Weekend, etc.

We are headed up into the hills to hang out with my parents' dogs while my parents are on vacation. I've put up pictures of the dogs before - Goober and Weeble. They are both getting old and it's a bit sad to see them. These are dogs who have been in my life for over 12 years. It should be a relaxing time. My hubby is going to do homework and I'm going to wander around taking pictures, etc. My dad dug a pond out in the woods behind their house. There are a lot of natural springs and vernal pools and the pond is situated on and in between glacial rocks. Very cool. Since they own the land at the end of their road (about 90 acres) - it is visited not only by the neighbors down the road but by lots of animals. Bears, moose, deer, foxes and frogs. Etc. I'm going to pick up some yarn and knitting needles in town. And bring my new Stitch and Bitch book with me. Not sure what I'm going to make yet, but it is either the devil hat or the skull sweater.

I've also decided there will be no more talking about work. My web stats indicate that my new work may or may not have found my blog already. So, I’m just going to focus on what is happening away from work. And not check stats from work. All work and no blog means I’m a paranoid girl.

The hubs ended up not giving his lecture on Wednesday due to a fire in the building. He should be presenting it next week instead. And I’ll be presenting as well. ;) I went to bed early last night (after the O.C.) and he stayed up finishing homework, so we did not have sex. But I did have a hot dream about him – does that count?

Wednesday, I bought a very cute Isaac Mizrahi skirt from Target (sorry, they don't show it on the site). They only had it in white, so when I got home, I dyed it fuchsia along with a new shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. The skirt is absolutely adorable now. I’ll have to post a photo of me wearing it. It came out a bit lighter than the shirt and the shorts, but still very cute. I might buy another one to dye purple. I’m loving that all these flouncy, full skirts are coming back into fashion. Perhaps I’m reentering my girlie phase. When I was young, I loved ruffles and skirts and necklaces and dresses. Then I entered my teens and started wearing a lot more black. With camo pants and big, black boots. I phased into jeans with lots of black. When we moved back to MA, I looked at my closet and it was about 80% black with a little bit of red. Definitely time for a change. I have been forcing myself to buy more colors – no black. Which is very hard to do because black is such an easy color. I now have lighter blues, pinks and purples. While I have worn black bathing suits for as long as I can remember, I bought myself one in fuchsia at the end of last summer. It is one of the skirted tankini suits from Land’s End. I LOVE it. It covers the dimples (as my hubby calls them; isn’t he sweet?) on my butt and upper thighs. And it looks cute; not like a little old lady suit.

In other news, we got a huge tax refund this year due to a much reduced salary (about 1/4 of what we were making in CA). I paid off two credit cards, bought a year-long gym membership for my hubby and me, a new 19” flat panel LCD monitor (which kicks ASS) and other various items we’ve been coveting over the past year. Could the tax cuts be helping the local economy? In our case, perhaps yes. Although I don’t think the tax cuts were responsible in this case (since we are much closer to the bottom 1% than the top). I think it is the reduced salary, my hubby’s full-time student status and our deductible moving expenses.

And a link for your reading pleasure: Cat saliva cleaner than dog drool.

Sketch

I just found out from my one of my best friends that her beautiful cat Sketch had to be put to sleep this week. His one kidney was failing (she found out this week that he was born with only one) and she made the excruciating decision to not let him suffer any longer. I wish you could have met this cat. He was gorgeous. White and black. He LOVED to be pet. And his purring was thunderous and joyous. Little meows from such a big cat. And he was a huge cat - not fat, just very big-boned, with double paws and a whole lot of love. I gave them a catnip plant that he demolished. Just kept laying his whole enormous body all over it. They finally had to ration his intake of the catnip plant because he almost destroyed it. I know my friend is very, very sad over her loss. I'm crying and upset and I know it is nothing compared to what she is going through. I know she reads my blog from time to time, so please send your love to her.

Apprentice

Omarosa is a big whiner. She won't meet to strategize with her team. She won't work. Awful.

Trump Ice? Uncontrollable ego, anyone? I would NEVER buy it.

Bill calling Ereka a "girl"? What a sexist. While I agree with her selling techniques, that is just not right in this day and age.

Omarosa is a bitch. Totally lowballing the client again and again after she and Amy discussed it.

Nick is a big dick. Amy should really stay away from him. He has that awful lecherous look about him.

Ick. Amy & Nick. Both are very bad dancers.

Bill: of course it's personal. Bill has a big stain on his shirt.

Trump is getting harsh! I love it.

Do they force the losers to sit together on the yellow couch every week? If so - that's awesome.

And Ereka is out of there. As much as I do not like Nick - I agree with Trump. They are still getting rid of the dead wood at this point. In a couple of weeks it is going to get REALLY interesting.

Bummer

I wrote a long entry at work and then forgot to email it to myself before I left. Man. That sucks. Um, something about a new skirt and not writing about work anymore and tax refund. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow.

Movieoke

Man, I wish there was one of these near me. Of course, it could get really annoying.

In other news, you can send donations for flowers to be handed out to the gay couples waiting in line to get marriage licenses in SF. What a sweet way to show your support for these brave couples.

Tuesday

I kept thinking it was Thursday today. That does not bode well for the rest of the week. I was in a fog today because of sleep deprivation. And I did not use enough gel in my hair, so when I finally went to the bathroom, it was then that I noticed the huge frizzball on my head. No wonder I was getting strange looks.

Every Tuesday we do a ladies lunch and I kept my mouth shut today when a group of them started talking about how much they hate Kerry and love Bush. Yes, I should have spoken up - but have you ever been out-numbered? And too tired to fight the good fight? That was me today. I'm sorry. Tomorrow I will start working on them. One woman, in particular, really bugged me. She is a Republican because her husband is. She wears her hair long because that is how he likes it. And she won't wear capri pants (even though she loves them) because he says she looks like a Puerto Rican. Which I guess is an insult in their circle. I don't get it. She loves Bush because her husband does. And I'm supposed to try and convince her otherwise? What would you do?

Anyhoo, Chicago was fun. My feets? They are tired dogs. I walked to Navy Pier (which was practically closed) and then back to the Magnificent Mile. Which is a long stretch of fancy shops. I made it about 1/4 of the way down before my feet were starting to throb a bit. I did manage to purchase some new Urban Decay eyeshadow (Oil Spill and Grifter), Benefit Dandelion blush and a new eyeshadow brush. As well as cool Legos for my hubs, an amazing gardenia candle from Tommy Bahamas and a new jacket from Levi Strauss. Yes, all stores and things I could have found around here. But it just seemed so much more fancy there. And, I was a total rookie with my hotel room. And I knew better, too. Don't call home from the hotel room. Don't drink the bottled water on the table by the phone. Don't eat the Pringles or the honey roasted nuts from the mini bar. Resist the Jack Daniels and Coke from the mini bar. Stupid, stupid and stupid. Hello, what's this? A $120 phone bill for TWO phone calls totalling 25 minutes!!?? I haven't even seen what the mini bar bill will be. Dumb. Ah well, live and learn. Or, rather, know and then actually do next time.

In other news, my hubs is giving a lecture in front of his math club tomorrow at the university. He is calling it: "Introduction to the Calculus of Variations with Application to Minimal Surfaces". And I'm going to go and listen. That's right ladies - he is SO getting laid tomorrow night. You may think that whole scene is the height of geekdom, but you have not seen my man work his magic in front of a crowd. Hotter than hot.

Chicago

It's a little after 1 a.m. and I've just returned from Chicago. And I'm pooped. The trip was a bit surreal due to lack of sleep and craziness of a huge trade show. Time to go to sleep; more tomorrow.

Tart!

I decided to make the raspberry chocolate tart instead of the chocolate mint. We are headed up to my parents' house for my older brother's birthday dinner.

Here are photos of the end result. Chocolate crust with a raspberry mascarpone filling. Raspberries, sauce, powdered sugar and mint leaves on top.

Raspberry Chocolate Tart

Close-up

Random Tangents

Random thoughts from the day:

Yesterday, I went to Burger King for a Chicken Whopper with no mayo (and no fries or soda – I need to tell you this because of what follows.). Standing in line in front of me were a man and his son. The dad was fairly tall, in jeans and a sweatshirt, and had a huge potbelly. He could not have been more than 40 years old. His son was about 11 or 12 and very overweight. The kid’s head was just a huge, solid mass that connected to his body with no neck that I could see. And the dad ordered his son a frickin’ Double Bacon Cheeseburger – hold the lettuce and tomato. “And Super Size the soda and fries, please.” Maybe there was more to the outing than I could discern – divorced dad has kid only once a month, kid just got out of a doctor’s appointment and was told he only had a week to live, etc. – but hasn’t this man read any of the reports on obesity in children? Worldwide epidemic, people! You need to take responsibility for what you are letting your kids (and yourself) eat. That kid is going to get diabetes, if he doesn’t already have it.

Tonight, I’m going to start working on a dessert for my brother’s birthday party on Saturday. I’m going to be baking double chocoholic chocolate chunk cookies for his present (and will be sending some to dayment in exchange for a CD). And for the dessert, I’m definitely making a chocolate tart crust (recipe from Baking with Julia) and am torn between a mint chocolate ganache filling or a raspberry mascarpone filling. My brother is a chocolate fiend, so maybe the chocolate mint filling would be better. But he’s not going to be the only one eating it, so maybe the raspberry. I need to look over the recipes again. Both of the fillings are from epicurious.com. My hubby bought me some beautiful tart pans for my birthday and I haven’t had an opportunity to use them yet. I’ll have to take pictures once I’ve decided what I’m going to make.

I went on a bit of a CD shopping spree last weekend. And I’m loving all the music I bought. Missy Elliott’s “Under Construction”, Joss Stone’s “Soul Sessions”, White Stripes’ “Elephant”, Hot Hot Heat’s “Make Up the Breakdown” and Jet’s “Get Born”. I love Missy Elliott – I need to get more of her CDs. Joss Stone is amazing – who’d think that a young white girl from the UK would have that huge of a voice? White Stripes are also good – their album is a bit overplayed, but I still love it. It's dangerous to play when I'm driving - their music makes me drive much faster than my normal mach 7.

I’m heading to Chicago on Sunday for the National Manufacturing Week tradeshow. I’m only going to be there Sunday and Monday – just to check in on the booth and make sure they set it up correctly (Sunday) and then to check out the competition’s booths (Monday). I scheduled my flight so that I arrive early afternoon in Chicago. That way, I can run over to the McCormick Place, check on the booth, and then head out to some museums and maybe some shopping. And then I’m getting home late on Monday. I’m going to be a worthless noodle on Tuesday, but it should be an adventure. The good part about it is that I get to expense meals, taxis and hotel. Anyone want to meet me in Chicago for some lobster and champagne? Or maybe you can give me some ideas of places to check out on Sunday. The crazy thing about the checking up on the booth is that I have never seen it put together. So I have to stand there and say to the Chicago union boys: “Yep, that looks right to me.” Ah well. It’s going to be a learning experience.

Apprentice

My thoughts:

I think Heidi is on speed.

Ew - Nick wants to get it on with his mom.

Katrina is a big baby. Why was Troy being unethical? I don't get that. And what exactly were they supposed to negotiate in the beginning?

Tammy? In my mind, the highest probability is that you won't win the show.

Nick, glaring at Katrina: "Of course it's not personal."

And Tammy is outta there. Excellent. Now they just need to get rid of Omarosa. And Heidi. And Katrina. And Ereka. And Nick. Who's left after that?

Working Girl

Since I can’t browse any of my favorite blogs, and things have slowed down for me at the moment, I thought I’d start writing down some random thoughts and observations:

"It was a real barn burner!" - coworker discussing the curling tournament she was at this weekend.

“Do you watch that John Edwards show? About communicating with the dead? It’s really good; very interesting. I even read his book.” queried my coworker.
“No,” said I, “Have you ever seen The Pet Psychic?”
Coworker: “Oh, no, I don’t believe in that rubbish.”

Two coworkers discussing an order shipping to Mexico: “His first name is George. That’s spelled: J-o-r-g-e.” Me: “That’s pronounced Hor-hay.” Giggling from the other side of the cubicle. “Hor-hay!? Really?” “It looks like it should be George.” And these are the two in charge of international customer service.

International Sales Guy (and one of the people with whom I interviewed to get this job): “Do you have his phone number?”
Me, looking on Post-it note: “Yes, it’s 867-530 ny-ee-ine”
ISG: at first writing the number down and, then, long sigh and rolling of eyes. “You know, I voted for you.”

Fly Swatter

Fun game for Thursday. Kill the flies, kill them!

Sleep Deprived

Last night I baked cookies, watched tv and then finally, after 10 p.m., started visiting my favorite blogs. I finally crawled into bed after 1:30 a.m. Today was very busy at work - tradeshow coordination, a 128 page catalog and a brochure had to be proofed before going to press, etc., etc. The stinky graphic designer was there and she is an energy vampire to the nth degree. Plus, everyone works so hard all day - I feel obligated to keep running around. Especially since I can't surf the web until I get home. This getting up early and going to bed late thing is starting to make me drag.

I wish I could just take a weekend to be Otto.

P.S. - yesterday, one of my cubicle mates described her favorite sandwich to my other cubicle mate: fried bologna with ketchup, cinnamon and a pickle. I thought I was going to vomit. Luckily, my back was turned so she couldn't see me gagging. This is the woman who drinks two liters of Diet Pepsi every day. Her teeth must be just about ready to fall out.

Movies

Just finished watching Swimming Pool. Great movie! Charlotte Rampling was amazing and Ludivine Sagnier is gorgeous! She walks around topless through almost the whole movie. Now that's entertainment.

Mind Blowing

I just found out that my hubby did not know that Judy Garland was Liza Minnelli's mother!?! Who doesn't know that? Who have I married?!?

President's Day

So, we both have today off. Woo hoo! Lots of computer game playin' (him) and sittin' & eatin' (me). I have cookies to make and one more movie to watch. We rented "Buffalo Soldiers", "Swimming Pool" and "Thirteen". Still need to watch Swimming Pool, but the other two were good. Man, do I not want teenagers after watching Thirteen! Yikes.

Just made stuffed shells (in the oven) and will be baking chocolate chunk cookies after we eat.

More tomorrow.

Joan of Arcadia

So, I tried to tape Joan last night before we went on our hot date. But I screwed it up and taped the wrong show (stupid 1980's technology). AND I taped over one of the hubby's pornos. It was labeled "Band of Brothers" - how was I supposed to know? And while that sounds like it would be hot man-on-man action, it really was not. Trust me.

Anyhoo - if anyone out there taped Joan last night - I would LOVE YOU FOREVER if I could borrow the tape from you. Chocolate Chunk cookies to my savior.

Valentine's Day

Excuse me if this is a little incoherent. I'm a bit tipsy at the moment. We went out to dinner at a local swanky Mexican restaurant and then started a bit of a round robin of the bars in town. Only we made it to two of them. We are old, we decided after the first one. The first one was very smoky and full of old locals (it was about 7 pm at this point). The second bar we went to was called "The Tunnel" because it used to be a railway station in town that has been made into a cigar/martini bar. We decided we'd check it out since it was still early, and probably not totally filled with smoke yet. (My hubby quit smoking over 2 years ago). I ordered a sour apple martini with Stoli Vanil and he had a 12 year old Glenlivet. And then after a bit, he ordered a cigar to try. And as much as I hate smoking, I found the whole thing very sexy. The bar was dark, tunnel-shaped, and my sexy man was smoking a cigar. I even tried a few puffs. And soon found out that all my experience with Mary Jane left me completely inept in the art of "smoking" a cigar. "You should pull the smoke into your mouth - but don't inhale." Eh? Can not compute. Anyhoo. We are home, finally, after a thoroughly enjoyable evening. I won't tell you what we did when we got home because my sister-in-law (his sister) reads this. But it was GOOD.

Just thought you'd all like to know.

And that took about twice as long to write as normal. Because I kept spelling everything wrong and I had to go back and correct. I'm trashed. ;)

Yes, I know tomorrow is the actual Valentine's Day - but tomorrow would have cost twice as much as tonight. Tomorrow we will most likely go out for a movie or something. That's right, K, OR "something". :)

Apprentice

My thoughts:

Ereka is all excited to meet Regis? Yikes.

Omarossa can't pronounce Isaac Mizrahi's name correctly? That's going to come back to haunt her. I've watched his show and he does not pity fools kindly.

Ooh, Omarossa hanging up on Kwame? Very rude.

EEk - Carson Daly has a NOSE RING?!? What a frickin' tool!

And Tammy is a tool for suggesting he call Tiger Woods to come along.

Yikes! What was up with that split screen AT&T commercial? Don't ever play that again!

Shut it, Heidi.

Troy - burn that stupid hat. Please.

Shush, Amy. That's right, I shushed you. Now laugh like a hyena.

Gross, Nick and Amy together? The looks, the touching. Her awful laugh.

I can't believe that Omarossa said Heidi has no class! - Which, really, Heidi doesn't, but it was very rude to say it to The Donald while Heidi is sitting right there.

And now Jessie is gone. Poor little squirrel. I agree with Trump. She was weak.

Next week looks good with the fake injuries and the dirty toilets.

Apprentice

And fuck. It's a repeat. I hate anticipating a show and then have it be a repeat. Trump has forced me to watch American Idol. And I've pretty much avoided watching it this year. However, Fantasia and Diana (Diane?) both sound pretty good. Paula Abdul looks weird - has she had surgery on her cheeks? And what was with the guy with the off-kilter leather baseball hat? Dude - you look like a poseur.

Ooh, on the O.C. While this episode was alright - the next episode looks great. Summer and Seth, finally together; Luke and Julie? Saucy. I dislike Marissa - Mischa Barton is a bad actress. However, overall the show is very enjoyable.

So, I'm so far sending cookies to Styro and Mia. No one else is interested? More for them, I guess. ;)

Shouting it Out

A very big thank you to Miss Styro for the great monkey love V. Day card! You are the best.

On a side note - I'm baking Double Chocoholic Chocolate Chunk cookies this weekend. If anyone is interested (and lives on this continent...), email me your address and I'll send them out on Tuesday. Consider it a late V. Day present.

Valentine's Day

I addressed my Valentine's cards tonight - so if they're late, I'm sorry. If not - whew! It warmed up a bit from this weekend and the ice is all gone from the trees. However, the snow is in a very weird state at the moment. It has melted and froze and melted and froze so many times that it has a very fake look to it. If they tried to put this snow in a movie - everyone would say it was fake. Well, people who haven't experienced this type of snow, anyway. It has an icy sheen to it - like, if you stepped on it, it would be as hard as white, glossy concrete. I'll have to take photos in the morning.

In other news - I'm still loving my job. There are the usual annoying people, but I can avoid them for the most part. My boss is very cool and funny. And he's only there about once a week. I share my big cubiclely space with two sweet ladies who are both about my mom's age. We each have a corner - with one empty corner on my side. They are always there at 7 while I drag myself in at 8. And every time I get to work, they are whispering about something. And then they tend to tell me the gossip. Very fun stuff. Mostly about no one I know, but it is fun to be included.

Joan of Arcadia

I love this show. It is one of the best shows on television right now. If you aren't watching it, what are you doing instead? I love all the characters, the writing, the overall message that everything is connected. My hubby won't watch it, even though math and science are discussed (his favorite subjects), because he thinks it is a show made by some religious group. Well, I don't care. If it is, this is a religion I can get behind: be nice to people, stable families that communicate honestly with each other, everything is connected, someone is watching out for you, etc., etc. Love it.

Photos

We went for a trudge in the woods behind our apartment today. And I took a bunch of photos of the ice on the trees.

Here is one of me in my cowboy hat. I wore that hat to protect me from the falling ice chunks.

And one of my scruffy hubby (can you see me in his sunglasses?).

And this is the hubs trudging up the path in the woods.

There's more...

and here are the ice photos:

This is the road behind our apartment complex.

Storm Update

I got to work at 7 - there was more snow down here, where I live, than at work. I had to sweep about 3 inches off my car before I left for work. The drive up wasn't too bad. I took it slow and the roads weren't all that slippery.

And then I kept looking at the weather map as the band of ice started moving up the coast. I told work I was leaving at noon. And right before I left - the freezing rain started. I trudge out to my car - that now had about 6 inches of snow on it - and very, very slowly made my way home. I was able to get behind a snow plow for about 15 miles of the 30 miles. My heart was beating so fast by the time I made it home.

We're not going to drive anywhere for the next couple of days until things get cleaned up. However, the hubby and I are going to walk to the liquor store to get whiskey and maybe some wine. If we are going to be holed up, we had better be boozed up. All I'm sayin'. I'm also going to make sure we have batteries in our flashlights and lots of candles. The combination of the weight of the ice on trees and power lines and the idiots in their SUVs driving way too fast usually means the power? It's going out.

Weathering the Storm

Ugh.

It's now 5:30 in the morning. I'm trying to get myself to wake up so that I can be to work by 7. There is a big, awful storm headed our way and I want to get to work early so that I can leave early. I am not a morning person.

Here's more on the storm:

THE MOST VULNERABLE AREA FOR SIGNIFICANT ICING WILL BE FROM NORTHWESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS INTO SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE. IN THOSE AREAS THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS FOR A 12 TO 18 HOUR PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN... WHICH COULD PRODUCE UP TO A HALF INCH OF GLAZE.

At least tomorrow is Saturday - we can just stay in and observe from the warmth of our apartment.

Apprentice

Okay, thoughts as I wrote them down:

Harsh - Omarossa was the last one picked. Visions of middle school.

Nick was looking a bit smug through the whole team picking thing.

My first reaction to their plans - um, not going to work.

And, shouldn't they find out more about what sells at the flea market?

Okay, so the Protege team went to the market - my only comment at this point - I hope they get rid of Heidi.

Very smart of Protege to reserve the inside booth.

Troy REALLY needs to lose the incredibly dorky Sam hat. That is not the way to give 110% to your team.

They all went to the Board Room wearing jeans!!? And Troy is still wearing that stupid hat?

Shut the fuck up, Heidi. You wouldn't be so freaked out if there wasn't a reason.

Blah, blah, blah, Yankee Stadium, blah.

George and The Donald seem awfully chummy.

Why does Jessie sound like a little squirrel?

Whoa - Jessie just sold Kristi out. Wait. I don't really care about either of them.

Shut up Heidi.

Heidi: "1. blah, blah blah, and B. blah, blah" - wow, you sound stupid. 2 follows 1, dumbass.

So after all that build-up - Jessie was the big betrayer? Eh?

They really need to get rid of Heidi.

Life Lesson #3

If you are in a public bathroom, and you know that you are going to fart? Take a loose ball of toilet paper and make a muffler with it. Won't do anything about the smell, but...

Apprentice

I noticed that the latest TV Guide cover features Ereka and Omarossa perching next to The Donald. The women are wearing revealing clothing. They must be so proud of themselves. They get yelled at for using sex to sell and then pose with Donald in sexy outfits. We are supposed to think they are serious businesswomen?

Photos...

...from this weekend.

My beautiful niece waiting for everyone to arrive. She's holding a bunch of pink balloons.

Another one of my niece. Still waiting for everyone.

If this doesn't make your ovaries hurt...

My younger sister's crazy dog, Stella. Or "Stella Monster", as she was known this weekend.

Super Bowl!

Great game last night. We rushed home after my niece's party so that we could watch the game. And while we were driving our normal speeds, the closer we got to Massachusetts, the faster people were driving. Especially around the 6 pm mark.

Some thoughts:

The Bud Light commercial with Furgus (sp?) the dog? He looks a lot like my parents' dog, Goober. Pretty funny.

What exactly is Levitra?

The commercial with the donkey who wanted to be one of the Clydesdales was cute.

One of the Pats' coaches looks like he could be Rodney Dangerfield's little brother.

Janet Jackson looked weird. How much plastic surgery has she had? At least she still admits she's black. She dances just like Michael - and what was with Rhythm Nation? Isn't that song 10 years old? Also, did Justin Timberlake tear off part of her shirt at the end? It really looked like her boob came out of her top after he grabbed at it. Weird that those two supposedly dated for a while.

Overall, the more amusing commercials were from the beer companies. However, as a whole, not as funny as previous years.

I'm completely exhausted. I have not been able to catch up on my sleep. What with having to get up an hour earlier for my new job, and then not being able to fall asleep until late, I'm pooped. I'm going to be a mess by the end of the week if I can't do something about it this week.