as an all you can eat buffet so we haven't had to replace any lately. Nick found a frog in the road last time it rained and added it to the pond but we don't know if he's still alive or just hiding out. It's fun to walk out every morning with my cup of coffee to wander around the back yard to see who's hanging out.

and Miss Brigham City Peach Queen is....

2010-09-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

So I am using a couple vaca days to be in Brigham City for the annual Peach Days activities. I drove all day on Wednesday and spent the night at Angel's place where she was hostess with mostest as she took me to the mall to get some earrings, to dinner at an awesome little sushi place then breakfast the following morning at Johanna's which is her cool local cafe.

Last night was the Peach Queen pageant which is held at the Egyptian Theater in Ogden instead of the high school now so Naomi, Breanna and I grabbed a little snack from Taco Time then drove to Ogden to meet Bobbisue, Layne and Madison at the theater. I felt like it was a pretty good pageant and by that I mean that none of the 14 girl's dress/talent/question answers made me want to crawl under my seat with embarrassment for them.

I will tell you that I picked the top 3 easily but got the Queen and first attendant mixed up. If I would have had one more piece of information they gave at the end first, then I wouldn't have gotten it wrong (kind of like a red herring at the end of a mystery novel). Turns out the girl that one won, also won 2 additional scholarships (Academic and Community Service) so I would have certainly factored those in to my decision.

Naomi took notes in the program for the Q&A, swimsuit and talent portion but because she wanted to take pictures during the evening gown part, she gave me the job of taking notes on dresses. Oh I was born for this job. Please allow me to share my thoughts.

Hideous dress/coral-ish color/weird stuff on front like glitter vomit
Lovely, Appropriate dark (almost black) green dress
White dress/strapless - wouldn't have put her in white but I'm sure she did it to show off her wicked spray tan
Love her pretty white w/black accents dress - all these dresses should have been gone over with a steamer before they went on stage!
Short, purple 2 piece halter neck top with skirt - not age appropriate and hate her sparkly silver sandals - also a tad old-ladyish
2nd runner up - long, plum colored, sparkly dress - fits well, love her hair
Black, CLINGY with sheer lace back yoke and sparkly accents - girl is built like a brick sh-t house
Oh my - horrifying - pink SHINY ruffled dress - girl is possibly swaybacked? Naomi wonders if one of her interests is recycling pink tin foil.
Red dress - giant smile - weird drapey thing on front
Black with super high square neck (likely came from the modest prom dress store) weird cap sleeves/silver floral accents down front (Can someone find a STEAMER back stage?)
1st runner up - Lovely green/blue with sparkle bodice, pretty with her hair
good fitting pink satin - except someone should have shortened it at least 3 inches.
White debutante dress - looks pretty but girl never changed her hair style for any event from pony tail with Alice band.
Peach Queen - and this is surprising because I would like to know what the Fug Girls would say about this dress - Hideous tye dye skirt/long in black shorter in front with ruffle around edge/top of dress sparkly/not so bad if it had been on a different skirt.

Please discuss and give your own dress reviews!!

Facebook has stolen my will to blog

2010-09-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

It's so easy to post out a random quote or a great picture on FB that I don't have to put any thought into making an interesting journal entry. I always take notes on things I want to write about and stick them in my pocket at work or clip them to my name badge because my memory is sh-t and I need to use those notes to journal better. There. I have a goal.

Friday
I don't get to use my sewing skills very often any more but Friday night I made the Pack flag for my friend Jennifer's cub scout pack. She was nervous that her idea was a little complicated but I work well in the abstract so together we made a super cool looking Pack flag. Now I kinda wish I'd taken a picture of it because that would make this story a whole lot more interesting..

Saturday
It was my Saturday to work so I did that - very busy because of the holiday weekend and then worked some more when I got home because someone had to clean the bathrooms and scrub the tile. I can relax a whole lot better when I'm not sitting in the middle of filth so after I got the chores out of the way, I threw in a load of laundry then made chicken bowls for dinner.

If you've ever gone to KFC and ordered the chicken bowl, you'll know how ridiculously easy it is to make yourself. Not that I'm known for wanting to make food at home but this is easy and fun.
Make a pan of instant mashed potatoes, cook some popcorn chicken in the oven, heat up some corn and some chicken gravy. You layer it in a bowl - potatoes/corn/gravy/some grated cheese/popcorn chicken. Is very good and everyone likes them.

TJ and I took Neil out for breakfast this morning at my favorite Denney's in Tempe - is hidden back the main drag with trees all around and is never super crowed. We needed to take him some books and see how he is doing. He played in the marching band at the first ASU home game last night and said their Beatles theme show went very well. After breakfast I had an urge to wander through Buffalo Exchange and found a top and a pair of shoes for Neil.

Arrghhh! I just had to go deal with the potatoes and eggs I had boiling on the stove for potato salad. I was so intent on writing that I forgot to set a timer. I'm pretty sure those eggs are way over-cooked but the potatoes are just right. Last time I did this I burned up the pan I was cooking the potatoes in and that does not create a delightful smell I tell you what.

I am so ashamed!

2010-08-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

I was all ready to vote in the primary elections yesterday - did my research and everything and totally forgot when I got home from work. 2 things happened. First it is hotter than hell and I was just so sweaty and miserable when I got home from work then Chanelle popped in with Fletcher for a visit. The polls are only open til seven and about 8:00 I remembered. Fail.

Actually I had asked Chanelle to come over because while I was on my 4 day weekend trip, one of the projects I knitted for my life was a Bella beanie. If you have see Eclipse, it's the beanie she's wearing while she snuggles with Jacob in the sleeping bag. lost train of thought... OH and it's really cute - thanks cuz for finding the pattern! Chanelle, btw looks a million times cuter in it than Kristen Stewart.

Saturday morning

2010-08-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

I didn't really want to get out of bed at 8:30 this morning but I kept thinking about the mountain of laundry that's taking over my bathtub. Yes, I said bathtub. There are a couple (3) things I really hate about this house I've lived in for 13 years and #1 with a bullet is the "laundry room". It's a space off the kitchen that gets in the way to the door to the garage, only big enough for a washer to the right and a dryer to the left. There is no space for working or storing dirty laundry - even after all these years it makes the top of my blow off just thinking about the dumb shit who designed it, thinking it was a functional space.

Whew! What was I saying? Oh, so because I don't have a storage space for dirty laundry I have always used my bathtub for a hamper. It's a pretty good idea but I do have to drag the clothes out of it whenever I walk Brigit so she can have her post-walk bath. I don't know where I fell down last weekend but the state of laundry in this house is out of control therefore I am awake watching Saturday morning news while I wait to change out the laundry. Oh my life is so very gripping.

I also have to be awake to take Schmutty to Petsmart for tragically overdue haircut and then I'm off to the stadium for the pre-season game. I would normally not need to be there until 2:30 but I volunteered to help with employee check-in so I have to be there at 11:30. I will report later on how that all goes.

not all my ideas are good ones.

2010-08-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

We have had TJ's niece Jacky here all week so I am always trying to think of fun things for us to do. Wednesday I took half a day off so we could ride the lightrail to Tempe, see the sights, do an errand and meet Neil for lunch at a burger place called 5 Guys.

I took her and Nick to a movie on Monday; Dinner with Schmucks which was pretty funny and more proof to Jacky what crappy tasted in movies Auntie Di has. I got the bright idea of going to the midnight showing of The Other Guys at 12:01 this morning which I realize now was not such a hot idea when you have to wake up 5 hours later to work. I so wish I could just lay down and go back to sleep.

TJ has been in CA all week again for work which I hate, not because he's gone but because he gets't to be in a clean hotel room every night and not in this dirty house with the dogs and the heat and the cicadas. Yes, cicadas, when we left for the movie last night, there were a million of them in the front yard- loud, weird and big. Bugs don't bother me as a rule but these things kind of creep me out.

sometimes the rain gets in your ears - that's annoying

2010-07-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

I just looked at the time and thought briefly that if I jumped up right now I would be totally on time for work and not have to rush. Nope, can't do it. Will wait 10 minutes until I have to rush out the door. There is really something wrong with my brain.

We got some lovely rain last night, a steady drizzle that lasted for a couple hours or so. I decided to take Brigit out for the long walk (about 3 miles, takes us 45 minutes) and it was the best! Brigit loves to splash in puddles, also she as to stop and shake every so often because she is too wet. The only wildlife we saw was one little cotton-tail running for the riverbed hopefully to get out of the rain.

I attended orientation for Rojo (my stadium job) on Wednesday and good news, there's a game on Halloween, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. I don't mind working any of those days as long as they don't mind me missing the game on October 10th when I'm in Illinois!

We don't have to wear visors this year (yay) but the new uniform shirt is a button up grey man's shirt - I don't know how I'm going to make any tips wearing an ugly grey shirt. First game is August 14th and I'm going in early to help with check in!

Look Supernintendo Chammers, I'm learnding!

2010-07-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

I have been actively engaged in inventory prep for the last few weeks and one of my mad skills is my deep zoning ability. Sometimes I get a little big for my britches (difficult to imagine, I'm sure) and think I know everything. Fortunately there is always some manager willing to teach me something new and make me feel like a heel in these cases.

Things I learned on Saturday
1- block zoning.
First of all you have to understand that it's 8:10 a.m. on a Saturday and I have the mental capacity of a zombie. So I go over to help with the morning panic - today in the frozen dept, and am told by assistant mgr RJ to block zone the frozen dept. She kindly asked if I knew how and I may have snapped at her and told her that I KNOW how to zone and go help someone else. Guess what? when you don't work grocery very often, you don't know that it's completely different on that side of the store. Wanda came over and said "you're supposed to be block zoning, let me show you how. OHHHH! that's what block zoning is. It's not to make it pretty for the customer (my specialty) it's to make it countable for the inventory crew.

The next time RJ wandered past me, I apologized for being such a gi-normous hag and confessed that I really don't know everything. She has the thickest skin of any manager and has worked with me for a long time so she just waved me off and said "no it's okay- I know you don't want any help from me".

2- how to reach the top shelf in the freezers without a ladder
I almost never need a ladder because I'm pretty tall with long arms but I could not get to the back of the top shelves. I suggested to Wanda that I was going to use the bottom of the opening for a step ladder and did she think that was safe? She said " make sure you hold on to the top of the freezer case for balance". I'm sure glad we don't have OSHA visits on Saturday mornings.

3- how to do Need to Counts
Wanda wanted me to help after lunch with need to counts and I rarely touch a Gemini (those handheld units) for any reason other than to tag clothing or make shelf labels so I love to learn something new. The handheld gives you a random list of items in a department that it wants you to find like some bizarre scavenger hunt and tell it how many are on the shelf. Involves a lot of hunting and crawling.

One of the things that has kept me going back to work every day after 12 years is that I honestly learn something (or see something) new every day. It's my favorite part of life - that you can never say you've seen everything because you will be proven wrong the next day.

Monsoon season

2010-07-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

It has been full on summer hot here for the past couple of weeks - Thursday and Friday it was 116 and generally the only thing that makes it so you can stand this time of year are the summer storms we sometimes get in the afternoon . We have not been fortunate enough so far to get any rain in A-dale but yesterday we took a road trip and drove to the storms.

TJ had been in California all week for work where it was much cooler and promised when he got home to take me to the high country which generally means Flagstaff or something north, however I was talking to one of my associates Tom who has a house in Sierra Vista and said he just spent 2 days in 88 degree weather.

I asked TJ if we could head south instead because Tom said there's a lot of fun to be had in Sonoita. We spent the day driving around enjoying the countryside and got caught in a giant storm complete with lightning and power outage. We finally found a nice Italian place to eat dinner with a lovely patio to enjoy the cool weather. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end so we headed home - back to the heat.

mid week update

2010-07-14T23:51:00.000-07:00

TJ is in California working for the week. He texted me on Sunday evening to tell me that it was 72 degrees there and I may have told him to go to hell.

I decided after seeing my friend Janis' great haircut and color to follow her example and go to the beauty school to get mine done on Tuesday evening. It was great, the cut and color just what I wanted AND I got to participate in a fire drill! I had just had my color rinsed off when one of the instructors clapped her hands and said loudly "Fire Drill, Fire Drill!" and my girl said "um we all have to go outside". All right, I'm game so I went out to the front sidewalk with the rest of the clients, all in varying degree of process until all the students signed their name of the drill list then we got to go back in and finish. Very exciting.

I only worked a half day today so Nick, Maribel and I went to lunch then watched a movie from the Red Box (Michael Cera's Youth in Revolt if you're interested) then later Maribel and I took advantage of AMC's $5.25 movie to see Eclipse (again for me, 1st time for her). When I got home Nick and his 2 friends needed a fourth for cards so I played Nertz with them until another friend came over.

That is all I've got but I didn't want to be one of those people that never updates. You know who you are.

Seriously???

2010-07-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

You can't even believe the day I've had; it started as usual with me sitting on my bed looking at FB, listening to Adam Corolla when in walks Fletcher. That is the name of a dog we are babysitting for my friend Chanelle for 4 days. Obviously I'm the worst dog daycare in the world because he seems agitated and I look down and notice his lip is FULL of cactus needles. There is only one cactus in our yard that will get you like that - the teddy bear cholla also know as a jumping cholla. You only have to brush lightly against it to have it's hooked barbs stuck in your skin.

Now if you're a dog (a 6 month old puppy at that) if you brush your leg against this cactus, the first think you will do is try to get it off with your MOUTH. I grabbed my needlenose pliers and yelled for Nick to wake up so he could hold Fletcher down while I pulled a million needles out of his left front paw. That was successful but when I started on the right paw there were so many more and all the way around to the tender part behind his leg which was causing him to bleed and get crazy, wild eyed and froth at the mouth.

Nick can't even hold his head that well because he has so many spines in his lip that he looks like he has a beard and says "mom, you'll never be able to get them out of his mouth" and I look up and can see many spines inside all the way to the back of the roof of his mouth. I gave up and called the vet who could see him at 9:00. Nick and I waited patiently, all the while cursing poor Fletcher - Nick for being up at the butt crack of dawn (8:00 a.m.) and me for being late for work to take him to the vet.

Dr Lipovitch said he would be there most of the day because of the anethesia and that it would cost $200. Wow, and it's not even my dog. I could weep.
I picked him up after work and he looked much better and hopefully he is a little wiser. Probably not. Oh also? Fletcher is afraid of heights and wouldn't jump out of the truck so I went to move his leash so I could lead him out and he put his doggy arms around my neck and jumped on me like a 4 year old would so I am struggling not to lose balance and laughing hysterically in my driveway with this dog in my arms. Good thing I love dogs.

Oh and I will tell you one work story too. I was doing my hour on the phones/fitting room when a woman who appeared to be in her late 50s but really you can't tell because she looked a little haggard (thin, bleach-blond, leathery tan skin) brought a Miley Cyrus romper, a Miley Cyrus dress and 2 Susie Rose outfits (made for tiny teenagers) and a nightgown to try on. She came out a while later, handed me everything except the nightgown (which actually came from the women's dept.) and said "I must be in the wrong section!"

I did not even blink, much to my credit but I may have chewed my tongue off.

Yay! Eclipse!

2010-07-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

I am glad to have Jennifer for a friend because we always see the movies that no husband wants to see together ie. Harry Potter movies and Twilight movies. Tonight we went to see Eclipse and may I say it lived up to the hype. Rarely are movies based on books actually as good as the book but I think Eclipse is perfect, they say all the lines you want to hear and if you're reading the new novella (The short second life of Bree Tanner) it's even more fun. Anyway you KNOW I love Jacob but this movie (and book) gave me a great appreciation for what a badass Jasper is and I barely spared him a thought prior to this.

a contradiction in feelings

2010-07-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

I want to begin by saying I love this country and am happy to celebrate the birth of it's independence. With that out of the way let me tell you why 4th of July is my least favorite holiday.

When I was younger (and lived in UT) I would go with friends to Pioneer Park to lay on blankets in the grass and watch the fireworks every year. After I married TJ and had kids, we would watch from the mountain in his truck as TJ hates crowds and kids hate loud noises. When the kids got older it was back to the park (with Naomi's crew probably) but then we moved to AZ where it's unbearably hot in the evening and who wants to even think about going to a crowded park here?

We have climbed on the roof some years because you can watch the fireworks from EVERY community in a full circle around the valley from a distance and a couple years ago I went to watch Verrado's with Maribel at Chris' dad's place on Jackrabbit. Still, sweating outside when you could be inside under a fan is not my 1st choice so we fly our flag, sometimes buy KFC and appreciate the good old USA from the airconditioned comfort of our house. God Bless America and AC this 4th of July.

grrrr

2010-07-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

I have been able to sleep in the last 2 days because I worked late on Tuesday and had Wednesday off so waking up to the alarm this morning is killing my soul. Especially since I didn't get to sleep until around 2 because Nick got home from work then Joe got home from school and they are talking in their loud voices and we have thin walls then someone cooks something like burritos and there is nothing that wakes me up faster than the smell of food cooking!

I know that sounds weird and it's not that it makes me hungry, it's that it's completely out of place like smelling something burning. Also I have this place on my back that itches and I couldn't reach it AND TJ's cell phone kept vibrating all over his end table. So here I am awake and annoyed so I'll have to find someone to take it out on at work today - that's why we go to work, is it not?

The best day ever.

2010-06-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you that Sunday was the most amazing day - it included everything I like!

First TJ and I got up at 2:00 a.m. and headed out to Lake Alamo and it's a 2 hour drive so I slept all the way. When we got there we pulled into the campground/boat dock and narrowly missed picking off a donkey that was sleepily crossing the road. I helped make ready and parked the truck while TJ set up the bed cushions in the front of the boat where I proceeded to sleep for another 3 hours.

Eventually the sun came up and drove me off the front of the boat so I moved my bed to the little bathroom in the boat (never used for that purpose, pristinely clean and covered in carpet that is nicer than anything I've ever had in my house) and threw a sheet over the opening to shade my legs. I slept yet another 2 hours "I can't wake up!" I mumbled to TJ when he asked if I was ok.

Eventually I DID wake up and was really warm so I stripped down to my swimsuit and got in the lovely 80 degree water where I pretty much stayed until it was time to go - when I wasn't eating Crunch n Munch and drinking Dr Pepper. TJ caught 5 fish and we saw a million tiny baby shad? bass? swimming like a dark shadow along the edge of the cove. That may explain TJ's paltry 5 fish - I'm sure the larger fish have plenty to eat with all those baby fish and even his Gary Yamamoto worms aren't tempting on a full belly.

When we got home I took ANOTHER nap then got ready to go to a show with my friend Maribel. We went to see a band called She Wants Revenge at Martini Ranch in Scottsdale. The show was good (not too long and no crazy encores) then we went to Denny's as we usually do after these things and had some late night food. I got home in plenty of time to get some more sleep for work the next day.

midweek news update

2010-06-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

We have the regional VP coming to our store this morning so at work we have been busy making sure everything looks good for his visit. As I was leaving last night I asked my store manager if there was anything else she needed me to do and then said "Well I guess I'll be here on time tomorrow, I hear the company is going to be here early..." She looked at me and said "if you think you have to". I said "what's your plan for tomorrow?", thinking she would also have to be on time and she replied "I'm just going to try to look cute". Nice.

Well if you haven't heard, we had to have our little dog Hereboy put to sleep this week. He was ready and we (I) was finally ready. He has not felt well for over a year and I could have continued taking him to the vet every couple weeks for more medicine but I didn't think it was fair to him. Don't be too sad, he lived the best life a little dog ever had and as my sister in law Kristine once said "When I get reincarnated, I want to come back as one of your dogs".

My brother Joe is staying with us now as he is going to start school at MMI on Monday. I don't know how long he'll be here, he is talking to some aquaintances about roommate options closer to his school. He's had a fun week with us so far as there has been much sadness and tears over the dog. Good thing his expectations are low.

you know in the star trek movie where they slowed down time?

2010-06-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

Every day has it's perfect moment and mine came this evening when I was walking Brigit as we rounded the corner on RSF and Thomas which, is the halfway point of our 3 mile walk. I looked up into the beatiful twilight sky to see a crescent moon and the first star of the evening while Highest Hopes by Nightwish played on my music player. I'm sure you had to be there but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Actually my entire day was good as I had it off (I worked Saturday) and was able to sleep in a little bit. Not as much as I'd like because I sleep by my phone and Twitter alerts started going off around 9 a.m. I listened to Corolla, checked blogs (updates? anyone?) then woke Nick up so he could go to breakfast with me at Matt's Big Breakfast in Phoenix.

I also wanted to see a movie and Nick is happy to go along for any free ride so he kept me company while I saw Get Him to the Greek. Raunchy fun by the Judd Apatow crew is almost always my favorite any more. Until Will Ferrell's next one comes out this summer...

I made tacos for dinner and Nick's gf Hannah joined us. She seemed happy to eat my from the box spanish rice and taco meal. Nice girl.

well it certainly is morning

2010-06-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

Hey Dad! everything is here is fine! Don't worry that if I don't post you're missing out on some super exciting goings on here at Casa de Hathaway. The dogs are fine and we have 2 eggs in the cactus nest. However the weather has turned hot so that makes this girl a tiny bit sluggish.

just get a blanket

2010-06-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

Tina was here this weekend and she is the easiest company in the world as she does not expect or need to be entertained, she is just happy to hang around where ever and read a book or observe the human condition. She got plenty of that when I made her spend the afternoon in my office watching me work and interact with the parade of insanity that I get every day. Afterward she told me "I could never do your job". Actually people tell me that all the time except it's more like one of my co-workers said "if I had to do your job, I'd shoot myself in the f-in' head".

Friday night I put together an impromptu happy hour with Janis and her friend Teresa, Sally and her friend Marla and even my boss Rachel showing up. Sally and Janis regaled her with stories of our adventures and the nice thing about your friends is they rarely drag out any stories that make you look good, just the ones about you snoring loudly or being mean and and scary. It's all good, I don't think after all these years Tina is surprised by anything I do.

TJ got us up early on Saturday so he could take us to Wildflower Bread Co. for breakfast which is this great place that you NEED to get in early on the weekends or not at all. The rest of the day was spent with me doing laundry and Tina folding. Folding? that is something new because I just throw the clean clothes in piles for the dogs to sleep on. Visit ANY time my folding friend!

Of course we had family dinner with Nick and Neil, choosing YC's Mongolian in Tempe and then I dragged her to the grocery store because why wouldn't I take my friend to Wal-Mart on a Saturday night. After breakfast at Harlow's on Sunday we toured her around Bass Pro Shop so TJ could find some fishing supplies and then it was time to go to the airport. Love you Tina, thanks for the excellent, whirlwind visit.

Now the best story of the weekend started with Tina telling us about the demise of her old cat. Tina always has 2 semi-feral cats that live in her garage because she lives across from an open field and needs something to keep the mouse population down. She was telling me how the older of the current 2 came in the house recently, laid down on the kitchen floor and wouldn't move, much to Brenna's unhappiness.

Tina explained that momma kitty wasn't long for this world and that Brenna should get a blanket, wrap the cat in it (so as not to get clawed to death by a sick, semi-feral cat) and take it to it's bed in the garage and that in a couple days, it would pass on peacefully. Sure enough in a couple of nights, momma kitty was gone and since Brenna will never read this, disposed of respectfully in a garbage sack.

I looked at Hereboy and said "is that all it takes?" then to TJ, "maybe I need to get a blanket". TJ thought about it for about a half second and said "Maybe I need to get 3 blankets" (3 dogs) and then looked at me and said "no 5". (um in case you can't count, that would take care of me and Nick also). "NICE" I said, then told Nick as soon as he woke up. Nick said "Good luck, I'm not staying under the blanket" to which TJ replied "then you're getting a blanket AND a baseball bat".

best weekend ever

2010-06-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

Not only were Charles and Debbie here this weekend but it was also Nick's birthday weekend so we did all kind of fun family things. Saturday after we picked them up at the airport we headed straight to the Good Egg for breakfast. Funny thing is Neil and Lisa got there before us and got the first available table. Inside.

I love Good Egg because it has the best patio year round and Debbie was looking forward to being warm after leaving 42 degree Utah. Instead we sat inside in the ~~nice~~ ~~cool~~ freezing air conditioning because once it gets to about 100 here, you can't eat in a restaurant or see a movie without taking a sweater to ward off constant 73 degree temp.

That's ok, breakfast was great and we got to see some excitement downtown, what with the protesters all gathering to march against SB1070. Charles and Nick left to play frisbee golf while Debbie bondeded with Schmutty. At one point I said to her "how long do you think the boys have been gone?" and she thought about it and said "about 3 hours". I said "so how long do you think you've been petting that dog?". She looked at Schmutty, laughed and said " about 2 1/2!!"

We had family/birthday dinner at The Yardhouse with all of us plus Maribel and had a great dinner on the PATIO. Seriously the weather was beautiful and it was the nicest dinner ever. I had the Jerk Chicken with Shrimp Stack if you're interested.

TJ planned an outing for Sunday to Montezuma Castle and Well which is about an hour and a half north. Surprising both boys and their gfs wanted to come with us so Nick drove the youngs and the olds went in the truck. Debbie wasn't exactly happy being classed with the olds but I told her there wasn't room in Nick's car.

Montezuma Castles was cool to see and even better was Montezuma Well where everyone was able to hike around and see the Sinagua ruins. After we'd been out in the sun long enough and I got my National Parks Passport stamped TWICE, we let the GPS find us a lunch spot in Cornville called Verde Cafe.

If it sounds like this weekend revolves around where/what we ate, you may be right. Charles and Debbie cooked a delicious dinner of Parmesan chicken for us and made a ton of food which is good since we ended up with extra guests who were there to take Nick out for his birthday.

Monday we just relaxed and I dragged out the family slides with which to ~~bore~~ entertain C & D and then it was time to take them to the airport. I need to get serious about going through all those slides and separating them into categories, getting them on cd and throwing out all the millions of slides that are just landscape that no one knows where it is, or people only Gma would know and she's not here to help me sort them dammit!

Charles and Debbie are here

2010-05-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

We picked C & D up at the airport yesterday morning. TJ is in charge of knowing when people fly in and I am in charge of asking him repeatedly about it.
Me- What time do Charles and Debbie get here?
TJ - 9:15
Me- (and hour later) So we have to be at the airport at 10:00?
TJ - 9:15
TJ - Are you ready? we need to leave for the airport!
Me - I thought they came in at 9:30
TJ - *sigh* 9:15

I told him he sounds like Rainman say 9:15 over and over again. When I used to fly to Utah all time, I would call him and say "what time do I have to be at the airport?" and he would growl "Put Tina on the phone" so he could have a rational conversation with someone that can remember information containing numbers.

You have to understand, it's not that I'm a ruh-tard, it's that I don't do numbers at all: birthdays, subtraction, dates etc. Now when it comes to names, whether it's people I know, work with or who played guitar for Ozzy Osbourne in 1981, I AM an ~~idiot~~ savant.

2 funny road trip stories

2010-05-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

When we were in the Garment District Janis needed to use the restroom so Sally scouted one out for her in the "alley" which boasted a security guard at the entrance. Sally said to me "it costs a quarter!" and then to the security guard, "tienes papel?" to which he nodded to the roll of toilet paper sitting on his table next to an ever growing pile of quarters. If you're a girl you will understand that toilet paper is almost more important than a door to the stall.*

I didn't have to go THAT bad but who knows if I'll ever pass this way again and I like to be able to say "been there, done that" so I threw down my quarter and followed Sally in with my handful of TP. I have been in a LOT of nasty restrooms in my life and I would put this one in the top 10. *stall door- Did mine have one? yes. Did it lock? oh hell no. The best part was that someone had set their purchases down on the wet, dirty floor while they were in the stall and I thought as I stared at it that piece of insanity; if Maribel could have seen it she would have been vomiting uncontrollably as she has a nasty phobia concerning public restroom floors.

The other thing that I only wished I had video of was my 3 friends reactions to the GPS that I brought. TJ cannot leave anything alone and has been customizing his Garmins since he's had the options with interesting and different icons, voices, effects etc. You also need to know that I have always called his GPS units "the girlfriend" because it's a female voice that he pays way more attention to than me. Instead of telling you "Recalculating" this girlfriend says "Where the hell are you going?" and instead of "Make a U Turn" she says "Turn this bitch around".

When we stopped in Blythe to get breakfast and went off the route to LA, the girlfriend told Janis both those things in quick sucession. Sally and Cindy's mouths dropped open as they stared at the GPS and Janis quickly caught herself and yelled at her "Bitch! you don't KNOW me!!". I had to call TJ to tell him that using his powers for evil has certainly paid off in entertainment value.

TJ has a new "girlfriend" which is voice activated and cooler than anything but my favorite thing about her is that she sounds super surly all the time, like she's pissed off about being told what to do. When he tells her to "cancel route", she says "route cancelled" in the pissiest way imaginable. I love the new girlfriend.

another girl's trip comes to an end.

2010-05-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

As you might rememember I was up early Friday morning as were Cindy and Sally because we were waiting for Janis to pick up her rental car and come get us. Let's just said we didn't leave anywhere near when we thought we would because apparently most of the picture is broken off Janis' ID and the rental company wouldn't take it. I'm not sure how she got the car but eventually she did and we were on the road.

We stopped for breakfast in Blythe at a place called Steaks n Cakes and even though I usually get eggs and hasbrowns, I figured if the place had "cakes" in the name, I probably should go with the pancakes. I did and they were delicious. We didn't stop again until we got to Palm Springs (you know where all the windmills are?) for gas and as we struggled to put gas in the car in gail force winds, we understand WHY the windmill farm is there. Janis thought if she put some kleenex up her nostrils, it would keep all the wind-blown particulates out while she pumped gas and Sally had to seek shelter from the GAS PUMP to get her cigarette lit. I was in the convenience store paying so I was a ways away from imminent danger.

Our final stop of the day was El Monte where Sally's Aunt Lolly lives in the cutest little house in one of those neighborhoods that was scary for a while but as Aunt Lolly said "the people that were making it bad either died or killed each other off". We enjoyed the cool weather out on her patio until it was time to go to the Shrimp House *joy* for dinner.

Saturday morning we got up all ready to go downtown to see if we could eat breakfast at The Pantry which is apparently where all the stars go on the weekends. That NEVER happened as all the streets for central downtown were blocked off for whatever reason. We got to see a lot of the jewelry district and garment district from the car while we were stuck in traffic for almost 2 hours. Eek. When we finally got out of that mess we headed towards the La Brea tar pits which was on my to do list while we were in LA.

First we ate lunch at a really nice Marie Callendars which was right across the road from the museum but you could smell the delightful stench of tar from the parking lot. We headed over to the pit that you always see in books which is the one with the statues of the daddy and baby mammoth watching mommy mammoth get sucked into the tar. We looked at the "digs" which is nasty pools of tar that they are actively working in to find bones and such. The gift shop was everything I hoped and dreamed of and I got the kids t-shirts and TJ a flashlight keychain with sabre tooth tigers on it. I also got my National Parks passport stamped while I was there - v. cool.

We drove up La Brea until we reached Hollywood Blvd. which was all kinds of fun and since I've never been there, the walk of stars, Grauman's Chinese Theater and Kodak Theater was all new and exciting to me. We walked around the mall that is part of the main square and you can even see the HOLLYWOOD sign from there. Sally got suckered into having her picture taken with a very mediocre Darth Vader because there are a ton of people dressed up as movie characters waiting to trap you into a picture for money - 5 dollars to be exact.

Next stop Union Station which is the big, beautiful train station and across the street is a park where they hold regular protests about whatever you want and then Olvera street which is like little Mexico and is where LA actually started. We had walked for miles so it was back to Auntie's place where we could sit and relax joined by Sally's daughter Erica and her friend Janel. Dinner with everyone at a local Italian place called Carmines finished off the night.

Sunday Janis wanted to stop by her best friend Teresa's parent's house to visit which was about 15 minutes away. Cindy and I rode with her for company and because she wasn't riding to the 'hood by herself. Their home is tiny and darling too in an interesting neighborhood but we were glad we went along to meet Teresa's very sweet parents.

We picked up Sally and Auntie and headed for a place called 3 Vinos in Covina for the most amazing brunch ever. Excellent food and live music. We parted ways with Aunt Lolly and headed back to the garment district with Erica and had a great time looking at all the shops and pawing through all the merchandise. Btw, the shops close promptly at 5 and Janis may have gotten closed into one (or two) of the stores. She also risked a jay-walking ticket a couple of times because apparently the city of LA is hardcore about not jay-walking.

After we dropped Erica off we headed east for Palm Springs as that is where we planned on spending the last night of our trip. I happy to say that I blew exactly ZERO money gambling but I sure watched while my friends lost theirs. We had delicious appetizers at the bar for dinner then went over to the club to enjoy the latin music and dance a little before we finally had to go pass out.

The girls lost a few more $20s in the morning after buffet breakfast, then we went to see the shops in the very nice, very expensive town. We found a great thrift store and fun card shops and boutiques but all good things must come to an end so we headed home. Sally and Cindy were sleeping in the back seat and I was dying to but Janis was driving so I stayed awake to keep her company and we made it home safe and sound.

So excited. Can't sleep

2010-05-21T04:40:00.000-07:00

I am up at 4:30 because it's time for another Girl's Trip. This time Janis, Cindy, Sally and I are headed to L.A. I think I picked the destination because even though I've been through Los Angeles, I've never been there to see the sights and since Sally lived there for years, she will know all the fun places to go. I definitely want to see the walk of stars, Chinese theater, garment distric etc but I also want to see the La Brea Tar Pits. TJ is even letting me take the old girlfriend so we can find everything easily. It's Janis' turn to drive and she decided to get a rental as the AC in her car is out - good call - and we are leaving at 7. *joy*

It's been a slow news week here, which I suppose is good since last week was full of Neil's car breaking down and needing to be fixed. Surprisingly TJ took it to our local shop for one of the issues, because TJ never pays someone to do something he can do himself. The heat or something had gotten to the battery cables and such and melted them into kind of a mess along with taking out some relays and between not wanting to hunt down every part needed and not having the tools, he was able to relax and hand it (and some money) over to someone else.

Ironically when we went to pick the car up the mechanics were huddled around it trying to figure out why something was leaking from the car (btw, it wasn't leaking when TJ brought it to them) and it was all he could do not to push them away and fix it himself. I drove him back home with steam coming out of his ears but he called me the next morning to tell me that they figured out what they had knocked loose and the car was ready to go.

Neil came over on Monday to spend the night so he could take his car back home on Tuesday and even though I made a nice spaghetti dinner, Chanelle and his girlfriend came to shanghai him for their own dinner plans and I just said "you know you don't have to eat dinner here, it won't hurt my feelings". WAH! I hate my boys turning into grown-ass men and leaving me alone. I mean I don't want them to be those creepy guys that can't leave their mother or have a normal relationship with a girl but isn't there some sort of happy medium?

3 amusing stories

2010-05-16T17:05:00.001-07:00

1 - when we were at the Faith and the Muse show the other night, a rep from some liquor company came up to our table and said "do any of you drink Jagermeister?" I wanted to say "I am 47, do I look like I drink Jagermeister?" but I just smiled and said no. I told Neil this and he thought I should have unleashed my sarcasm like a mighty wind. Unfortunately that just makes me look like a hag so I do try to refrain as much as possible.

2- Today TJ went to the grocery store to get dry ice to make root beer as we are babysitting Lindsey and Ryan and thought it would entertain them. The young, zitty bag boy asked TJ if he was going to make dry ice bombs. Really? he's a little old for that and is there with 2 small children. Neil suggested that the bag boy might be a tool.

3 - Little children like dogs and Schmutty may need a break from all the petting. He is only 6 pounds and black so he is snuggled up against my leg as I type. Ryan has been searching for him for about a half hour saying "where's Schmutty?". Schmutz is a smart dog because he is hiding out and not moving even though Ryan is looking right at him.

If you're not that amused then I will share the Slang of the Day. - and then I found five dollars a phrase used at the end of a story that had really no point to be told to someone. Used at the end of boring stories to make them seem more interesting and worthwhile. See? if you put it at the end of any of those 3 anecdotes then they become far more interesting. Use it at the end of your stories!

and here we sit watching Ice Age 3 or 4 or whatever

2010-05-15T19:25:00.001-07:00

Tonight we have Lindsey and Ryan at our house as they are spending the night and tomorrow with us while their parents are out of town. Lindsey is 7 and Ryan is 5 and I can tell you that life at their home is ~~slightly~~ way more rigid than it is at Uncle TJ and Auntie Di's house. In fact I made fruit salad to go with dinner and Ryan just said "I don't like the peaches!" so I immedieately replied "then don't eat them".

Lindsey said "Ryan at this house you don't have to eat something if you don't want to". That's because I learned a long time ago to save my energy for the important battles. The best part is that I am apparently the first person to give them orange soda which SUPRISE! they like.

I had to get up way earlier than I like this morning because my sporting good manager had a Take a Kid Fishing event at a local park so I volunteered to haul stuff over in my truck. After I dropped it off and helped unload other vehichles I went back to work to do my Saturday morning stuff. I went back to the park to pick up the same stuff after the event was over but not before I had to spend way more time in the hot sun than I ever like. Luckily my friend Chanelle was there to suffer with me.

I have no problem being outdoors until it gets to a 100 degrees outsiside and then I'm in for the next 5 or 6 months. Broiling in the sun is possibly my least favorite activity especially since I am trying to not get any more sun damage on my skin than I already have. Oh and have you tried to buy suncreen with anything less than 50 SPF? It's almost impossible, I still have a houseful of 15 but when it runs out I'm sure it will be like sunscreening with white paint.

livin' the dream every day

2010-05-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

Here's some information for you. When you get a UPS package delivered here they do one of 2 things. Smaller, more breakable packages get tossed over the gate and larger things are stealthily "hidden" under the door mat. Such as this driver's side window for Neil's car. Morons.

I finally made an appointment to get my eyes checked because I lost my driving/movie glasses and was pretty surly about the whole thing because I thought I would need bifocals. However I don't because my near-sightedness is so low-grade I am getting something called Low-fatigue lenses which have a slight amount of normal lens at the bottom so when I glance down to ~~read a text while I'm driving~~ look at my speedometer, I won't get that horrible fuzziness. I even found a pair of frames that meet my rigid qualifications; black, narrow, with no glitter or sparkles.

I'm talking to Audrey right now and apparently it's all thundery and lightningy where she is. I said "oh I wish I were there enjoying the thunder and lightning!!" and she replied "I wish you were too honey, I wish you were right here seeing how it makes my bathroom leak."

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

TJ made "camping breakfast" for us all this morning which is piles of bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and scrambled eggs cooked outside on the grill. It's the breakfast he always does when we go camping and it works out at home because I hate the smell of bacon cooked in the house as it sticks to everything for days so I prefer TJ cook it outside. Anyway, what it is, is delicious and the dogs go crazy with all that bacon being cooked!

Joe and his gf Jessica left around noon to head home and we would have relaxed the rest of the day except Neil's car is having issues. TJ had to work on the window this morning when he was at the house then this evening had drive to Scottsdale where it was broke down to tow him to a nearby friend's house until he can deal with it tomorrow. Learning how to be pulled with a tow rope is a skill everyone should have and today was Neil's turn.

TJ amazingly found the time to take me to the Vera Bradley store at the Biltmore to buy me some new sunglasses for Mother's Day. I could not be happier about my new shades! I hardly deserve them as he bought me some for my birthday last year which I lost at the stadium when I forgot to get them from the top of the beer cooler at my stand. I've been wearing an extra pair of Nick's since then but he needed them back after losing his other pair hence my need for sunglasses.

we have visitors

2010-05-07T07:33:00.001-07:00

My brother Joe and his gf Jessica are visiting us for the first time so Nick and I spent yesterday doing the "tour" where we drag you around Phoenix to a comic book store, Buffalo Exchange and Zia Records. We started out with breakfast at Black Bear Diner and you know I love to have someone to eat breakfast out with. Apparently Joe is quite a cook and he said that he prefers to make breakfast but whatever. The greatest joy I have in life is to have a pleasant waitress refill my coffee endlessly.

We went to Tomo for sushi last night and Maribel was going to join us but then just ended up locking her keys in the car - my poor friend, she has the worst car drama. If it's not being stolen or broken into, it's breaking down on the way to Yuma or locking keys in the car and waiting for her boyfriend to brink her keys. I remember her sitting on her car in my store parking lot waiting for the police to come and make a report - she was so zen because it was hardly the first time her car had been broken into and wouldn't be the last.

I am took yesterday off but am going to work today because a. I like to go to work and b. I don't like to take Fridays off if I can help it. I know, Chanelle told me years ago "Diana, I think you have a problem, you might be a little bit of a workaholic".