Southern Discomfort

MOVING

2005-05-25T12:29:00.000-04:00

Hello people....please go here to find me. Still under some construction....bear with me.

Just stopping by

2005-05-25T09:03:00.000-04:00

Super busy. Have TONS of stuff to post about including Revenge of the Sith, redneck party/TRON performance, knitting, why I hate bugs, and lots and lots of pictures. MUST.FIND.TIME. Hopefully today or tomorrow I will have a moment to spare. Ok, more than a moment. It takes WAY more than a moment to edit all the damn pics I want to post.

Money isn't everything, but it pays the rent

2005-05-20T14:51:00.000-04:00

Q: Who got a big, fat, unexpected raise today? A: ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So. Damn. Excited. Really wasn't supposed to get anything until August, but because my boss is AWESOME, she pulled a few strings, and I got more than I was planning on asking for. Holy shit, I might be able to pay off all those credit cards now....... and buy more yarn. Speaking of buying yarn, there was an unplanned field trip to the LYS this afternoon. You know, the one I spoke poorly of in a previous post?? JUST KIDDING. The owner was there alone today, and she is a lovely old Southern belle. Then again, maybe she was just nice to me because I dropped a ridiculous amount of money. On what, you ask? Some gorgeous bamboo needles, a set of DPN's, the ahem, "bitch-ass" colorway I needed in Cottontots, some Artyarns supermerino in beautiful shades of blue, and some secret yarn for a secret surprise. Pictures to come, because I photographed the yarn in my car on the way back to work because I was THAT excited about it. The Artyarns was my first REAL extravagant yarn purchase...I have it on my desk right now and it is SOOOO PRETTTTTTTTY. I keep staring at it. Must go into boring meeting now. Do you think my co-workers would be offended if I brought my yarn in and stroked it throughout the meeting??

Threes

2005-05-19T09:51:00.000-04:00

Lifted from the lovely Frecklegirl's blog. Three names you go by: 1. Sarah 2. Arah 3. Sissy Three screen names you have had: 1. pinupkitten7 2. My first and middle initial and my last name 3. Stumbeline Three physical things you like about yourself: 1. My tattoos/scars 2. This one mole on the side of my stomach 3. My hair Three physical things you don't like about yourself: 1. My skin 2.My hands 3. At the moment, my mosquito-bitten feet Three parts of your heritage: 1. Croatian 2. German 3. English Three things that scare you: 1. Aliens 2. Clowns 3. Roaches Three of your everyday essentials: 1. Ponytail holder 2. Pepsi 3. Moisturizer Three things you are wearing now: 1. My work badge 2. My black Chuck's 3. Jeans Three of your favorite bands or musical artists 1. Queens of the Stone Age 2. Bad Religion 3. Reverend Horton Heat Three of your favorite songs: 1. Galaxy 500-Reverend Horton Heat 2. Via l'Viaquez-The Mars Volta 3. Fly Me to the Moon-Frank Sinatra Three things you want in a relationship: 1. Laughter 2. Mutual Interests 3. Space Two truths and a lie (Which is a lie?): 1. I am a good cook 2. I love mayonnaise 3. I have a tattoo of a dragon Three physical things that turn you on: 1. Manly hands...you know, the kind that say a guy works hard 2. Eyes 3. Smirk...not a smile, but a smirk Three of your favorite hobbies: 1. knitting 2. reading 3. playing with my doggies Three things you want to do really badly right now: 1. Go back to bed 2. Take a vacation 3. Go see Revenge of the Sith Three careers you are considering: 1. Sleep study participant (ha!) 2. Independent Business Consultant 3. Chemist Three places you want to go on vacation: 1. Morrocco 2. Italy 3. Home to California to see my mommy Three kids names you like: Okay so I haven't thought of three. Sorry. Three things you want to do before you die: 1. Travel, travel, travel! 2. Learn to play the drums 3. Be a mom (no rush on that one) Three ways that you are stereotypically a girl: 1. Long Hair 2. I love pedicures 3. I have a shoe addiction Three celebrity crushes: 1. Colin Farrel (I know, he's nasty...but seriously? I like the bad boys.) 2. Charlize Theron 3. The guy who plays Sawyer on "Lost"....especially when he is sweaty and takes his shirt off. Three people who have to take this quiz now: If you want to, go for it!

Knitty Surprises!

2005-05-19T08:39:00.000-04:00

The Spring Knitty surprises are up! I just may have to make one of these for an expecting mom or two. Genius idea!

Darth Tater

2005-05-18T14:58:00.000-04:00

Tonight marks the triumphant return of my man to the local music scene. (I am using his words. He's a nut.) I am going to see him get his rock on this evening, and am preparing myself for the loud, loud sounds of Tron. Should be lots of fun....even though it is causing me to miss Alias, and keeping us from going to the midnight showing of Episode III. Oh well. That's what re-runs and weekends are for, right? Last night Nina, Heather and I attended a Pampered Chef party at the lovely home of our pal Tanya. I never knew watching other people chop things and use nifty lemon zesters could be so fun. The bottle of wine I drank during the festivities probably enhanced the experience. Courtesy of our generous cousin, Nina and I will soon be the proud owners of various Pampered Chef items, such as the Amazing Measure-All cup, some adjustable measuring spoons, and our very own round oven stone, complete with stand and cleany-scraper thingie. We will also own the afore-mentioned lemon zester, because I thought it was that awesome. Oh yeah, and me, the girl who never wins anything, won a cookbook! In fact, I was told it is a Pampered Chef cookbook that retails for ONE DOLLAR! GO ME! Somehow, in all the chaos, I think I accidentally stole the host's cookbook...(Sorry Tanya!)and I bet if I look really hard in my car where I threw all my crap when I got home last night, I will find two of those sweet one dollar cookbooks. Whoops. In knitting news, I am going to be posting pictures of Bootiefest 2005 shortly. No, not my enormous posterior, but the beautiful bounty of baby booties I have made in recent days. Other than that, I bought the wrong colorway of Bernat Cottontots to finish the blanket I am making for Skyler....how pissed was I when I had ALREADY STARTED KNITTING WITH IT and noticed there was pink in it when there was not pink in the rest of the blanket? Yeah, I was pissed. At myself. Which made my tantrum even more ridiculous than the already ridiculous sight of a twenty five year old woman yelling at a ball of yarn. I have promised myself I will start the baby sweater ASAP, but the deal I made with myself is that I MUST finish this blanket before starting another project. Payday is Friday, and I am going to hunt down that bitch-ass colorway and knit my heart out this weekend. I will be attending a "redneck party out in the woods" (once again, Brian's words) where Tron is playing on Saturday night, but I am thinking if I plan things right I can have the blankie all done by Sunday night, and start the sweater. Oh yeah, and another rambling sidenote here? It is so damn hot and sticky and disgusting here that I really do not look forward to knitting a sweater....however, I am going to use a nice, light, summery yarn, and be in an air conditioned environment while knitting it, so I think I will be ok. Wait...I just realized something...I may have to break my deal with myself and maaaaayyyyybe start that sweater tomorrow night....what else will I knit while watching the seaon finale of the O.C.??? It's gonna be AWESOME. Maybe they will kill off Marissa. She bugs the crap outta me. Are mosquito bites supposed to have a diameter of one inch and get red and swell up so they look like mini-volcanoes on the tops of your feet? I don't think they are, but I'm just checking to see if there is some super breed of Southern mosquitoes that causes this to happen. My feet look like little red porcupines. I will leave you with this picture of the coolest Mr. Potato Head toy ever that B receive as a gift from a friend.

Bravery

2005-05-13T11:04:00.000-04:00

I am going to knit a sweater. Granted, it is a teeny baby sweater, but it's a start, right? I figure, it's time to start playing in the big leagues. I have known how to knit for almost four years, and need to break out of the rectangular rut I am in. I can tell it is time, because I am bored. As I sat on the couch last night, watching the O.C. and working on Skyler's blankie, I realized I was really bored. I want to knit something fun. I am starting with an itty bitty cardigan. I am making myself finish this blanket first though, or else it will never get done. Why haven't I dont this sooner you ask? I don't know....there was a time in my life after I started knitting that I only did it intermittently for about two years, and have only really gotten back into the swing of things in the last year. Plus, I'm a wuss and have been really, really scared. I am still scared, but I am going to suck it up. My mantra is, "You are a grown up. You CAN and WILL knit a sweater. You are the master of the needles. Do not let them master you." I am lame. Seriously though? It is working. Cross your fingers for me. Maybe when I finish it, I will feel more worthy of calling myself a knitter.

Media Overload

2005-05-11T09:07:00.000-04:00

In between knitting, dog walking, scrubbing kitchen floors and cooking on the new grill last weekend, B and I made a trip to Borders to see what we could see. After quenching my thirst with a yummy honey-vanilla latte, I ran throught the store like a maniac, clutching books to my chest saying " Oooooh, I have been dying to read this!" Okay...so....maybe not-so-much with the running and yelling and such...but the book clutching? That happened. Granted, I go to the library at least once a week, but newly released titles can be hard to find there. I get excited in Borders. It must be the fumes from that new-book smell. I walked away with the latest issue of Bust (which, let me tell ya, is damn near impossible to find in this town...I was stoked when I saw it stashed behind the tattoo magazines I was browsing through), the latest Chuck Palahniuk (which Brian has commendered for now), one of those fun knitting stitch encylopedia books that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of at this moment, and Knitting for Baby : 30 Heirloom Projects with Complete How-to-Knit Instructions. I had a stack of knitting books. A pile. When I realized I had more books than money, I had to put some back. (Sidenote: My wonderful, thoughful boy bought me my media stack, which was very nice and unexpected and I couldn't bring myself to make him pay for all those knitting books I had piled up on a table.) Once in the truck I immediately started leafing through my purchases. There was a moment of panic when I accidentally grabbed B's Bass Player magazine and thought my Bust had been accidentally left behind (how funny is THAT statement taken out of context??) but I found my magazine elsewhere in the gargantuan bag. Sometime before or after our book (and for B, music) spree at Borders, there was a trip to Best Buy that I vaguely remember and a few items were purchased. The rest of Saturday was spent browsing at home and garden supply stores, having lunch, contemplating a trip up to Georgia to go to a yarn store which was quickly decided against as enough money had been spent for the day (I was sad, I really was....but I also was proud I did not give in to temptation.) and, of course, returning to my house and busting out the Star Wars Lego game. This game is SO FRIGGIN CUTE. It's a lot of fun too, it's a 2 player game and B and I laugh our asses off trying to work as a little lego jedi team. Final Fantasy X is amazing, but I was a little tired (ahem, tipsy) when I first tried to play it, prompting much frustrating and cursing on my part. That, in turn, prompted B to look up from his book and say, "I am sorry you are going to have to get Stephen Hawking to explain this game to you. Do you need some help?" In retrospect, it was quite funny, but at the time it made me pout. I think I even stuck my tounge out at him and stomped off to get my knitting, something I could do without the help of a physicist. Ahhhh...which brings me to the knitting. A pair of baby booties were made, and a hat was started. No progress whatsoever was made on the two projects that have been stagnant since my hands started acting up again a few weeks ago, BUT Skyler's baby blanket is almost done. I had to rip back almost to the beginning because I was not happy with the way things were going, and I had somehow dropped a stitch, missed the dropped stitch for lke 20 rows, and had a huge hole in the middle of the blanket. GRRRRR. I was VERY proud of myself that I was able to salvage a good chunk of the project instead of having to rip the whole thing out and start over. I had to get a little creative, but it wasn't all that difficult seeing how almost the entire thing is garter stitch. I am hoping to finish it this week, and finish the hat I started, which matches the blanket and the booties. Then I think I just may take a knitting for babies break and work on some grown up items. I had a lovely mother's day with my kids. They were nice enough not to pee on the floor or chew anything up. I didn't get flowers or a card, but I did get cuddled, slobbered on, and followed around. Awwwww. I love them. They make it really really hard to mop a floor, but they are sweet. I douched the house Sunday, there was a seriously hazardous filth situation happening there. All better now though. other than the massive trails and piles of dog hair being shed in every corner of every room, the house is very clean. One more thing before I go: I have reverted to the speech pattern my cousin used at age 2, and have taken to referring to my dogs as "gogs" or "goggies"....I think this may worry/firghten my sister. I like it though; it's almost as much fun instead of saying "bobot" instead of "robot." And if you are thinking, "um ok, how often does she say bobot though, because who the hell talks about robots on a regular basis"....yeah, I say bobot several times a day. How can you not? It's too fun. Plus I love to talk about robots. Yeah, I am weird. So?

All birthdays, all the time!

2005-05-09T13:54:00.000-04:00

Another birthday related post..... This messed with my head. It is me. I can find no fault with this.

Your Birthdate: April 15

With a birthday on the 15th of any month, you are apt to have really strong attachments to home, family and domestic scene. The 1 and 5 equaling 6, provide the sort of energy that makes you an excellent parent or teacher. You are very responsible and capable. This is an attractive and an attracting influence. You like harmony in your environment and strive to maintain it. You tend to learn by observation rather than study and research. You may like to cook, but you probably don't follow recipes. This number shows artistic leanings and would certainly support an talents that may be otherwise in your makeup. You're a very generous and giving person, but perhaps a bit stubborn in ways.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

CREEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Birthday Joy

2005-05-09T10:15:00.000-04:00

Don't be a crappy friend like me and be late/forget/etc. Better late than never though, right? So go wish the lovely, hilarious, witty, talented and gorgeous Miss Stacey a happy, happy birthday. She's the best friend a girl could have, and one of the hardest working people I know. I love me some Stacey. Stacey, pass on the birthday wishes from me to your lovely twin. :)

Catching up.........

2005-05-06T15:45:00.000-04:00

Ay yi yi....so much has been going on! I have been a very busy girl. I was sick this week, and the nasty cold/flu sickness that crept up on me had me laid out for two days. I was so looking forward to "Knitting While Sick" but I was SO sick, that didn't happen. Nothing much other than sleep happened on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was gooooooood sleep though! I missed work, which made my workload even worse when I came back yesterday...while I was sick, we had utility bill drama, which was also not fun. Everything is ok now...but confusion+bills=BAAAAAAAAAD. In an attempt to straighten out certain financial issues, I am now the proud owner of a checking account in Florida. WOO HOO! It only took me almost 2 years.... :) I must say, the convenience of going into a bank rather than doing everything online and through mail is quite nice. Let me explain the horse statement in my last post. I am being trained by a co-worker to housesit for her for about a week next month. She has this gorgeous house out in the middle of nowhere, and I will be taking care of her animals, which includes two horses. As part of the daily routine, I will have to feed and clean up after the horsies. Seeing how I have never been around horses, it was a new experience for me. I won't say it was unpleasant; in a strange way it felt good to do something that gave me immediate results, rather than staring at a computer screen and arguing with grown men all day at work. Last night I partied like it was a Friday instead of a Thursday. This was not a wise decision, as I am still recovering from THE SICKNESS and I had to work today. Amanda and Robert hosted a fantastic Cinco de Mayo party, full of quesadillas and homemade salsa. And booze. Lots and lots of booze. B and I laughed so hard at stupid things we kept saying....for example, apparently I created a new type of animal, the Bumpalo. Don't ask. I have no idea what I was saying. Good times though...got to visit with old friends I do not see nearly often enough. Other than the brutal headache I woke up with, it was worth it. B is now in a local band with some friends of his, a band we actually go see play quite often, so I am looking forward to getting to see my man display his bass prowess all around town in the near future. Yay for guestlists! Does that make me a groupie? Whatever. Knitting to come this weekend....thank God, I am having withdrawal. No non-knitters believe me when I try to tell them how addicting it is. I think that is part of the reason I never finish any projects; I like the actual work/progress part of knitting so much. Then again, maybe I am just lazy. My hands are finally feeling better, so I am planning to attack the stack of half-finished projects in my basket at home for the next few days.

Brief Update

2005-04-29T11:49:00.000-04:00

Stress is bad. Getting props for being a supa-star at work is GOOOOOOOOD (but a raise would be better!) Hands aren't working properly and I have been advised to lay off the knitting for a bit. This irks me. :( I cleaned out horse stalls yesterday. Yes, me, cleaning horse stalls. Details to come when I find the time.

Mystery Mower

2005-04-27T15:21:00.000-04:00

I went home for lunch today and was surprised to see someone had mowed our (small) lawn, trimmed the hedges in front of the house, and cut down the massive weeds that were overrunning our meager driveway. We have to find and pay for our own lawn service in my neighborhood; it is something the management company does not provide since we live in townhomes and not technically apartments. My sister and I are exceedingly poor at this point of our lives, so we have been acting like we dont see the horrendous lawn since we cant afford to have someone cut it, or buy a lawnmower and do it ourselves. So who was this phantom mower? There was a blank invoice with a company name and address tucked into our door, but no prices and no phone number. Did someone drive by and do this out of the goodness of their heart? Was it a lawn maintenance company doing some kind of promo to drum up business? Or did someone screw up and cut our lawn instead of our neighbors? These questions may never be answered, but lawn dude, where and whoever you are, I salute you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

But I already lived one Monday this week!

2005-04-26T08:51:00.000-04:00

How can Tuesday feel like a Monday? I don't know, but today does. Maybe because I have been coming down with something sinus-y for about a week and have not been taking care of myself and now am very tired and cranky. Maybe its the chill in the air. Whatever it is, I want my Tuesday back! I am almost done with the blankie for little Skyler, I will be posting pics soon. I have to finish it quick so B's mom can take it wih her to Colorado at the end of the week. I have to go get caffeine and some kind of food product now, before I fall asleep and short out my computer with a puddle of drool on my desk.

Just for Stacey

2005-04-23T14:42:00.000-04:00

Maybe this will make you feel less guilty about taking so long, and you can say that you kinda-sorta tagged someone Last book read: "State of Fear" by Michael Crichton. I finally picked it back up and finished it. Where it came from: Brian, who loaned it to quite a few people in the time I took "off" from reading it. Books read per year: Let's see.....I read an average of 30 books a month, times 12 months, so....about 360? (Did I do that math right???) I read A LOT. Favorite Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, which I what I cut my teeth on and grew up reading. I will read literally ANYTHING though. I am not picky. Five favorite books: Asking me to name just five is insanity. I have been reading since I was three, and could probably list a thousand favorite books. I will list some of the more popular, I guess. 1. Dune, by Frank Herbert. The first and the best of the Dune books. I re-read it about once a year. I love the story and the cultures Herbert develops; it just kind of sucks me in. 2. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Seriously freaky when you think about when it was written and look at the way kids are with video games today. Just an awesome story with sci-fi that in this day and age does not seem too far-fetched. 3. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. I think everyone, male or female, can relate to this book in some way. At one point or another we all start to wonder why things went wrong with people in our past. Also, I am a list maker and adore the use of list's in this book. 4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I bet some of you are groaning right now, reliving high school and college English classes and wanting to throttle me for bringing this damn book up. I can't help it, it is amazing. It has all the elements of a Victorian/Gothic romance mixed with the sick fascination of being on the outside looking in at the "beautiful people." I find the prose elegant and memorable. I'm a sucker for a pretty turn of phrase. 5. The Eight by Katherine Neville. If you like Crichton or Dan Brown, read this book. That is all I am going to say because anything else I say might ruin it for those who haven't read it. (okay so I HAVE to squeeze in a few more than 5.) 6. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. This books freaks me out everytime I read it. Seriously. Nightmares. I love it though. 7. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Brilliant. I don't really need to say anything else. 8. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Such a great, gorgeous book. I love the characterization and the ideas Lee uses. The people in this book come to life for me all over again each time I read it. 9. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. In my opinion, the best of the series. I wasn't impressed with the Mayfair stories, but the Vampire series is written with such vivid detail and imagination it is easy to see why Rice has legions of rabid fans. 10. Ship Fever and Other Stories by Andrea Barrett. A perfect blend of history, science, and gorgeous prose, Barrett's stories explore a fascinating time in the development of modern science and scientific methods while making you care about her quirky intellectual protagonists. Ok, I am stopping there. I feel like such a pretentious asshole now. I have about 20 more books begging me to list them, but no....I am holding back. Obviously, as this is a tribute my my darling Stacey, I am not going to tag anyone.... Stacey, here's hoping this made you feel a little less slack-ish!

Danger: Long, picture laden post ahead

2005-04-21T14:53:00.000-04:00

Blanket Time! No, I am not talking about one of Michael Jackson's children. (aren't they all named Prince Michael of some shit like that? Whatever.) I am talkin' about my crazy baby blanket knitting spree. Ethan's Blankie, AKA The Never Ending Baby Blanket.... Look at all those squares!

Ohhhh....pretty colors!

Time to put it all together....::sigh:: will this thing EVER be done???

And now, I must announce that B has become an uncle as of YESTERDAY!!! The baby came a little earlier than expected...a few weeks earlier, in fact, but weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs. 6oz. Remember how we didn't know the sex of the baby because his brother and sister-in-law wanted it to be a surprise?? I was SURE it was a boy....since everyone seems to be having boys. I have been working on this

because the baby's room is decorated in Classic Pooh stuff, and I thought it would be a unisex blankie. However, the baby is a little girl! I am so excited that I get to knit more baby girl stuff! I have an affinity for those pretty baby pinks and purples, and most parents won't dress their boys in things with ruffles, so I am thrilled! Speaking of baby girls, here is the hat I finished for Stephanie's bun in the oven a few weeks ago. I finally got around to taking a photo of the fuzzy, soft, finished product.

(Doesn't my arm make the hat look like some weird evil mushroom here?) In other knitting news, I am working on a super secret project for a lovely lady on the West Coast who has a birthday fast approaching, and a Mother's Day present for my mommy. Check out my bamboo needles! They are my first "grown up" (not cheap plastic or aluminum like I usually use) needles. YAY!

In un-fun, aka WORK, news, my trip to Destin on Weds. was absolutely BEEYOOTEEFUL! The weather was perfect, I made incredible time getting there and getting home, and got a lot done. It was a lot of driving though, which gets very tedious when you have to look at this for 150 miles each way

Occasionally, one of these pops up on the side of the road

I learned not to take "short cuts" no matter how much you want to get home in a hurry. I started going down this road, in Nowheresville, USA

and got hopelessly lost and had to turn around. See, here is my, "Whoops! I am LOST!" face:

Monday night my lovely cousin Heather, my aunt, my sister and myself went out to Osaka for some hibachi steakhouse fun to celebrate the Event-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named a few days late. All i can say about the next picture is that Nina REALLY wasn't feeling well that night and did not want to be photographed.

Apparently, neither did I, demonstrated by my "I hate you" face. But my auntie looks happy, right?

And backtracking to last Sunday, B and I hit the Tallahassee Flea Market, which is a multi-cultural festival. In a bad way. The dregs of society get together and rummage through other people's trash. I am serious...there are sometimes bags of actual trash there. Sometimes you can find cool stuff, but we go mostly to people-watch...they sell beer there, and beer+rednecks is always a good time! Don't get me wrong, I am all about thrifting, but this...this is not thrifting or scoring cool deals. This is pure TRASH. In every sense of the word. Check out this shoe display:

After taking this picture, the large, cranky shopkeeper (if you can call her that, I mean, she is selling used shoes) seemed a bit upset that we only photographed the monkey and did not purchase any of her fine wares. Another shot of the fabulous flea market entrance:

Don't be jealous, you know you want to visit! B and I also hit one of our favorite spots that day, Railroad Sqaure. Check out some of the incredible sculptures on the way in:

My friend Amanda dropped by last night to bring me a gift for an occassion we shall not speak of. She made it. Check it out.

Amanda kicks ass! I am going to find a way to mount it on the wall with a light behind it, because it looks awesome when the light shines through. And one final piece of cuteness: Sampson has this habit of standing on one leg or contorting himself into some bizarre position while having attention lavished upon him. This can be demonstrated with the following photos where his "Crazy Legs" are showcased:

Weird dog. Love him though. If you have made it to the end of this post, I commend you on your strength and courage.

Baby Blankie Bonanza

2005-04-19T15:44:00.000-04:00

One down, one halfway done....and two more to go. WOOO HOOOO! Leaving to go to the beautiful Emerald Coast on the Gulf tomorrow morning. A day trip, and a work trip, but a nice change of scenery....and a possible yarn store detour on the way home. Taking a poll: Am I insane to trty to teach myself to use DPN's by making socks? I am thinking it would be a good way to learn, however am told it is a wee bit difficult. Any other suggestions if you find this one nutty are greatly appreciated. Pics to post when I return of knitting fun, dinner at Osaka last night, and pretty Gulf Coast scenery. Oh yeah, and of the Flea Market....nothing says ghetto like the Tallahassee Flea Market! P.S. Possible trip to California in July....more details to come later.

Unbirthday/Whining

2005-04-18T13:50:00.000-04:00

Birthday sucked. I have adopted a "don't ask, don't tell" stance on the subject of said birthday. It seriously was bad times. I am not exaggerating or feeling sorry for myself. I am glad the birthday is over and will not be back. Ever. No more birthday's for me. Nope. Moving right along, I bought myself a set of DPN's and a pair of bamboo needles this weekend...I feel like such a big girl knitter! I also bought more yarn. I really don't need anymore yarn. Really. I have to stop. I finished all the squares for the Never Ending Baby Blanket, and will try to find time this week to sew it all up. It's going to be another crazy week, kids, so we shall see how that plan goes. Out of the office for two days this week, and then all the catch up work...not to mention the catch up work I am doing now from my day off on Friday....note to self: Self, taking a day off and believing everything will be ok at work while you are gone is a bad idea. I just went and got my eyebrows waxed, and I think the girl did a terrible job, I look really surprised. Oh well, I can live with it if it means not having to pluck them. Now I am all puffy and look like something out of Star Trek's make-up room, but once again, if it prevents plucking, I don't care. Why the hell won't the vending machine here take any change? It will only take dollars now, it spits quarters out like they are over-chewed pieces of grape Bubblicious. Sorry for all the gloom and doom of late....I seriously just want things to go my way for ONE DAY. That would make me feel better.

That's Life

2005-04-13T10:41:00.000-04:00

This week is SUCKING so much. My brain hurts and I think my head is going to explode. Or maybe just fall off. I am NOT going on any kind of vacation for my birthday, and I may just come in to work that day. Sounds like fun, right? Work makes me crazy. I mean, CRAZY. I am so brain-dead and bitchy by the time I get home everyday I alternate between crying hysterically while locked in the bathroom and running water so no one will hear me, and going in to this manic state of freakiness and laughing at everything. I am so scared of myself right now, because if I didn't know me, I would beat my own ass. Calgon, take me away. Or maybe the men withthe little white coats need to take me away, judging by those last few statements. Word to the wise: no matter how poor you are, don't drive around with expired tags for one year and eight months*, because those wily, attentive police will catch up to you and pull you over and write you a big fat ticket on your way to work. Especially if you have out of state plates. I love being me. And now, time for a science project. Materials Needed: 1 glass of sweet tea 1 car with cup holders Hot and humid weather conditions Laziness Procedure Drink the sweet tea on your way to work. Leave the empty, but slightly sticky cup in your cup holder. Let the heat penetrate your vehicle while you are at work. Drive home. Think to yourself, "Hey, I should really bring that glass inside with me." Ignore that thought because you get distracted by a ringing cell phone, the promise of your bed right throught the door, or any other various excuse you try to convince yourself of. Repeat for approximately one week. Check the glass after one week, and notice the cool swirly looking circles on the inside. Realize they remind you of something. Remember where you have seen something like this. Realize you have some kind of fermented sugar bacteria thingie growing in a glass in your cupholder. Be disgusted, yet fascinated at the same time.** *Uh, yeah, I know I am in the wrong here, but you would totally think after driving around everyday with expired tags on out of state plates for ALMOST 2 YEARS someone would have notice before now. I am telling you....I know I am in the wrong, but I am rather proud that I made it this long with no ticket. I mean, a cop lives DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME and sees the ass end of my car with it's expired glory at least twice a day, just sitting there, parked and rebelling against THE MAN. **Do you think I brought the glass in to clean it, threw it away, or left it there to see what would happen? Of course it is still sitting in the car. I am lazy, and a scientist by nature, dammit!

I have a four day work week! YAY!

2005-04-12T08:31:00.000-04:00

It's Birthday Week....EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YUCK! Some random thoughts: Is it wrong of me to anticipate my family sending me money-filled birthday cards and planning to use the money to pay the electric/cable/other bill(s)? Why is it that whenever I feel like I am ready to kick ass and knit, my hands start acting up? I started a supa-secret project for someone in San Francisco over the weekend, and tried to work on it last night, but my hands could not hold the needles. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! (that's me, crying like a baby) Waking up to a green car is disturbing, since my car is blue. Realizing it is the inch thick coating of pollen that accumulated overnight that is making it look green is even more disturbing. My job makes me cry because right now I hate it. :( No, I mean, I HATE IT. I cannot explain with words the amount of hate I feel towards my job or certain people I work with. I know it's not even 9am, but a chocolate milkshake would really hit the spot right now. And now, a brief weekend recap: This weekend was nice, except for the fact I felt like poo and spent lots of time sleeping. I read a lot while B played PS2...Took the dogs to the dog park and reorganized the kitchen so I can actually find and use things on Sunday. It was pretty uneventful, although B and I went to see Bacon Ray on Saturday night which was awesome....they were a local band back in the day here in Tallahassee, and were reunited for one awesome night...and they have this one song that cracks me up because this guys is telling his girl not to spend another night at the office and to ask her boss to "please be strong, like Hoss on Bonanza", then goes on to discuss how her boss is so cosmopolitan because he has a treadmill and one of those little basketball hoops over his trashcan in his office. I almost peed I was laughing so hard....I can totally relate. The band was really good and quite funny, and B got to see a lot of his old friends. We of course had to make a trip to Waterworks for a lime daquiri afterwards....yeah, I was a little drunk Saturday night, but I miraculously had NO hangover the next morning. FABULOUS! Back to work. Cross your fingers and hope I don't freak out today!

Evil has a name, and it is work

2005-04-07T11:00:00.000-04:00

Another very dark and stormy day here in the Panhandle. I know I am not the only one in the office praying we lose power and get to go home early. It is confirmed: I have next Friday off. According to the boy, we may be going here, and then swinging over to Pensacola, at which point I will make him go here and then here on the way home. We did discuss a Tampa trip again (and if THAT happens, I will be parking my happy ass here for the duration! It's all about the funds though....since I am broke, who knows what we will end up doing. I told him to surprise me....and he said to start finding yarn stores in both areas. I honestly don't care if we sit at home....I just need a break from work. Really. I don't think you understand. I have had two semi-psychotic breaks here at work in the past two days. Good, times, good times. I fear that Nina and I have set expectations with the children that we may not be able to live up to. For the past several days, they have been taken to the dog park after we get off work and made lots of new friends. What happens when we are too tired, or have to work late, or it is stormy like it is today? I hope they don't rebel and become those degenerate cigar-smoking poker-playing dogs you see in all those paintings. (As an aside...let me just tell you how much Tom Brown Park rules. It is one of the coolest things about Tallahassee. Not only is there a dog park for big dogs, there is one for little dogs. There are a few playgrounds, bike and walking trails, lakes and ponds, baseball and soccer fields, a disc golf course, an RC track, and much, much more. It is so pretty, and it is right near my house, which makes it very convenient. According to one of my sources, at one point it was a hot spot for men looking for other men to engage in fun in the public restrooms. I am not sure if that is the case anymore, but I still try to stay away from the bathrooms, because I would hate to stumble upon on of those encounters.) I have been knitting quite a bit lately, I think I am out of my whiny knitting slump and am all fired up to work on wee baby things and new challenges. YAY!

Tax day isn't the only reason the 15th blows

2005-04-04T16:04:00.000-04:00

If one more person says to me, "Oh, you know what? Your birthday is coming up!" I am going to kick them. Seriously? You think I don't know this? Like, you have to remind ME that it is MY birthday? No. No, I don't think so. Maybe I am just hostile because I am turning twenty five and am extremely bitter about that. YECH. I don't even wanna think about it anymore. Ahem...moving RIGHT along...this weekend I became addicted to Craft Corner Deathmatch. Like I need another TV addiction, right? Oh well. Even the man got sucked into the crafty goodness. And how about that wily Best Week Ever and their April Fool's Joke? Ahhhhh, television, how I love thee. I DID do some productive things. I know it sounds like all I did was watch TV, but honestly, I cleaned the entire downstairs and am going home this evening to work my Mary Poppin's cleaning magic upstairs. Yipee! I also started knitting some fingerless gloves, watched The Incredibles, and went with my honey to see Sin City. We were eagerly awaiting opening night, and were there with bells on just as soon as we could scurry away from our respective places of employment. I also bathed the doggies, trimmed their sharp little nails, gave them their flea and heartworm prevention, and took them on lots of walks in the beautiful weather we had once the ickiness of Friday blew out. Hope everybody had a relaxing weekend and that the time change didn't leave you too exhausted!

2005-04-01T14:40:00.000-05:00

Lovely weather we are having today....I am in the area of the black rectangle I so helpfully drew for y'all to see...click picture to make bigger

Headed home from the Emerald Coast

2005-04-01T14:17:00.000-05:00

On the way home and where you change from Central to Eastern time, the Apalachicola River....and part of my passenger window, with a bad reflection hitting it.

Painted Sky

2005-04-01T14:15:00.001-05:00

Destin-sunset over the gulf, taken looking West, while traveling across the Mid-Bay Bridge

2005-04-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

The Whaling Wall

2005-04-01T14:14:00.000-05:00

Taken on Highway 20 at Choctaw Beach

Crunch Time

2005-04-01T14:06:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Hell...I mean, my office, during last weeks frantic deadline rush

Home again, Home again, jiggity jog/On my TV soapbox

2005-03-31T15:22:00.000-05:00

PART ONE: In which I come home from a short but draining business trip My deadlines have been met, and now I will go back to dealing with the usual drama and frantic issues at work. I am so tired I can't see straight. I made it to Destin and back in one piece, but am feeling dehydrated and nasty...like cats must feel when they go outside and eat grass. I need nutrients. Hardee's and Taco Bell scarfed while driving don't count. Destin was PRETTY....Tuesday afternoon and evening I witnessed the most glorious sky color and sunset I have ever seen. Yesterday the weather was kind of crappy, but being so close to the water and getting to see the sunrise made up for the grey skies that followed. I took some pictures, but it is hard to get a good shot while drving across the Mid-Bay Bridge and holding your camera out the window. I will post the two decent ones at a later date...one of the sunset and one of the Whaling Wall. (Not to be confused with the Wailing Wall.) I really should go see Hank Williams III play this evening. I want to go. I also want to sleep. I think sleep is going to win in this case. Sorry, Hank. I finished the FPBH (fuzzy pink baby hat) and will also post pictured of it at a later date. It is so cute I kinda wish it fit me. I like to pet it, it is very soft and cuddly. (Stephanie, if you are reading this, I know that sounded bad, but rest assured, it is safe to place on your daughter's wee head.) Next up are some matching booties. How cute are booties? I love teeny cute things. I am a bad dog owner. My dogs have been crated all day due to the business of my schedule and Nina's crazy schedule. They will probably bite my ankles and pee on me when I get home. I deserve it. Part Two: In which I express my sadness and frustration over a television show. I have something important to say. I think Alias and I may be splitting up. I have had to do this before....like after Duchovny left The X-Files...(Dude, you can't have the X-Files without Mulder. You just can't.) That example just proves how long I will stay loyal to a great show gone bad. Alias, I had such love for you in the beginning, but now, now you just make me wanna puke. I know, I know....we have been together since Episode One, Season One, and have been through a lot together. SD-6, Rambaldi, Danny being killed, finding out Syd's mom was a baddie, falling for Vaughn, QT's fantastic guest appearances, Syd's missing years, Vaughn marrying that asshat Lauren, Sloan being Sloan, Jack crossing and doublecrossing....and now Nadia. See, the thing is, the show used to be sooooo great. It was exciting, and smart, and designed for loyal viewers with above average attention spans. It had characters you cared about, and would leave you hanging in that " I can't wait til next Sunday" way. Now that J.J. Abrams has dumbed it down in a ploy for attracting new viewers and higher ratings, it is nearly unwatchable. I mean, last season was godawful, but I hung in there, hoping against hope they would kill that Lauren bitch...and hoping this season things would get back on track. Instead, I get this weak-ass spy-sisters-are-doin'-it-for-themselves double dating drivel, and Sydney being all huggy big sister every episode. Then there was that one where Syd and Vaughn went to that Leave It to Beavery traning compound in Russia, which was cool, yet reminded me of an X-Files episode where Mulder and Scully have to pretend to be a married couple to investigate strange happenings in what seems like the perfect neighborhood. Granted, it wasn't the EXACT same story, but there were enough similarities that even non-obsessive X-Files watchers and Alias fans made the connection between the two episodes. I was still hanging in there though, after all, there was a two-parter with Anna Espinoza and Sark, I thought there was hope. I was so, so very wrong. Last week we had the Argentine version of "La Femma Nikita." Do we REALLY need to see another rip-off of this story? I liked "Point of No Return", but unfortunately, the Alias brand knock-off was not as well done as the Bridget Fonda vehicle. Just. Not. Good. Yet, I hung in there...waiting...hoping...until last night. Syd buried alive? Wait, don't you mean The Bride? I sat there in disbelief, waiting for the revelation that Syd too, was trained by Pei Mei and was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. It wouldn't be too far off considering Vivica A. Fox and Quentin Tarantino have both appeared on the show....but seriously...can't the writers come up with anything better than rehashing other people's work? Alias used to be just as great as the original works it is now sadly (and blatantly) copying. It makes me so sad. I think I will continue to watch..perhaps not as regularly or fanatically as in the past, but maybe just check in every once in a while. If you are interested in tuning in to the current season of Alias, do yourself a favor and DON'T watch the first two seasons. You will not even recognize the current incarnation of the show as the same thing you saw on those season 1 and 2 DVD's. I just hope Mr. Abrams doesn't screw up Lost.....which I firmly believe is one of, if not, the, best show on TV right now. I could drone on and on about last night's ep for hours....but it is time for me to go home now. In conclusion, Alias used to be great, and now is not so great, but if you want to watch something really great, tune in to ABC at 8pm on Wednesday nights, and get creeped out and sucked in by Lost. Do yourself a favor, and watch it at least once. I bet you get hooked.

Bad weather, good dogs, and homemade kung fu

2005-03-27T13:44:00.000-05:00

This Easter afternoon finds me sitting at my desk. Since I don't have a desk at home, you would be correct in deducing that I am at work. Joy. I am so overloaded with work that I really don't know if I will be able to post at all this coming week. I will be out of town, for work, for at least two days. Before that, I will be stressing out, consuming unhealthy amounts of caffeine, and busting my ass, for work. Upon returning from my trip, I will be crashing, sleeping for days. Even when I am at work. I am sure there will be some time where I can squeeze a nap in. This weekend has been...odd. We have some bad weather. Last night was the worst weather I have experienced in my twenty-four years on this planet. We had an actual tornado warning, which means there was a tornado on the ground in our area. It was scary. This is scary too; this is what you see on your TV when the conditions are right for a tornado to form. We have one of these until 6pm tonight.

This is what the Weather Channel shows when you are sooooooooooo gonna get hammered with scary thunderstorms and tornados. That red area is where there are tornado watches/warnings. The middle of the red area, the center part of the Florida Panhandle? That's me.

B and I are supposed to go see Tron play tonight at The Yard, which is outdoors. I am thinking maybe there won't be a show after all. In dog news.....My dogs are sweet, and loving, and very, very cute. Here is Cricket at the dog park.

She made friends with a 10 week old boxer puppy. It was SO FREAKING CUTE. Sampson was a big ol' wimp at first, but then warmed up to EVERYONE there, and went to everyone who called his name, except for me and my sister...you know, his OWNERS??? Traitor. Check him and his collie girlfriend out.

More cuteness....They were so scared last night with the booming thunder and the extra-bright lightning, they just wanted to cuddle. With B. Because he is the St. Francis of Tallahassee. Once again, TRAITORS.

Cricket in her "Please look at me and understand that I am the SHIT" pose this morning.

Sampson, probably eating something he shouldn't be, with his "Robert Smith of Dogs" goth face.

One more thing before we move on...up the street from me there is this house that has large, life-size humpback whale sculptures jumping out of their lawn. I am not joking. I hope to get a better picture soon, but check it out, I took this while driving by this morning:

I don't really know how to feel about that. In knitting news....the baby blanket is on hiatus. I am using this extra soft yarn

to make a hat for my kinda-sorta niece who will be born in July. It has eyelets, see?

Did I mention it is really soft and fuzzy?

I really, really need to go knit with some Tallahassee folks one night, I mean, I find the SnB and then I don't go...what an ass I am. However, I CAN explain it away with work at this time. I am hoping I can make it out next Sunday if they are doing anything that day. In making millions of baby things, I found I didn't have size 3 needles. Guess what? Neither did anyone in town. So I made some.

I am not sayin' they are the prettiest things around, but they work.

B and I went (Finally!) to the only yarn store in Tallahassee yesterday. I was a wee bit overwhelmed...it was tiny, and chaotic, and I didn't know where to look, there was crap EVERYWHERE with no organization and I was very confused... and I would say that it was not one of the "Friendly Local Yarn Stores" I have heard about. Um, no. More like, "hey lets look down our nose at the new girl", from all the biddies sitting around the table in the front of the store and watching my every move as if I was going to start shoving yarn down my pants and make a break for it. Apparently the ladies there were absent the day they taught Southern Hospitality at charm school. Methinks I will not be spending my money in such an establishment and will perhaps order my yarn online where I will receive a more friendly, human touch from a mouse-click and words typed on a screen. I must go install software and figure out how to make a Sony Clie TJ-27 do what I need it to do. Have a Happy Easter, and don't eat too many Starburst Jelly Beans like I did last night. By the way....playlist, guilty pleasures, and craft pages have been updated.

My new toy

2005-03-24T09:53:00.000-05:00

B is the best boyfriend ever. Last night he brought me an early birthday present. A lovely Nikkon Coolpix digital camera. My new toy is SWEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!! I have been playing with it all morning, and think I drove him and the puppies crazy with it last night, because I was taking pictures of everything. SEE???? How cute are my dogs???? They look so spooky here....and check out Sampson, straight thuggin' yo. Apparently, Sampson likes vodka. He is trying to steal it from B. Cricket likes feet. (My feet are so BONY! YUCKY!) No, I mean she REALLY likes feet. Even B's feet. Wrasslin' I knitted....yes, on the Damn Baby Blanket. While watching Alias, which, as discussed here yesterday, is great to knit to. Doesn't this look like a MAGIC FLYING SQUARE in these pics? Look, I am hard at work today! Hard at work, with no makeup on! Gross! B also rules because he remembered to bring me the Eagles of Death Metal CD I wanted to burn. You can download awesome live EoDM stuff here, and you really, really should. You may have heard "Speaking in Tongues" on some new beer commercial...I can't remember which one though, so focused was I on rockin' out to the song while the commercial was on TV. I am a happy girl, and very, very spoiled. There has been talk of a birthday trip to Tampa to celebrate the big 2-5 in a few weeks. He is scouting hotel rooms and things to do, and I am scouting yarn shops. In other news, I am hungry with a hankerin' for BBQ. Please contact me for info on donating to the "Get Sarah Lunch from Sonny's" fund.

Imagine my surprise....

2005-03-21T16:04:00.000-05:00

...to find there is a Stitch 'n Bitch group in my area. Specifically, IN MY TOWN. And all this time I have been whining about how I have no one to knit with, and have been so jealous of those of you who have fun knitting nights. I have joined the message board/group on Yahoo, and we shall see what comes of this. Maybe some of the lovely knitting ladies of Tallahassee can teach me things to make me a SUPER KNITTER! B is all moved...YAY! Work is not fun....BOO! Dogs ate the carpet...BAD! We had a plumbing problem/flood over the weekend....NOOOOO!!!! But are getting free carpet cleaning because it wasn't our fault...YAY AGAIN!!!!! Must do work now.....

What Sarah Did On Her Lunch Hour, By Sarah

2005-03-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

I love my dogs. I would like to think they love me, but I think it is more that they love the food and attention they get from me. Check Sampson out.....I can't stand the cuteness. Cricket was running around like the had jet fuel for breakfast, so I didn't capture her dingo-like essence on camera, but Sampson more than makes up for it. He is tres photogenic, no?

2005-03-18T14:22:00.000-05:00

Sampson looking at Cricket: Say WHAAAAAAT?

2005-03-18T14:21:00.000-05:00

You can't see the rest of me here, but rest assured, I am being mauled (in a friendly, non-painful way) by my dogs. Question: How bad do I look here?
Answer: Really, really bad. Ew. I was trying to photograph the dogs and their jumping/licking frenzy while I collapsed innocently into a chair, but somehow this is the ick that came of that.

2005-03-18T14:19:00.001-05:00

WHEN ANIMALS ATTACK! Specifically, me.

2005-03-18T14:19:00.000-05:00

Sampson is the sweetest dog in my house. Shhh...don't tell Cricket.

My pathetic friend

2005-03-18T10:47:00.000-05:00

I need to get a few things off my chest.* ~~Sometimes I am not nearly as smart as I think I am.~~ I have this friend who is not nearly as smart as she thinks she is. Let me give you a few examples. ~~I knew in the back of my mind~~ My friend knew in the back of her mind that she could buy yarn/browse yarn online, but didn't realize she could look on eBay as well, or that instead of bitching about the lack of quality yarn sources in her area she could GO ONLINE AND CHECK IT OUT. My friend spent several hours doing this today, and for a minute thought she was sooooo stinking smart, as if no one else in the universe knew this "big secret." Alas, my friend feels that as she is a sucky knitter she does not deserve to buy herself decent yarn to work with, and the fanciest thing she has ever used was Peaches "n' Cream cotton she got on sale at Michael's. How sad. Sometimes I want to smack my friend. ~~I also think that when~~ My friend also thinks that when she finds a really amazing pattern somewhere that she MUST be THE ONLY PERSON in the ENTIRE WORLD who likes it, wants to make it, has heard of it, etc. for about the first thirty seconds she sees it. She thinks she is super-cool and that she will be the only one knitting it, and that everyone will envy her and give her props on her made knitting skills and creativity. What a jack-ass. ~~I am so lame~~My friend is so lame that she thinks she will knit all this really cool stuff and get to be as good as knitters she admires, but she can't even finish a stupid baby blanket MADE OF INDIVIDUAL SQUARES that she has been working on forever because she is lazy and easy distracted by sleep, books, bad TV and shiny objects. The poor baby she is making it for will probably get it as a wedding gift. My friend also has an unnatural fear of anything other than straight needles, as though DPN's or circulars will actually attack her in her sleep for not being able to figure out how to use them properly. My friend SUCKS. ~~I have always been this way~~ My poor friend has always been this lame, in areas other than knitting, as the next example will prove. As a child ~~I was told by~~this friend was told by her mother to hang up her clothes. ~~I really wanted to~~ My friend wanted to get back to reading the book her mother so rudely interrupted by asking my friend to clean up after herself, so she thought she would work really fast and figured out if she held a hanger in her mouth, she would have both hands free to work assembly-line style. What ~~I didn't realize~~ my pal did not realize was that putting a wire hanger tucked up against the inside of her cheek might be dangerous, and she still has a long, nasty scar on the inside of her face from where the hanger tore her up. Idiot. When she realizes she is being a complete ass, she runs her tongue over that scar to remind her to just stop talking, stop thinking, and get a grip. It happens a lot. She has every flesh-ripping contour of that scar memorized. I think maybe I should ~~allow myself to~~ tell my friend that it is ok to start another project, one she is actually interested in knitting, even though the never-ending baby blanket for little Ethan is not finished, because she is obviously in a slump and avoiding picking up her needles and working on anything. Maybe I should tell her she should try to knit something on a circular needle, something small and quick and easy, so she can master her fear. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know so I can check it out and ~~start it this weekend~~ encourage my buddy to start it this weekend. * get your mind out of the gutter, I don't mean it literally. Although they are such a nuisance, I sometimes WISH I could get them off my chest.

Best News EVER

2005-03-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

What is it? You want me to tell you? Ok.... B just called me, and to make a long story short, due to some work related issues (all good for him, bad for everyone else involved) he is moving. Where is he moving? Oh yeah, BACK TO TALLAHASSEE!!!!!!!!!!! When is this happening? THIS WEEKEND. My man will no longer be in hell, oops, I mean, Panama City.....as of THIS WEEKEND. I am so excited I can't think straight!

Weekend-y Goodness

2005-03-14T07:49:00.000-05:00

I have an announcement to make......I actually got some knitting done this weekend. The picnic was a no-go, the hike didn't happen...we didn't even make it to either show we planned to go to, BUT I worked on the never-ending baby blanket. 4 more sqauares to go, baby! (It was 2 more squares until I got all picky again.) I am pleased with the way it is turning out, but don't know if I will make another one; there are too many other things I want to try. I also spent some quality time looking at patterns at the bookstore and compiling a mental wish list of knitting books I want, and things I want to make for Stephanie's little girl. I didn't make it to the yarn store, but B and I took a trip to Blue Abaco, where I saw a scarf knitted in garter stitch in a mix of acrylic and some fun fur/boa/novelty ick, for FORTY FIVE DOLLARS. Um, no. You could have knocked me over with a feather. There wasn't even FRINGE on the damn thing! FORTY FIVE DOLLARS!!!!!!! GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! B and I had a really lovely time together this weekend. Friday night we went to see Constantine because we are geeks. Saturday was the flea market trip, which was scarier than usual for some reason. It may have had something to do with the old man I saw carrying his chihuahua around and talking to people about cleaning out his "hawg pen." We made a trip to a friends house to pick up their new CD, and a stop at Waterworks for yummy lime daiquris. We had dinner at Sahara which was quite yummy and we got to watch the live music and belly dancing show. Sunday was a beautiful, balmy day. I made yummy breakfast sandwiches, and after watching this, we took our trip to the book store and the music store, where I purchased this and this, which I plan on enjoying all day at work today. Last night we stayed up late watching this, aka The Never Ending Movie, which I had never seen, and honestly, really didn't like. Maybe I lose cool points for saying that, but that was three hours and eight minutes of my life I will never get back. Ever. And it WASN'T worth the hype, in my opinion. We also watched this last night (once the LONGEST MOVIE EVER was finally over) and it WAS worth the hype. Check it out if you are in to that sort of thing. In dog news, we took Cricket to PetSmart, which was quite entertaining. My little 24 pound dog decided to make friends with all the Dobermans and Boxers at the store at the same time, and I giggled at her cute little doggie antics. Samson went to the beach with Nina, and Nina took Cricket to the beach the next day. B was kind (and brave) enough to help me trim doggie nails, which was quite an experience. I am hoping (cross your fingers) that I can find someone to lop off my unruly mop of hair this afternoon. It is more than halfway down my back, and I just can't handle it anymore. It is going to have to be on the cheap since I spent money I really shouldn't have this weekend, but it must be done. *I am sleep deprived at this time and apparently fixated on the word "yummy." I apologize for any um-yumminess this may have caused.

Another List

2005-03-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

Reasons why I am happy this afternoon/looking forward to the weekend: 1. Nature's Miracle
Pet owner's unite with me on this one. I just bought more. Woo Hoo! Of course I would be happier if I didn't have to use it at all, but inside dogs+unpredictible schedule=accidents happen. Can I get an AMEN from all the dog owners up in the heeezy?
2. "frances the mute"
Hellllllloooooo, the new Mars Volta is out, and it is lovely.
3. Two days with no work
NONE AT ALL! I DON'T HAVE TO COME IN THIS WEEKEND!
4. B called in sick, drove over from PC early, and is waiting for me at home right now.
SCORE! THIS IS FANTASTIC NEWS!
5. Going to a show tonight
6. Going to a show tomorrow night
7. B brought the latest recording of his band over for me to listen to.
8. Possible yarn-shopping/stash enhancement at an ACTUAL YARN STORE.
Well, it's a needlecraft store that carries yarn that is the closest thing this damn town has to an LYS....
9. Wonderful news about my progress at work.
Yep, I'm a straight-shooter with upper management written allllllllll over me. Can't elabortate at the moment, but news is coming soon!
10. Possibility of rain....KNITTING TIME!
11. Trip to the flea market....so scary yet so fun.
You are probably thinking, "Whaaaaa? Flea markets are AWESOME....but no, not this one. IT IS SCARY. The best thing there is the people watching potential. Maybe I can get some pics.....
12. I am making a list, and lists make me inordinately happy.
13. Waterworks. Lime daiquiri. YUM.
14. Trip to the park with Cricket, Samson, B, and possibly (weather permitting) a picnic.
15. The fact that I am now done with work for the day and can leave....this list was a pleasant diversion while my back-ups ran.
Everyone have a great weekend, and in case you are feeling down, check out my latest obsession here. It might disturb you, it might make you laugh...either way, I bet it gets stuck in your head.

To Whom it May Concern

2005-03-11T15:21:00.000-05:00

Dear Weather, Hi, remember me? It's me, Sarah, the girl who always writes you thank-you notes when it is below fifty degrees in Tallahassee. Anyway, I have noticed things have been awfully mixed up these past few days, and wanted to give you some advice on how to help me and the rest of the Florida Panhandle out. First of all, will you pick a temperature range and stick with it for more than two days? I know, variety is the spice of life, and all that, but come on....I pack up the sweaters because it's seventy five and 80% humidity, and then the next day I am shivering and drenched in my tanktop and flip flops. This whole eighty degrees at three in the afternoon and twenty eight degrees at nine p.m. thing has GOT to stop. It screws with my sinuses, makes me extra grouchy, and causes bickering over whether the A/C or the heat should be on in my house. Next, I have to ask: do you enjoy toying with my emotions about rain? An hour ago I went outside, and was enjoying the bright blue sky and subtle breeze, and now I see big angry thunderheads being pushed in by a tree-whipping wind. What up with that, Weather? Is it going to rain or not? The forecast says no, but you, you my friend, are a devious one. I am getting out my umbrella just in case. Finally, the whole catastrophic thunder-and-lightning thing is SO played out, don't you agree? I mean, my dogs are even over it....it is SO summer of 2004. You really must come up with something unique; people are starting to roll their eyes when you show us the same thing over and over. Weather, I hope you will take my advice into consideration when scheduling your activities in the coming weeks. Either make it hot, or make it cold, this flip-flopping is making everyone bananas. Thank you, Sarah

Agression causes Regression

2005-03-09T12:06:00.000-05:00

I just want to tell people who comment (Like Sean, Stacey, Jessica, etc.) on my blog, that I wish I could email you back regarding your comments, but unfortunately I do not have the ability to do so at this time. It is because I am cheap, and use Blogger, which is free, and does not offer that service right now. Comments are greatly appreciated though, and I love to receive and read them. You guys don't like William Gibson? Not even Neuromancer? How about Idoru? And you Californian's didn't like Virtual Light? ::sigh:: It's ok, Sean is right, Gibson is most defintely an acquired taste. I will have to check out Sean's suggestions though. How can I go wrong taking advice from a guy who loves katanas AND books? ;) I tried to knit last night. I finished about 6 rows, and then began to have excruciating pain in my wrists. At one point it hurt so bad I bashed my arm into a wall to try to make it go numb so I wouldn't feel the shooting pain and burning sensation anymore. Um, yeah, that didn't really help. Pretty much, I threw a total tantrum about my hands getting in the way of my hobby. This sucks.

Book Nerd

2005-03-08T10:53:00.000-05:00

There is no new knitting news, as I have been distracted with work, dogs, and books. Especially books. Last night I stayed up much too late reading this, which I am loving. I am surprised by the mixed reviews, as I find it to be a highly engaging story and quite original. I have a stack, yes, a large stack, of books I am working my way through at the moment, and am disappointed when I realize I HAVE to go to bed each night. I know the people at the library think I am insane. Let me just say how much I love her books....I am re-reading the beginning of her Axis/Wayfarer series because I was not aware there were SIX books....I love being surprised like that, and feel the need to re-read the beginning of the story since it has been a few years and I don't want to read the new books without refreshing my memory. I am also re-reading this book which I loved as a twelve year old, and re-read periodically. I am not even going to mention the trashy historical romances I have read in the past week....there must be about six or seven. They are easy reads for relaxing in a bubble bath, while this is not. I DO plan to get back to my knitting, hopefully this evening while watching American Idol. (Stop snickering, you watch it to...don't lie.)I am STILL working on the forever baby blanket, but hopefully will be done soon. I know I have been saying that for weeks, nay, months, but this time I mean it. I have other projects I want to move on to, and I know if I start a new one right now, this one will never be completed. I have another baby to knit for, a girl FINALLY, so I am planning away. Hats and booties and blankets, oh my! Last night lightning hit the ground RIGHT OUTSIDE my house. It even made a "zzzttt" noise. I was scared. Crawling into my bed with a book, I decided to turn on the weather channel, which frightened me even more as there was a tornado watch, and a tornado apparently touched down south of here. Yikes. Not fun. I can handle thunderstorms, in fact, I enjoy them, but I could have done without the super-close lightning strike and the tornado stuff. My poor babies were scared too, they whimpered and whined and I had to be a good mommy and go reassure them that nothing was going to hurt them. Yes, I am like the parents discussed here, only with my dogs. I really should do some work at some point today. Maybe now would be a good time. Oh yeah, just want to say "HI" to Fluffy, if she stopped by to read today! And Stacey, get those papers written! :)

Whinefest 05

2005-03-03T15:59:00.000-05:00

I believe I may have mentioned the annoying construction next to my office. The banging and pounding has stopped for the most part, but now they are painting, and the fumes are floating right into my office. My eyes are burning, my throat hurts, I am itchy, and I have a skull-busting headache. When I mention that it is making me ill, I get no response. Lovely. This really makes me look forward to coming in to work tomorrow.

Where my dawgs at?

2005-03-02T08:19:00.000-05:00

Look what I am making for dinner tonight......MMMMMMMMM CHILI!
My aunt and my cousin Heather are coming over for dinner, and I have NO TIME to cook, with the dogs and everything else, so I cheated and made crockpot chili. YUM. It is rather chilly here, so chili will be perfect to take the chill off. HA! I was trying to be clever....did it work? What's that you say? No, not so much? Oh well. Last night Nina and I took the dogs to the park and walked all the energy out of them. It was quite nice to bring them home and have cuddly dogs. Well, boy-dog is always cuddly, but Cricket is kinda hyper, and last night she was nice and sleepy. See? I think boy-dog, the Dog Formerly Known As Thomas, is now named Samson. First it was Cash, as in Johnny Cash...but then I realized I could NEVER EVER have a dog called John of Johnny or any form of that name, so we decided on Cash. Then, it was Corbin. Then, Nina called him Samson, and it stuck. Yep, as in this Samson. Last time I checked, Nina said his full name is Samson Corbin Cash. The poor thing is confused. (Not Nina, the pup!) *Nina wouldn't let me rename them both...I wanted to call them Luke and Leia, but she wasn't down with that. She didn't like Elvis and Priscilla either. Check out more pics! I have become an annoying dog-mom who blogs about my pets and shows you pictures as though you know my animals and care about them! Sorry....they are just too cute. (Our couch is NOT that hideous, that is a blanket covering the lovely suede that Nina does not want the pups to ruin. They aren't supposed to be on the couch, but they were so cuddly last night, we kinda ignored the rules.) When I look at Cricket, I can't help but say "A dingo took/ate my baby." This has created the bad habit of me calling her things like baby-eater and dingo dog. I should probably stop that. Ok...time to get to work. Everyone have a LOVELY day! And Stacey, you CANNOT steal my dogs. You are more than welcome to come visit them (and me!) but you can't have them. Sorry. I love you, but no deal. :) *You probably giggle at this and think I am being silly. I am not. I really pushed for Luke and Leia.

My camera sucks.....

2005-03-01T09:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know the pictures of the house are not as clear as they could be. Sorry, I have a crap camera. Really, it's made out of crap. Ew. I just disgusted myself. And what am I, 6? Making crap jokes? Oh well. Gotta pass the time somehow. Why is it not Friday? Why is it not 5 pm on Friday? Cricket and Thomas sit now. They are so good. Cricket likes to bark when she is in her crate. That is NOT good, but hopefully once she learns it is NOT a place for punishment, she will stop. I love them, they are so sweet and so happy to have a home. I think I just may have to go home at lunch and take more pictures.... Thomas made me VERY unhappy by EATING YARN. I did not enjoy that. He grabbed one of the balls I am working with to finish the never-ending baby blanket, and ran around and around the couch with it, wrapping the couch in baby blue yarn. I wasn't pleased, but it WAS pretty funny. I see myself giving up lots of reading and knitting time in the near future with the wild beasts.

Pictures Galore

2005-02-28T13:34:00.000-05:00

Attention, attention.....I finally got off my butt and posted pics of the house. Well, some of them at least. More to come...check them out here. Oh, and look what I did at lunch:
::SIGH:: I am soooo in love. :)

In the doghouse....literally!

2005-02-28T07:38:00.000-05:00

So, how was your weekend? Mine was nice...it actually felt longer than it was, which is a rarity. B came up, we had a good time, went out to our favorite bar where I had a yummy lime daquiri made with sherbert(!) and chilled out for a while. Oh yeah...remember the mentions of the possible pet acquistion? Nina and I went to look at a dog we found on petfinders.com, and kindasortaacidentallyendedupadoptingherANDherbrother. Ahem. Pictures of the kids....These are their "offical" pics off petfinder.com, more to come from me and Nina soon....
Cricket, who has attached herself to me.....she's teeny, about 25 pounds and loves to be held like a baby and have her belly scratched.

Thomas, who is going to have a name change, and is in love with my sister....he's a bit bigger than his sister, but not by much, and is very mellow.
They are too precious. Beagle and basenji mix, and full of love and energy. They are at home in their crates right now....I can't wait til my lunch when I get to go play!

Rainy Friday

2005-02-25T13:08:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have one of those days where you refelct on all the things you should/could have done in life? Or things you should be doing? And then you feel like a complete loser? I do. I am having one today. I keep having thought like, "This job is not the reason I busted my ass studying Organic Chemistry" and "How sad is it that I have four classes left to get my degree and haven't gotten off my ass and taken them" and "Why oh why did I think getting myself deep into credit card debt was a good idea" and "Hmmmmm....at work....not working....should be working....must...get...motivated." The other recurring thought I keep having is "I really need to finish that baby blanket for wee Ethan." Oh how I wish there were more hours in the day. Speaking of knitting, in case anyone is wondering how that all works out with my nerve damage/carpal tunnel, this is the deal: I just don't care. As someone who has had bizarre and unexpected health problems most of my life, I have decided that I am not going to let the latest development in the saga of my poor health hold me back from doing something I love. I can deal with the pain and find ways to work around it. So neener neener, evil carpal tunnel and dead nerves! B is coming to see me tomorrow! YAY! He has promised steaks on the grill and a movie, and a nice little visit with his mom. I hate not seeing him ALL THE TIME, but then again, I am so weird about my space and my "Me" time that it is probably a good thing. I miss him terribly though. I PROMISE pictures of the new house are coming...sometime. I was going to post them today, but my camera is at home on my dresser. :sigh: Forgetting to bring things with you is part of the problem with rolling out of bed 10 minutes before you have to be at work. By the way, the pictures page has been updated, as have the music and book pages. I hit the library last night. That's right, it has been twice in four days. I read nine books in four days. So? Are you calling me a nerd? Shut up. I don't know how I manage to do this, considering I watch a good amount of TV, work about 50 hours a week, and try to get knitting and household chores in....but I do. I devour books. This is why there is no point in me buying them. I have to go eat lunch now. I had planned to go to Sonny's for some BBQ...but then I remembered it's Friday, it's Lent, and I am Catholic. Damn.

TV completes me

2005-02-24T11:59:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to share my giddiness after reading this. Ahhhhhhhhhh.........one of my favorite shows, and someone I adore. This is ALMOST as good as when he guest starred on Alias. Could it get any better? I think not. I am a little disappointed by Alias....last night I just could not focus on the show. It had all the makings of an awesome episode...helllloooo, can you say ANNA ESPINOZA AND SARK???? Yet something just seemed...off. I think it is because I haven't decided how I feel about the whole Sydney-has-a-sister-oh-look-she's-a-spy-too! thing. Gah. Lost was awesome....and they used Damien Rice's "Delicate" at the end of the episode. I have heard it on Alias and the O.C., and I believe an episode of CSI: Miami. It was cool the first two times, but now it's like, been there, done that, pick a new song to make us think your characters are oh-so-fragile and deep. Speaking of Lost, did anyone else notice what the little Korean girl was watching on t.v. the first time Jin went to see her daddy? WTF IS HURLEY DOING ON KOREAN TV???? And yeah...I totally called the Walt thing as soon as the raft went up in flames. I love my shows and I have no life.

Nonsense

2005-02-23T16:48:00.000-05:00

Oh how I love to waste time.... After that test this afternoon, I just cant seem to concentrate on anything important. ENJOY! When I look at it this way, I haven't been anywhere. bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now... Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C / Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

Added somethin' new.........

2005-02-23T16:37:00.000-05:00

I have added a subscription request form to this here blog if any of y'all are interested in being notified when it is updated....just add yourself and you will get an email letting you know there is new content over here at Southern Discomfort.

You be Gumby, I'll be Pokey

2005-02-23T15:18:00.000-05:00

I had that nerve test on my hands today. It is called an EMG. I have no clue what those letters mean, someone told me at the hospital, but I have already forgotten as I am trying to purge this experience from my memory. I can tell you what an EMG is like though.......it is NOT FUN. Here are some reasons why. Being poked with a needle about 20 times in each arm in 20 different spots and then shocked with an electrical current was not fun. A few times, the shocking part felt somewhat GOOD, but the needle part REALLY SUCKED. I am not afraid of needles, (well, ok, only when I am getting my blood drawn, but not shots, tattoos, etc.) so I didn't think the needle part would be that bad. I was wrong. It didn't hurt, it was just highly unpleasant. The part where the doctor sticks you with the needle and then rotates it around while making you flex the muscle it is poked into was not fun. The part where he stuck a needle between each of my fingers and into my thumb was SUPER NOT FUN. In fact, overall, I would say NONE of it was fun. Not that I expected it to feel good, I just wasn't expected it to be so awful. When it was over, I was a little shaky...and the un-fun-ness continued when I left the hospital and drove home, where I promptly vomited from the overdose of adrenaline and endorphins I produced while trying to deal with being stuck with needles and electrocuted for an hour and a half. Diagnosis? Carpal tunnel in both wrists and a few pinched nerves in each arm. No surgery since the carpal tunnel is not too terrible. I may have to wear a brace or a band here and there, and they have me on lots of vitamins and minerals to repair the nerve damage in my arms. I am glad my insurance company is paying for this crap...my co-pay is twenty-five bucks, but the amount the insurance is being billed in nine hundred and fifty two dollars. In other health news, my foot still hurts, and I wish it was going numb instead of my hands so I wouldn't have to feel the pain. Who the hell knows what is wrong. I am just dealing with it the best I can. My aggravation with my health is at al all-time high. I want one normal day, with no sickness, no pain....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......... Not much knitting has been done with the health drama in my life lately, but I did finish a few more baby blanket squares. They WERE all done until I started to get nitpicky and rip them out. I hate being a perfectionist. I also found out my former roomie is having a baby boy....time to start planning more projects! I know I will make at least one blanket, a few hats, and some booties. I am thinking about some bibs and maybe some of those itty bitty mitten things to protect the baby from its sharp little baby fingernails. I DID take pics of the new place and will try very hard to post them by the end of the week. Hopefully my work schedule will cooperate.

My Left Foot (NOT starring Daniel Day-Lewis)

2005-02-18T13:08:00.000-05:00

I am so happy it is Friday!! I finally heard back from the doctor, my foot is not broken, it is sprained. As if I needed them to tell me this. My bloodwork came back normal, which makes me happy. Still not too sure WHY they did the bloodwork, but whatever. Tonight is going to be awesome....why you ask? Not because I am doing anything exciting. I am dog-sitting for my old roomie, and get to go pick up Tallie and Jasper! I haven't seen them in almost a month, and I miss them terribly. I can't wait to cuddle with Jasper. I also am going to be able to do some laundry at my old house when I go get the doggies this evening. YAY! It really doesn't take much to make me happy. I am still working on my baby blanket I swore I would have finished last weekend for B to take back to Panama City with him, to the baby it is being made for. With the whole foot thing, I have been really high on pain pills and unable to concentrate on knitting more than one row a night before I pass out. Hopefully this weekend I can finish it up. I also hope I can get off my ass and get some pictures of the new place posted....I have lots of little household projects to do this weekend, and since B has to work all weekend, it is the perfect time for me to catch up on knitting, reading, and miscellaneous stuff that needs to be done. Cross your fingers that I am motivated enough to put batteries in the camera and photograph my lovely abode for y'all to see. :) Back to the chain gang for me.....

Wasting time

2005-02-16T15:29:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the e-mail, Stacey. You know I worked on this instead of work. 1. What is your first name? Sarah 2. Were you named after anyone? Either some distant relative or a Fleetwood Mac song, depending on who you ask. 3. Do you wish on stars? I sure do. 4. When did you last cry? 2 days ago when I went to the doctor about my foot being all screwed up. 5. What is your favorite lunch meat? Turkey or roast beef. 6. What is your birth date? 4/15/80 8. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? No, I would be like, "who is that weirdo?" 9. Are you a daredevil? Pretty much, yeah. 10. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell? Only if it was regarding the safety of someone, or something illegal. 11. Do looks matter? To a certain degree 12. How do you release anger? Deep breathing. Throwing things. Bitching to people. 13. Where is your second home? Work. It should actually be my first home. 14. Do you trust others easily? Hell NO. 16. What class in high school do you think was totally useless? english, because I had already read everything they assigned by the time I was in 6th grade, and then they wanted me to be excited about re-reading stuff I read when I was a little kid. 17. Do you have a journal? I have an online journal AND a journal I write in at home. 18. Do you use sarcasm a lot? As my friend Sarah once said, "I never leave home without it" :) (since that is a direct quote of me from Stacey, I am leaving it there.) 19. What are your nicknames? Dork, Kitten, Arah, Bunny, Golden Girl, Glucifer, Sweetness, Thanksgiving Princess, queen of the Christmas cotillion, Dodge, Bucky Beaver, and probably lots more I am forgetting. 20. Would you bungee jump? Yes 21. Do you un-tie your shoes when you take them off? Depends what shoes they are 22. Do you think you are strong? Physically? Not anymore. Mentally and emotionally? OH YEAH. 23. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla Swiss Almond or Heath Bar/anything with toffee 24. What is your shoe size? 7.5 25. Red or pink? Pink 26. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? That I smoke 27. Who do you miss most? My mom, my dad, my brother, my grandparents, Stacey, Laura, Stephanie, pretty much my entire life back in CA. 28. Do you want everyone you sent this to send it back? Yes, of course, I like to see the witty responses my clever pals come up with. 29. What color pants & shoes are you wearing? Dark blue cuffed jeans, and fuzzy leopard print slippers. (yes, I am wearing them to work. My foot is swollen so shut up.) 30. What are you listening to right now? Billie Holiday 31. What is the last thing you ate? Mac and Cheese for dinner last night 32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Silver 33. What is the weather like right now? Super foggy and a bit chilly. Its perfect. 34. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone? Brian 35. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Smile and laugh. 36. Do you like the person who sent this to you? No, shes a bitch. JUST KIDDING. I adore Stacey. 37. What is your favorite drink? Tea, Pepsi, water, cherry Coke, raspberry cider, midori sours, whiskey 38. Favorite sport? Not a big sports fan, but I like to watch surfing and skateboarding, and basketball and hockey. 39. Hair color? Blonde 40. Eye color? Blue-green 41. Do you wear contacts? Nope. And just thinking about it makes my eyes water. 42. Favorite food? Mexican, Japanese, Greek, Italian 43. What was the last movie you watched? "Step into Liquid" last night with my sister on the Sundance channel. 44. Favorite day of the year? Thanksgiving 45. Scary movies or happy endings? I like both 46. Summer or winter? Winter, I love sweaters. 47. Hugs OR kisses? hugs 48. Favorite Desert: desert or dessert? because my favorite desert is the imperial desert, the area in south eastern Southern California, but my favorite dessert is tiramisu. 49. Who is most likely to respond? No one because everyone is probably busy and tired of these things. 50. Least likely? See number 49 51. Living arrangements? 3 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse with stairs that I hate right now cuz I am a gimp, and my lovely sister as a roomie. 53. What's on your mouse pad? I made it...its a pinup girl in an office, changing the water bottle in the water cooler. 54. What did you watch last night on TV? Everything. American Idol and a lot of channel changing. I was on pain killers, so it was fine. 55. What is your favorite smell? Satsuma, anything citrusy and sweet, jasmine, gardenia. 56. Rolling Stones or the Beatles? Old stones, nothing after 1980. I like the Beatles too though. 57. What is the furthest you've been from home? Depends on how one defines home. I think I am the farthest from home that I have ever been right now. 58. What would your name have been if you were born the opposite sex? I used to know this but I forgot. 59. Say something nice about the person that sent this to you. Stacey is smart, super crafty and talented, and such a doll. I love her to pieces. If she were a man I would marry her. She's my other half.

Emotional Rollercoaster

2005-02-15T10:43:00.000-05:00

My foot hurts, my feelings are now hurt by someone I really shouldn't let get to me, and I am crying because I am on pain pills, have PMS, and really, really, really want my mommy. I have done nothing productive at work today because I cannot concentrate. The foot thing is driving me bananas, I am still waiting for the radiologist to call. I am supposed to get my bloodwork back tomorrow, and now that I think about it, I am a little scared. The main reason for the blood tests was to test me for lupus, so I am kinda freaking out, in light of what is going on with my cousin. How was my Valentine's Day? Well, other than being at the doctor, and having the holiday itself forever ruined for me by a previous relationship, it was good. Brian and I had plans over the weekend which were ruined by my gimpiness, so we ended up staying in, snuggling on the couch, icing my foot with a bag of frozen peas, watching movies on our fabulous digital cable, and cooking a yummy dinner of ahi tuna, couscous, and chopped spinach salad. We did go out to our favorite bar (which was one of the places we went on our legendary first date)for a few drinks before my foot was too bad, and that was really sweet because we got to sit in the same booth we sat in on our first date, and we acted like giddy highschoolers. I hope everyone's love day was memorable, and that it wasn't spent waiting for x-rays. I am off to get some work done and put my fuzzy slippers back on. I will try to stop being so weepy...I think I need a nap. And my mommy.

Nothing says Valentines day like medical incompetency

2005-02-14T14:51:00.000-05:00

I don't know what I did. I did not fall, did not twist anything, NOTHING. All I know is this: Saturday the outside of my left foot started to hurt. By Sunday, I couldn't walk on it. I tried to go to urgent care but they wouldn't see me. By Sunday night, I was up all night crying in agony. This morning I called my doctor and he was fully booked. So was every other doctor in Tallahassee that takes my shitty CHP insurance. I finally was able to go see a nurse practitioner. She decided that since my foot was swollen and hurting that I needed to have a full blood work panel done (whaaaaa??? I don't know, I really don't.) then she decides I need an x ray. I go to get my blood drawn and they take seven big ass vials. (I still am not sure why this was necessary, but whatever.) I go to get my x-ray, and they tell me the x ray machine is broken and they are hoping the guy will be there from JACKSONVILLE to fix it soon, and that I cant get an x ray anywhere else in town because they are all booked up. So I go back and tell the NP. She says, ok well just go home and take some ibuprofen and wear tennis shoes, no matter how swollen you are because it gives your foot better support and we aren't sure if it is broken, etc. At this point I start to cry because I am in a lot of pain, have had no sleep, and this dumb bitch is not listening to me at all and I am wondering if she is a vampire since she wanted them to draw all the blood they could out of me in one sitting. So then she says are you under stress, why are you crying... and I am like NO I AM IN PAIN AND YOU ARE NOT HELPING ME AND NO ONE IN THIS GODFORSAKEN SHITHOLE OF A TOWN IS WILLING TO ACTUALLY PRACTICE MEDICINE (ok so I didn't say that last part because I was still unsure about the vampire thing) so she gets me a prescription for darvocet because I am hurting a lot and have managed to convince her of this by crying and swearing I am not a teenage pain pill junkie from an after school special. By this time, I have been at the doctor for FOUR.HOURS. FOUR HOURS. So then I go get my darvocet filled and go home, because the x ray place said they would call when wonder boy from Jacksonville got there and made everything work. I get home, sit down, call work again and tell my boss how retarded the doctors are, and then my phone rings. I haven't even been home 5 minutes. Its the x ray place and they want me to come back. I go back and x ray tech girl manhandles my foot, professional wrestler style, and gives me the films to take back to the NP, who tells me she cant see anything wrong, but there is this one place that "kinda looks like a fracture, or maybe a BONE CYST" but "I am no radiologist so it could be nothing. Once she reads them, we will know for sure. I don't know if that will be for a few days though. So just stay off it, and take anti-inflammatories, and your pain meds, and make sure to ice it." Ok.....oh yeah and she says, "Since you said you have to go up and down stairs a lot at work, you need to not go to work for the next few days so you can heal, if it is a sprain." RIIIIIIIGHT. The end result is this: I am cranky, I am in pain, I am pissed off, I am in PAIN, I can't walk very well, DID I MENTION I AM IN PAIN???, and I still have no clue what the hell is wrong with me. Oh yeah, and I am at work, since I have to be, since no one else can do my job. Happy Valentines Day to me.

Tag, I'm it!

2005-02-09T14:48:00.000-05:00

Ok Stacey...here ya go...this is all for you.... 1. Total amount of music files on your computer: I don't own a computer...just my work one, and due to the nature of the systems I work with, storing music on it is not a good idea. I subscribe to MusicMatch and have the jukebox installed, so I play that all day and I love it. 2. The last CD you bought was: Eisley, the "Marvelous Things" EP 3. What is the song that you last listened to before reading this: "I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth" by Clutch 4. What are your five favorite songs and why they mean the most to you: Just FIVE???? That is not possible....no way. Like Stacey before me, I will list random songs, but I will make it 10... or else I will be tempted to create several different categories and lists, a la Rob Gordon. 1. Galaxy 500 by Reverend Horton Heat, because I can sooo relate to the lyrics in an abstract, kind of metaphorical, yet not so metaphorical way. Plus it makes me wanna dance. 2. I've Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash, because a.)you have to love Johnny, and b.) this song is awesome. 3. Fly Me to the Moon, preferably sung by Sinatra. I have always loved this song, and I like to put it on in the car and pretend I can be all smooth and Rat Pack-ish. 4. Story of My Life by Social Distortion. They are one of my all-time favorite bands, and this is one of my all time favorite songs. I never get sick of it. 5. The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret by Queens of the Stone Age....oh, Josh Homme, how I love thee. 6. 0% Interest by Jason Mraz....thank you, Stacey, for introducing me to Jason. This song always makes me think of Stacey, since without her I never would have been turned on to it. I love Jason's voice, and I love the lyrics of this song. 7. Murder by The Crystal Method because it never fails to make me shake my ass, and brings back fond memories of driving to Vegas. 8. Number One Blind by Veruca Salt, for all the high school memories of my short-lived singing days, and the fact that they say "levelor" in the song, which I think is super cool. 9. Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley....his version is so gorgeous, I tear up everytime I hear it. I will never forget the first time I heard it, on a closing shift at Starbucks...we had this in store CD (I think it was actually a 4 track) playing with this horrid version of this song...I was bitching about it, and Patrick, our assistant manager brought in this version, and I just sat on the floor and tried not to bawl. 10. Bad Religion. No song, just anything by Bad Religion. Do I really need to explain why? Um, because they are my favorite band EVER, and I really think that's explanation enough. 5. What 3 people would you pass this baton on to and why? My sister, Nina, because she has quite the eclectic music collection, Laura, because I am interested in what she would say, and Jon, because he is a music lover. Two out of those three don't have blogs, so I guess I will just have to keep wondering. (unless you guys do it and wanna email me!)

I was in a spelling bee in 6th grade, but I lost. See why?

2005-02-08T15:46:00.000-05:00

I want to let everyone know that yes, I am aware that I spelled Mary Kate and Ashley's last name wrong in my last post. See, my street is spelled one way, their name a different way, but honestly, I am just too lazy to change it. The end. WAIT NO....JUST KIDDING....NOT THE END.... I have been doing a little dance in my chair around the office this afternoon, singing a little ditty that goes somethin' like "we get ca-ble Thuuuuuurrrrrrsdaaaaaaay, we get ca-ble Thuuuuuurrrrrrsdaaaaaaay" YIPEE! Awww yeah, just in time to watch the O.C. that night. Stop laughing. Why must you mock my choice of bad television? You're just jealous. Of what, you ask? Well, of.....um, of, stuff. Yeah. Stuff. That's it. Wait, there is more of me admitting things that might cause people to beat my ass.... I am an avid reader, and consider myself to have pretty good taste in literature. That all changed when I checked this this out from the library yesterday. I can't even bring myself to post a picture of the cover here. You know what though? I read it because I thought it would be so bad, I would get a good giggle out of it. I was wrong. It is so damn bad, it made me feel sorry for her..not in a "ohhh, poor thing, you are so rich way" but more of a "how the fuck can one person be such a dumbass" sort of way, and wonder how someone can be so delusional. I am off to beat my own ass now for admitting I read that book.

Cooking, Knitting, and movie watching, oh my!

2005-02-08T09:14:00.000-05:00

I tried really hard to post yesterday, but things just didn't work out. (See previous post) My weekend was nice and uneventful, just the way I like it. B came up and since we are poor, we used various gift cards we received for Christmas to rent movies and buy some lunch. I think between Friday and Sunday, I watched 9 or 10 movies. We left the house Sunday so I could come into work...don't get me started about how I feel about that....and then we went to visit some friends before B had to head back to PC. I cried a little when he left. I think I am ultra-hormonal right now. EWWWWW. I love my sister because she makes me laugh. The first part of out street name is Olson....so while on the phone with UPS yesterday, she had to give the lady our address, and said, " Its Olson....no, OLLLLSOOOOOON, like the Olson twins." I laughed so hard I think I pulled a muscle. We are still loving the new place, although the lack of television is starting to lose its novelty, we are too poor to buy food right now, and we have no way to do laundry. I look forward to going home everyday, because being anywhere besides work is my idea of paradise, but I get really lonely. I miss Jasper, who will NOT be coming to live with me...and it makes me so sad I have to stop talking about it NOW. Anyway, Nina and I are looking into getting a pet. She hates cats and I am not a fan of dogs, although the right dog can grow on me (see dog mentioned in previous paragraph). We have been looking online at animals at local shelters, and we found this adorable female pup we both like. She's in Albany, GA, and we are in Tallahassee, FL. Granted, it is not THAT far, and we both agree that a road trip to meet her would be worth it, but still...it IS a bit far, and I am not too sure what the shelter's adoption policy is...you know, if it is one of those places where they require a visit to your home, etc. before allowing you to adopt. I also don't know much about Jack Russell's, which is what this doggie is....Stephanie, if you are reading, we need to talk about this since you have experience with Raskal. Anyhow, Nina also found a cute cat...Which surprised me....but who knows what we will do, we are both uber-broke at this point in time. I am really hoping we can get some kind of pet though since I am home alone a lot of the time and get to feelin' kinda gloomy when I don't have companionship. I don't mean people, I can honestly take or leave people. It would be nice to have some friends here in town, but so far I haven't really met too many people who aren't FSU jackasses who only care about wet t-shirt contests, free beer, and how to get to the next frat party. So, as you can tell, I kinda gave up on the friend thing here in Tallahassee. Watching hours and hours of movies this weekend allowed me to get a lot of knitting done, wrist/hand pain be damned! The squares I am making for a blanket are almost done, which is awesome, since the baby is due any day now. All I have to do is finish two more squares and then seam it all together. (It's a blanket, can you really call it seaming? Whatever.) It looks so pretty! I will post pics as soon as I am done. And now....the moment you all (ok, just Stacey, actually, since I really think she is probably the only one reading) have been waiting for....the Crockpot Stroganoff Recipe. A disclaimer....feel free to modify this recipe any way you like. There are no measurements listed since my family only uses boring shite like that when we are baking. Add more or less or none of something, it's all about what you like. Ok, on to the recipe. What You Need: Sirloin Steak Beef bouillon Cubes or about 1-2 cups beef broth 1-2 cups red wine (Merlot works really well, you can buy the cute little mini bottles in the wine area of the store and use the whole thing) 1 pint sour cream Small bag frozen peas Jar of whole sliced mushrooms 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 sweet onion Flour Salt Pepper pasta/noodles (there is a brand you can buy in the frozen section of the grocery store...they are flour noodles and I think they are called Grandma's Noodles...my mom uses those and they are killer, but this is also awesome with regular old wide egg noodles from the pasta section of the store.) Thinly slice steak into strips. Thinly slice onion into long strips or rings. Combine flour, salt and pepper in shallow dish. Dredge steak strips in flour mixture until lightly coated. Put steak, onion, soup, 2-3 cubes of beef bouillon (or your beef broth), wine, and mushrooms in crock pot. Fire that baby up and let this delicious mixture cook for 8-10 hours. If you pre-make it all the night before, and start the crock pot before you leave for work in the morning, you will come home from work and weep with joy when you smell this cooking....plus, it will be done. Once everything has simmered up and is smellin' yummy, stir in frozen peas, and pint of sour cream. Let peas and sour cream heat, and make your pasta while that's goin' on. Once pasta is cooked, serve the stroganoff over the noodles. You will talk with your mouth full, saying, THIS IS SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD! ENJOY! P.S. When I spell checked this post, it wanted to change "crock pot beef stroganoff" to "Crackpot beef stroking". I thought THAT was funny.

Tempermental Technology

2005-02-08T08:27:00.000-05:00

Know what I hate? When you type a really looooong blog entry, with a recipe you promised to give people, and then you go to post it, and the blog server thingie is down and your entire post never gets posted and just vanishes. Recipe and post to come later today. Sorry Stacey.

Is it Friday yet??

2005-02-02T16:25:00.000-05:00

I know everybody has bad days at work, but this is just ridiculous. I want to kick, punch, beat, or stab something at the moment. It's ok....just 30 more minutes...I can make it without resorting to violence. I am completely THRILLED that they started construction in the room RIGHT NEXT TO MY OFFICE, and that all day I get to hear things being hammered, stapled, torn out, etc. I also LOVE the nasty carpet dust, it does amazing things for my sinuses! Having people walking in and out of my work area is also really helpful, I mean, all the noise, interruptions, and havoc are highly conducive to a productive work environment. My cousin is joining my sister and I for dinner this evening at out house. I am making a pot roast (in the crockpot, of course, and wanted to run home at lunch to add some red potatoes and baby carrots. While cutting up the potatoes, I cut up a large portion of my left index finger. I think I would have noticed sooner if my damn hands hadn't fallen asleep again. See, since I couldn't feel it, I just kept cutting away. Now my finger hurts and my potatoes are ruined, and I got blood on one of my favorite sweaters. I am most upset about the potatoes though. I salvaged some, but had to get rid of a lot of them. I'm not having Dracula to dinner, so blood gravy really isn't appropriate. Speaking of crock pots, I think it is hilarious that everytime I type that and then spellcheck it, spellcheck wants to change it to "crackpot"! Tee hee! Oh yeah, and for those of you eagerly awaiting the beef stroganoff recipe talked about on my dear friend Stacey's blog, I should have it posted here or emailed to you by Friday. Can anyone fill me in on American Idol highlights from last night? I am currently without TV as antennas don't get the channels I want to watch and we have no cable. Thank God Alias isn;t on tonight, or I would be seriously upset. An upside of not having TV is that I won't have to suffer through the State of the Union this evening...also, I have been watching a lot of movies. Last night I finished watching this, and loved it, as I am a fan of the zombie-horror genre, and dug the spoofing of it, as well as the references to this,this, and especially this. I am still not done unpacking...I get sidetracked so easily. I did find my hairbrush AND my deoderant, which was a bonus....now I don't have to use the "oh shit I forgot to put on deoderant" stash that i have at work in my desk. Yipeee!

Rainy days make me sleepy

2005-02-01T11:04:00.000-05:00

I am so bored. I am caught up on everything at work, and now I am sitting here, waiting til the second half of my day when I WILL have work to do. I wish I could knit. There has been a sad lack of knitting news in my blog, or craftiness of any kind. My hands are still all screwy, and I did a number on my right wrist moving over the weekend. I take out my projects and LOOK at them, wishing I had Jedi powers that enabled me to knit with my mind, but so far, it just isn't working. It is too early to go to lunch. I mean, technically, I can go whenever I want, but it is only 11am, and if I go now, I will have a long afternoon ahead of me. Plus, B is still in town and I am waiting to see if he wants to go to lunch. He has the day off today but was called in to the office here in Tallahassee by the owner of the company. I have my suspicions about what is going on, but I am going to wait and see if I am right. It's raining here and that is not helping the boredom at the moment. When it rains, all I want to do is curl up on the couch and watch movies or read. I keep telling myself I can go home and do that tonight, but, I still have to unpack. Finding my hairbrush would be a good thing.

My bedroom is full of boxes

2005-01-30T18:30:00.000-05:00

The moving is complete. We had a few minor mishaps (keys not working, not being able to get a truck until last minute, constant rain, etc.) but everything made it out of the old place and into the new, and we are working on unpacking. It is kinda of odd to see all this stuff that has been stored away for almost 7 months again. None of it is mine...let's not talk about that...ahem...so my sister is walking around saying things like " I missed you, end table!" Pictures of the new place will come shortly...all the new neighbors seem nice, we have had the people on either side of us come and introduce themselves and welcome us to the neighborhood, which was a bit of a surprise. A good one though. Off to finish up some Sunday work here at the office, then it's back home to work on unpacking. Brian comes home tomorrow night! YAY! hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Gettin' my move on

2005-01-28T13:33:00.000-05:00

Moving time is here. Are we packed? NO. Do we have a truck to move all the big stuff? NO. Did we reserve a moving truck for tomorrow? Nope. U-Haul won't let you do that. It's first come first serve. THANKS U-HAUL! Are we prepared in any way, shape or form? Well, I just picked up the keys. I HATE MOVING. The act of moving is my own personal vision of hell. I know it will all get done, but it just does not seem like there is enough time in the day to do everything that needs to happen. One example is packing. My brilliant plan was to pack a little each night when I got home from work. Getting home at 10 pm is not conducive to this process. Nothing is packed. We didn't even have boxes until yesterday because neither one of us have time to go get boxes so my lovely aunt got us some. Oh yeah....it's supposed to rain ALLLLL DAAAAAAAY tomorrow. We have plenty of people to help us move things, but transportation is an issue. I just don't see my sisters bed or the couch fitting into her Acura Integra or my Corolla. Don't worry...I will let you know how it goes.

The good always comes with some bad

2005-01-27T11:24:00.000-05:00

How good was Alias last night? So good, is the correct answer. My sister even watched it. It reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of the X-Files. Anyone who knows which episode I am thinking of scores major brownie points with me. What, no one knows? Oh, right, because you people aren't all dorked-out geeks like me. I am trying desperately to round up boxes, with no luck. I have come to the conclusion that there is not enough time in the day for me to do everything I need to do at work and then try to do anything else. Just wait til they get me that new laptop....GOODBYE FREE TIME! B called me bright and early this morning, I think he misses me more than he's letting on. I mean, it was 6am there. I miss him too though! I spent last night over at his mom's doing my laundry....the woman has the best dryer in the entire world. Never in my life have I used a dryer that dries things within 30 minutes on one cycle. Nina and I went down to Crawfordville last night to check out some furniture in two models homes my company is selling. It is dirt cheap, and somewhat good quality. I am looking to buy a queen size four-poster bed with matress, box spring, and comforter set, plus the matching dresser and mirror. Cost for all of it? $175.00. Yes, you read that correctly. Here's where it gets screwy....I tell the appropriate people about this, they say they will make it happen. Then I hear the president of the company is just going to donate all of the furniture to charity, and give the nicer stuff to his daughter for her condo. I tell my boss this, she looks at me, says, ummmm, NO, I will go talk to him about that, and now I am waiting to see if this is actually going to happen. I realized the other day I have never had my own bed as an adult. It's always been a borrowed bed, a rented bed, etc. This bed doesn't have the greatest mattress, but I can always replace it. We shall see what happens. Other being being exhausted, stressed about work/moving, and desperate for a long nap, things are pretty good here on the Redneck Riviera. I did receive some bad news, actually right in the middle of posting this. My aunt has lupus, she has had it since she was a teenager, and it has greatly impacted her life in some not-so-good ways. She has three kids, my wonderful cousins, who my sister and I helped take care of from very early on due to my aunt's health issues. Her middle child, who we will call M for the sake of her privacy, is going to be 13 next month. She's smart, pretty, funny, talented...a great kid. She hasn't been feeling very well lately, and today my aunt called with confirmation that M has lupus. They are handling it pretty well since my aunt and the rest of my family kind of know what to expect, but I am upset, because I know what it does and what the implications are. It is a disease that doesn't get enough recognition, and there is just now starting to be public support and resources for those who suffer from it's many symptoms. To top it all off, they also found out M is in her 4th week of Mono! Poor kid! I just want her to feel better...I hate seeing such a vibrant person in so much pain from her joints hurting that it just makes her cry in agony. Say a little prayer for my cousin, and for my aunt. If you want more information on lupus, its symptoms, and treatment, check out the Lupus Foundation of America.

A burrito love story

2005-01-25T13:46:00.000-05:00

WHEEEEE! Academy Award nominations! I looooove the Oscars, I don't have any valid explanation as to why, other than I adore movies, so today was exciting for me. Now I am inspired to go to the video store, rent the movies that are out that I haven't seen, and then make a few movie dates with myself to see the others I've missed. In fact I should go to the video store after work! YEAH! Just kidding, I can't. Nina and I are going out to drinks with Heather, the coolest cousin of all time. Thennnnn.....I should go home and pack. I say SHOULD because I know that even though we are meeting at 630, we will most likely sit at the restaurant long past happy hour chatting away, and I will get home too late to do anything productive. Like laundry. Which I cannot do at my house at this time, but since Brian's mom is the most wonderful boyfriend's mom in the universe, she gave me a key to her house and told me to go use her washer and dryer while they are out of town. She also told me to just stay the night there if I need to this week. Part of me really wants to pack up the laundry, head to her place, start the wash, flip on American Idol and work on the lovely baby blanket squares I am knitting, but I also really, really, really want to see Heather. Heather wins. I can pack/launder/knit tomorrow. I am on my lunch right now...funny how most of the time my hour lunch is spent at my desk. Hmmmm. At least I have my luscious burrito from Qdoba to keep me company. I hope no one comes up to my office because I am eating this burrito like a child raised by wolves. There is guacamole everywhere. MMMMM CILANTRO LIME RICE! My brain cannot process the deliciousness of it all. Have I said how cold it is here? We don't have blizzards and snow drifts to contend with but it's been in the teens at night, and not much higher than 50 during the day. I can handle the daytime temps, they are actually quite nice, but at night it is CHILLY! For me to say it's cold means it MUST be cold because I am always hot, even when the thermometer is below freezing. Brian says it is warmer at his brother's house in Colorado Springs than it has been here, and there is snow there! Time to get back to my burrito...errrr...I mean work.

Whaaa???

2005-01-24T18:56:00.000-05:00

Something is happening to me today, and I DON'T LIKE IT. For some reason, I am having a really hard time being mean and spiteful. It's as if I am wearing a pair of magical spectacles that allows me to see the good in everyone...even people I am not too fond of. I hope it stops soon.

Fast Food Hell

2005-01-21T14:37:00.000-05:00

Today I went to lunch with my sister. It was not an ordinary lunch. It started out as a simple Wendy's drive through. By the time it was over, my sister's blood pressure was dangerously high, and I swear I saw steam coming out of her ears like an old Warner Bros. cartoon. It wasn't her fault the girl at the window was lazy, rude, and too busy making plans for the weekend to pay attention and got our order wrong. It wasn't her fault that the girl proceeded to argue with her OVER A SPRITE and turn into the winner of the diva-bitch of the year award, complete with heavy neck action and hip swivels, and the ever so classy "fast food window slam". Nina really can't be blamed for dropping the F-bomb while speaking to the girl's supervisor while the girl stood there and continued to argue with my sister after the girl had been told that my sister, the customer, wanted to complain to her supervisor about the piss-poor service we got. (And if we were complaining at a drive-thru, it had to be bad....for real....you had to be there. It was f-ing unbelievable.) Poor Nina. When it was all said and done, she dropped the rest of her fries while walking back into her office. I think we might get some free Wendy's coupons in the mail though, since she called the corporate complaint line and gave them a piece of her mind. Good times, good times. I love my sister. I really do, because she doesn't take any shit from anoyone. Even if she was a little scared that the Wendy's girl was gonna find us and kill us when she gets off work.

The sound of silence

2005-01-21T14:25:00.000-05:00

Hello? .............Uhhhh, anybody there?? ::crickets chirping:: Hmmmmm.....well.......in case anyone IS there and DOES care........ Nina and I signed our lease today. I sent out an email with the new address....if you need it, let me know. Someone spilled water all over my printer and printer paper at work while I was out the past two days and then tried to clean it up and act like it didn't happen....but left all the damp, crinkled up paper in the printer, as though I would not notice. Now B might come up tonight...I enticed him with my feminine wiles.... Actually, I just called and told him his friends band is playing at the Beta Bar. Now all the sudden he thinks he may be able to get here this evening instead of tomorrow. How sad.

Moving Day is on it's way....

2005-01-20T10:58:00.000-05:00

It is official. As of next weekend, I will be living somewhere else. Specifically, in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse with an adorable kitchen, tons of storage, and a little backyard on a cute cul-de-sac. We all know how much I LOVE the act of moving itself. I think this will be different though...Nina and I lucked out this time. She found this place in the paper, we went to look at it, HAD TO HAVE IT because we were offered an incredible deal on rent, and the next day, we were approved to move in. We have been doing what we can to scrounge up money to get in by next weekend so we don't have to pay anymore rent where we are currently living. Nina came through....NINA I LOVE YOU! Ahem, I am just a little excited, I apologize. I am so excited to move and be in a happier and healthier living situation than the one we are in now! There are a lot of things that have happened here that I just cannot comprehend, and every day it gets a little more....um, I will use the word INTERESTING. Nina and I won't have to put up with it any longer, and we are both feeling relief, excitement, and a sense of hope. I can't say there are a lot of things I will miss...there are some things, but right now, the bad things where we are kind of outweigh the good. It is time for us to move on. The one thing that is breaking my heart at the moment is Jasper. My roomie has mentioned/asked several times if we would take the dog when we move out because he needs a ton of attention and she is not sure he will be able to get it when the baby comes. I will take him, no problem, and will even pay the entire pet deposit to have him. Now, I just have to see if my sister is willing, and if the roomie is really going to let him go. This dog is my sweet little love, and I will miss him so much it makes me cry like a little bitch when I think about not having him around. In other news....I haven't seen B for almost three weeks, and I finally get to see him tomorrow! Not for long because he is headed to Colorado to see his brother, but at least we will get to spend some time together. The wedding is Saturday. Most of my weekend is going to be taken up helping out with that. I wouldn't mind so much if I was feeling better, but everyone has passed their body aches, fever, chills, sore throat and congestion on to me. I am in bed right now, and don't ever want to get out because I feel terrible. In fact, typing this is sucking up my strength. Did I mention we are moving??...ahhhhh...freeeeeedoooommmmmm! It makes me wanna paint my face blue and wear a kilt.

Good news!

2005-01-18T13:14:00.000-05:00

We. Got. Approved. DID YOU HEAR ME??? I said, WE GOT APPROVED! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW! Thats all for now...more to come.

Just say NO to insanity

2005-01-17T16:16:00.000-05:00

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Why, oh why, do I end up in bad, weird, odd, nasty, funkdafied situations??? Ahem. Ok, I am under control now. People, I need you to pray, cross your fingers, rub Buddha's belly, do whatever it is you do when you want to wish someone luck, good fortune, etc. Ask who/whatever you believe in that Nina and I get the place we just went and looked at. This would mean we would be relocating in the next few weeks. I will keep y'all posted....lets just hope my bad credit doesn't keep us down.

Sunday night sleeplessness

2005-01-16T23:10:00.000-05:00

I slept all weekend and it was awesome. There is some nasty regional cold/flu thing going around, and of COURSE I got it. I have been best friends with a bottle of Nyquil all day. Now, it is time to go to bed and I can't. Must...play....Final Fantasy. Yesterday was my roomies bridal shower/bachelorette party. It was a good time, howver, due to all the stress I have had at work not to mention being surrounded by smokers, I fell off the wagon. Here's hoping I can hop back on, quickly.

Things I am loving now

2005-01-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

I am cranky, grumpy and filled with piss and vinegar this week, but I am still loving some new things at the moment. Well, new to me at least. Some of this was brought on by my obsession with bath products and my first trip to Bath & Body Works in several years. (I'm a Body Shop devotee....SATSUMA IS THE SHIZZLE!) 1. First and foremost, I am loving pregnant people! I know 3 people I get to knit baby stuff for, and just got some THRILLING news from one of my dearest friends which makes 4 people I get to knit for. (If you are reading this my dear, I am not mentioning any names, but CONGRATULATIONS! I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU! I can't WAIT to be Auntie Sarah!) 2. Tutti Dolce products from Bath & Body Works in Chocolate Fondue. I would eat them if I could. 3. Jasmine Vanilla products from Bath & Body Works. Good stuff. 4. My DVD player. I love to rent a bunch of movies on a Friday and hole up in my room, knitting (If I am not in pain) or cleaning or whatever, watching movies. 5. Final Fantasy IX. I am a huge video game dork, something which I knew as a kid, but have just recently rediscovered. I'm having fun catching up on all the games I haven't played that have been out for a while. 6. White Cheddar popcorn. Enough said. 7. Funny emails from my cousin Heather. Now I can be one of those people who passes those annoying joke emails around the office. 8. Pajamas. Oh, how I love cute, comfy PJ's. 9. Super cheap Glade apple cinnamon candles. They smell so good but cost under 3 bucks! 10. My awesome 2.99 knitting book from Barnes and Noble. Inexpensive but chock full of really good illustrations and techniques.

Boobies, Boobies everywhere!

2005-01-14T13:52:00.000-05:00

Speaker Touts Stripping to 8th Graders Fri Jan 14, 9:39 AM ET Top Stories - AP By BILEN MESFIN, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO - The principal of a Palo Alto middle school may not invite a popular speaker back to an annual career day after he told girls they could earn a good living as strippers. Management consultant William Fried told eighth-graders at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School on Tuesday that stripping and exotic dancing can pay $250,000 or more per year, depending on their bust size. "It's sick, but it's true," Fried said in an interview later. "The truth of the matter is you can earn a tremendous amount of money as an exotic dancer, if that's your desire." Fried has given a popular 55-minute presentation, "The Secret of a Happy Life," at the school's career day the past three years. He counsels students to experiment with a variety of interests until they discover something they love and excel in. But school principal Joseph Di Salvo said Fried may not be back next year. The principal said Fried's comments to the class came after some of them asked him to expand on why he included "exotic dancing" on his list of 140 potential careers. Fried spent about a minute answering questions, defining strippers and exotic dancers synonymously. According to Jason Garcia, 14, he told students: "For every 2 inches up there, you should get another $50,000 on your salary." "A couple of students egged him and he took it hook, line and sinker," said Di Salvo, who also said the students took advantage of a substitute teacher overseeing the session. "It's totally inappropriate," Di Salvo said. "It's not OK by me. I would want my presenters to kind of understand that they are coming into a career day for eighth-graders." That stripping advice wasn't the only thing that riled parents. Di Salvo said one mother said she was outraged when her son announced that he was forgoing college for a field he loves: fishing. "He really focused on finding what you really love to do," said Mariah Cannon, 13. Fried, 64, said he does not think he offended any of the students: "Eighth-grade kids are not dumb," he said. "They are pretty worldly." Now, in somewhat releated news, I got this email from my cousin this morning: Have you ever wondered why A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, G, and H are the letters used to define bra sizes? If you have wondered why, but couldn't figure out what the letters stood for, it is about time you became informed! {A} Almost Boobs... {B} Barely there! {C} Can't Complain! {D} Dang! {DD} Double dang! {E} Enormous! {F} Fake. {G} Get a Reduction. {H} Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up!

Passing the time on a S-L-O-O-O-O-O-W Friday morning

2005-01-14T08:49:00.000-05:00

W O U L D Y O U R A T H E R . . . 1) pierce your nose or tongue?: Nose 2) be serious or be funny?: Funny 3) drink whole or skim milk?: Being mildly lactose intolerant, I am gonna say neither. When I HAVE to have milk, it's skim though. (I am to poor to buy soy or rice.) A R E Y O U . . . 4) simple or complicated?: Gee, what do you think? I don't think I am complicated, I just make things complicated. D O Y O U P R E F E R . . . 5) flowers or angels?: flowers 6) grey or gray?: GREY 7) color or black-and-white photos?: black and white 8) lust or love?: Lust, love just screws you over in the end 9) sunrise or sunset?: Sunset 10) M&Ms or Skittles?: Skittles....They are my version of crack 11) rap or rock?: A little of both, but not mixed together because I don't like sounds-alike cookie cutter formula music 12) staying up late or waking up early?: Staying up late. (which is why I got talked to about needing to work on getting to work on time this morning.) 13) TV or radio?: Obviously, you have never been to Tallahassee. TV. See #10 for more details. 15) eating apples or oranges?: Oranges. Especially mandarin or clementines. A N S W E R T R U T H F U L L Y . . . 16) Do you have a crush?: No. 17) Who is it?: No one since I don't have a crush. D O Y O U P R E F E R . . . 18) being hot or cold?: Really, really cold. 19) tall or short people?: Tall 20) sun or moon?: Moon 21) emeralds or rubies?: Emeralds 22) left or right?: Right 23) having 10 acquaintances or 1 best friend: One best friends or a few close friends. 24) sun or rain?: Rain 25) vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream?: Chocolate 27) green beans or carrots?: Carrots 28) low fat or fat free?: Neither because they are both lies. Read the labels, people. M I S C E L L A N E O U S . . . 29) What is your biggest fear in the world? Being broke for the rest of my life 30) Kids or no kids?: None, and although i want them in the future, it doesn/t really look like that is going to happen. 31) Cat or dog?: I am a sucker for animals. 32) Half empty or half full?: Half empty 33) Mustard or ketchup?: NEITHER......EWWWWWWWWWW! Condiments are YUCKY. 34) Hard cover books or soft cover books?: Any books....I LOVE BOOKS! 35) Newspaper or magazine?: Both 36) Sandals or sneakers?: Neither, I hate shoes. 37) Wonder or amazement?: Amazement 38) Red car or white car?: BLUE! 39) Happy and poor or sad and rich?: Happy and poor 40) Singing or dancing?: BOTH 41) Hugging or kissing?: Kissing 42) Corduroy or plain?: WTF does that mean? 43) Happy or sad?: At the moment? I am really, really sad. 45) Blondes, brunettes?: It doesn't matter A B O U T Y O U . . . What time is it?: 852am EST Nicknames: Bucky the Beaver, Dork, Glucifer, Sweetness, Thanksgiving Princess, Queen of the Christmas Cotillion, Bunny, Little Blonde Girl, Sissy, Arah, Kitten Names of siblings and age?: 1 sister, 21, and 1 brother (17??) birthdate?: 4/15/80 Pets?: They aren't really mine, but 2 doggies that I LOOOOOOOOVE Height?: Short. 5'2" Eye color?: sometimes blue, sometimes green Hair color?: blonde Piercing(s): ears W H A T D O Y O U W A N T . . . Where do you want to live?: Not Tallahassee. Maybe Tampa. Or the Keys. Or California. Just not here. How many kids do you want?: 2 What kind of job do you want?: One where I am my own boss Do you want to get married?: Nope W H I C H I S B E T T E R . . . 2 doors or 4 (on a car)?: 4 Coffee or ice cream?: ICE CREAM Shampoo or conditioner?: What is this, Billy Madison? Bridges or tunnels?: I like tunnels One pillow or two?: 89510 like Nina says I have on my bed. *. . .F A V O R I T E S . . . * Salad dressing?: Ranch Color of socks?: YUCK I hate socks Food? Sushi, Mexican, Barbeque, Japanese, Italian, Greek, Seafood coloUr?: Blue, Redd, black, pink, green Non-alcoholic drink?: Pepsi, water, ginger ale R A N D O M . . . 1 MINUTE AGO: Pretending to work and not be doing this 1 DAY AGO: Working 1 WEEK AGO: Working 1 YEAR AGO: Working I MISS: My mom, my family, Stacey, Steph, Laura, Jimmy....the state of California and everyone who lives in it. Well, except for like 10 people. I AM: Kinda irritated at someone I love right now Current Music: Shivaree, "Goodnight Moon" Current Taste: Strawberry yogurt Current Hair: really super wavy and thrown up in a messy ponytail Current Annoyance: Currently? Having to be awake right now. Current Smell: Jasmine vanilla lotion from Bath and Body Works Current thing I should be Doing: Uhhhh WORKING....I have no motivation this week Current Desktop Picture: Me and my sweetie on Christmas Current Favorite Show: Alias, Lost, Desperate Housewives Current Book: I have like 5 going right now.... Current Movie In DVD player: Secretary Current Refreshment: Hot chocolate

She even let me take her leftovers home

2005-01-13T14:50:00.000-05:00

I missed Alias. It was so worth it because I met someone as kick ass as Sydney last night. (How lame of a statement was THAT???) My cousin Heather ROCKS! Keep in mind the last time we saw each other, she was 11 or 12, and I was in diapers. I was the first baby she ever held. I was a little nervous, we had been emailing each other for about a day, and hit it off through that wondrous electronic mask, but I wasn't sure how things would be in person. I mean, I already liked her because she was witty, could spell, and threw sarcasm around with flair and panache....but that was all in EMAIL, not reality. I felt like I was going on a blind date...I told her, I will be the short blonde with the huge jugs in the pink shirt. Just kidding. I actually said I would be the girl with the blonde ponytail in the pink shirt and jeans, and she gave me an equally appropriate description. She was a little late getting to the restaurant. This was reassuring, because it let me know we did share genetic material. We sat down to dinner, and for once I was at a loss for words. Them she started to talk. We hit it off like we were best buddies. Four hours later, I finally said goodnight and headed home, giddy as a schoolgirl. SHE IS SO AWESOME! She's smart, she's funny, she doesn't take any shit from anyone, and she reminds me a lot of my mom in some ways. I am totally looking forward to spending lots more time with her between now and July! I miss my sister. I wish she could have been there last night. Heather and I are tentatively planning for all of us to get togther sometime next week when she is back in town. (She works here 4 days a week, then flies home to Michigan to be with her son and husband, then flies back here, and does it all over again.) I am already looking forward to it....even if it means missing Alias again.

If you tape it, I will totally pay for you to ship it....

2005-01-12T16:51:00.000-05:00

Looks like I may miss my Lost/Alias orgy this evening. My long-lost cousin Heather has invited me to dinner. I am meeting her at 6:30 so we can gorge on red meat at a fine steakhouse. I can't turn down a free steak dinner, right?? Hopefully, I will make it home in time to watch Alias...I can always catch up on Lost later. Alias is different. Honestly, if I don't get to watch it the first time it is aired, I have a little bit of a freak out. (I know I am a weirdo, you don't have to rub it in.) I am all for seeing Heather, I am excited about it! I am sure since we both have to work tomorrow that I will be home in plenty of time to see my show. Here's the thing: I was volunteered to help my roomie clean the house in preparation for her shower on Saturday. I honestly don't mind, but I like to have advance notice of things. So, when I get home, I will most likely be helping out with the cleaning. I think I am being an ass, as I re-read this. It's tv. granted, TV that I cannot live without, but TV nontheless. Ok so let's re-focus here: I may miss Alias, BUT I will get to see my cousin, have a lovely meal, spend time with my roommate, and help out a bride/mother-to-be, all in one night. Now I realize I have nothing to whine about! Still though....anybody wanna tape it and overnight it to me??

Business Trips, Star Trek, and Bridal Showers

2005-01-12T08:14:00.000-05:00

Nina left to go out of town on business again this morning. :( I will miss her! I know she will be back Friday, but still....I miss her insults and our witty banter when she is not at home! I miss Justin too, because he cracks me up. Oh well....more locking myself in my room and reading and playing Final Fantasy 9 for me while she is gone. Wait...I do that while she is here. Whatever. TONIGHT IS LOST/ALIAS NIGHT! WOOOOO HOOOOO! So glad I have a little something to look forward to, as from where I sit at the moment, today looks like a LOOOOOOONG day. I talked to my mom back home to make sure my parents didn't get washed away in the Noah's Ark style weather they are having in Southern California. She put me in touch with her cousin, who is here in Sassy Tallahassee from now until July for work, 4 days a week, every week. She has a kick ass job and gets to travel all the time. We have been emailing each other, and according to her, the last time we saw each other, she changed my diaper. Yeah, it's been since I was about 16. (Hardy har har....just kidding....figured I'd better say it before someone else did.) Hopefully we will be able to spend some time together while she is here. I get to go out of town on business myself at the beginning of February! Just for the day though, so I don't feel as important as my cousin or Nina. I have to head over to our office on the Emerald Coast and set up our release/scheduling system with my boss. Should be an interesting experience. From what I hear, we may meet with some resistance from the employees there. I am going to be like the Borg though...RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. Yes, I am a sci-fi geek. So? I wish I could knit......this whole hand thing is pissing me off. Maybe I will try to work on Stacey's secret project this evening. Hmmmm....Yes, yes. This is a plan. My roomies bachelorette/bridal shower/party/thing is Saturday. My sister and one of my roomie's friends are planning it, and have gone with an alphabet theme. I don't quite understand this, all I know is they gave me 2 letters and told me I need to bring one item of food and one gift, and that the two items have to start one of my letters. My letters are K and L. I was thinking, kiwi fruit and a lapdance. I really am at a loss. I have to get to work....everyone have a wonderful day out in bloggy world!

Locked Up? Try locked out.....

2005-01-11T11:45:00.000-05:00

The number one reason I am a complete and total moron today: I woke up late, called my boss and left her a voicemail telling her I would be in the office no later than 830am. I get dressed, pack a lunch, grab my purse and make myself a cup of yummy ginger tea. I walk out the door, tea and lunch in hand, and lock the door behind me. I get to the car and discover I have no purse. Which means no keys. And no cell phone. I would like to say a special thank you to my neighbor, who, after I knocked on three other doors, opened her door and let me use her phone. Also, special thanks to my sister, who made it from downtown Tallahassee to the boonies where we live in just under 15 minutes. Thank you also to my roomies, who are doing a fantastic job of locking all doors and windows before leaving the house. At least I had a new knitting book to read while I waited for Nina to get to the house. 2.99 at Barnes and Noble, full of basics I skipped in my hurry to make something when I first started knitting. With any luck I will master intarsia now. Maybe I should try to master knitting in the round first....whatever, it just doesn't seem as exciting. This week just keeps getting suckier and suckier.

Let's try this again

2005-01-10T13:57:00.000-05:00

Let's try a happier post, shall we? Since nothing is working worth a damn here for me today, I have plenty of free time. I had a gloriously lazy weekend. Brian had to work, and didn't come over. I am supposed to go there next weekend, but my roomies bridal shower is late Saturday afternoon, so it doesn't look like that will be happening. Hopefully I will be able to see B before he leaves for Colorado. Anyhow, I laid in bed for most of the weekend, and watched this, this, and this . The last two had me in tears like a little baby. My roomie made everyone dinner on Saturday night, she did a big seafood boil, with crawfish, clams, crab legs, and shrimp. It was the first time I ate crawfish, and surprisingly, they were delicious. Nina did fondue for desert. We had a pleasant time, and when it was all over, I retreated to my wonderfully cold room and played video games and watched movies and read til the wee hours of the morning. Ahhhh how I wish it was still the weekend.

Somebodys got a case of the Mondays

2005-01-10T09:27:00.000-05:00

There are 5 grown men in the conference room just outside my office arguing about wood. Specifically, the knots in wood flooring. I need earplugs because I really don't know how much more of this I can listen to this morning without going off the deep end. Today has started out as a real shitter of a Monday. My scheduling system is all screwed up and the tech support/consultants are acting like they NEVER have had an issue with it a day in their lives. I call bullshit. I want to go back to bed.

I didn't even know it existed

2005-01-06T14:34:00.000-05:00

I just heard the Ben Folds cover of 'Get Your Hands Off My Woman" by The Darkness, and I really think I am going to pee my pants...it's hilarious and awesome all at the same time.

Thank you, J.J. Abrams

2005-01-06T13:47:00.000-05:00

Let me just say last night was pretty much television heaven for me, for real. Lost was so good....I love Kate and can't wait to find out more of her story. Is it wrong I am rooting for her and Sawyer to hook up because St. Jack just bugs me way too much? And then Alias....Sidney and Vaughn gettin' naughty right off the bat in the season premiere. I love it. I wish someone would get rid of Sloane. And I don't know about this whole Nadia thing........ I can't believe I am talking this way about television shows. Oh well, we all have our obsessions. I had to hide my knitting (which is not really hiding since I did it and know exactly where it is so perhaps I should say "I put my knitting out of sight".) last night so I wouldn't be tempted to further injure my hands while watching TV for three solid hours. I hate this.

Tonight's the night

2005-01-05T10:34:00.000-05:00

8pm EST-Lost 9-11pm EST-TWO HOURS OF ALIAS I am in TV heaven.

Things are getting out of hand....literally.......

2005-01-04T15:42:00.000-05:00

I have to go have a nerve test done on the 26th, where they are going to stick needles in my arm and see how fast I react. Unless they are of the knitting variety, or full of ink and tattooing me, I am not a big needle fan, so this should be tons of fun. The doc thinks it carpal tunnel, a pinched nerve, or that I somehow messed up my tendons in my wrists. What I get from that is that he has no idea what is wrong. Know what sucks about this whole deal? I can't knit. I can't play video games. I can read, but I can't hold a book, I have to prop it up on something or put it on a flat surface and read it. It hurts to work. Typing this is kicking my ass. He could have at least given me some pain pills...but since my hands hurt then go numb, I guess it wouldn't make a huge difference. I need to knit, or do something, other than sit around when I go home. I took the dogs for a walk last night but it was kinda hard to hold 2 leashes with hands that won't grip things. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Maybe they will replace them with go-go gadget arms!

2005-01-03T13:05:00.000-05:00

I get to go to the doctor today. I am not looking forward to this experience. For the past few weeks, my arms have been going numb and tingly, from my fingertips up to my elbows. It feels like they have fallen asleep. In the past few days, it has gotten progressively worse....now I am having pains shooting from my wrists to my neck and shoulders, I can't grip anything, it's hard to write, and typing is only slightly more managaeable than writing. I already know they are going to tell me its carpal tunnel. This blows.

Ringing in 2005

2005-01-02T13:12:00.000-05:00

Whew! I cannot believe it is already 2005! What the hell happened to 2004??? I hope everyone had a lovely and safe celebration. We bummed around at home, but had an excellent time. Check out the "Tale of New Year's Eve", complete with LOTS of pictures, here. Let's see....I went to Panama City on Thursday night with B, and in the two hours I spent at practice with him and his band, managed to make this for my roomie.
Can I just say again how much B rocks?? Him and Corky (his roomie/bad ass drummer/master of cheese grits) are playing with a different guitar player from the last time I saw them, and have a singer that is really good. After practice, we went out to see their singer play an acoustic gig at a local bar, where all the ladies were diggin' his smooth groove. It was quite funny. On the way to Alabama to get fireworks on Friday morning, I started on some slippers, and worked on them in the car all the way back to Tallahassee.

I love making these slippers. So easy and so fun! My weekend has been pretty lazy, which I am loving. I am at work right now to update the ol' blog, and to do some actual work. Next week is going to be crazy. I am sad because my man is leaving this afternoon to go back to Panama City. (raising my mug of ginger tea) Here's hoping that in the New Year he can make his way back to Tallahassee on a full time basis.

What are you doing....New Year's Eve

2004-12-30T11:48:00.000-05:00

I am starving and it is not even noon! Maybe it was the entire pot of coffee I drank this morning in order to stay awake and get work done, and the fact that I have literally been running back and forth, up and down stairs all morning. Yikes. I am trying to do some general office housekeeping to make sure my boss has a smooth return from vacation on Monday and to make sure we are prepped for 2005. I have lots and lots and lots of system stuff left to do, but I am taking a little lunch break right now. I am trying to get out of here early because I am heading over to Panama City Beach with B for the night. He has band practice, so I am going to go watch him rock out, and knit something while I enjoy the rock antics. We are staying at his place tonight, then getting up early to drive to Alabama and pick up some fireworks. New Years Eve will be spent with Nina and Justin at our house, drinking fine cham-pag-nah and watching movies....oh yeah and lighting those fireworks. Nina is going to use her awesome new fondue set to cook us up some goodness, and we are all just going to chill and not have to worry about driving anywhere. I need to get fooooooood.....everybody have a safe and happy New Year! XOXOXOXOXO

Dogs, Champagne and Swamps

2004-12-29T14:40:00.000-05:00

Family, gift, and other Christmas/Holiday photos have been updated. Take a gander when you get a chance. Sometimes living with something this cute can be too much. You turn into a freak who constantly talks about your dog's cuteness and how much you love your wittle pup-pup. Then you realize what you are saying and want to tear your tounge out. Especially since the dog is not even yours. I went home this morning and took a nap. Now I feel guilty because the owner of the company came in and talked to me about how my job is going and complimented me on how passionate I am about my work. Stupid conscience. New Year's Eve plans are working out just the way I wanted them to...looks like B and I will be staying home, cooking steaks, watching movies and drinking champagne, instead of running around town with all the drunks in moving vehicles and risking our lives. Hooray for staying in! My roomie is going for her first OB appointment today! I wish I could go with her, since she doesn't know if her fiance will be able to come today, but I have to be here. I can't wait to get home and hear what the doctor said. I just hope she is ok, and that the baby is normal and healthy. She is cooking up some deer burgers tonight. Apparently, ground venison is the way to go when you want a tender, tasty, low-fat burger. I may try a bite...but I have a feeling I am going to stick with beef. I took some pics for my West Coast friends today of the road going in to my neighborhood. You know how in So. California everything is well groomed and commercial? I live off one of the "major" roads here in town and here is a little sample of what I see when I look outside. This pasture is about 5 minutes from my house. Look at that tree....they don't make trees like that back home. No swamps back home either...this is on the side of the road. I took these from my driver's seat in the car today. This was taken while driving home for lunch today, as you can see by the lovely windshield reflection. I don't think I will ever get used to the NATURE here....It's been almost 2 years, and it still amazes me.

No work and all fun makes me a happy girl

2004-12-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

I'm not really feelin' this whole "work" thing right now. B is in town and all I really want to do is hang out with him, and knit, and play with Jasper. It doesn't help that everyone I technically work for is on vacation and no one is really checking up on me, or that I have an entire floor of the building to myself for the entire week. Hmmmm.....this explains the frequent blogging, the high scores on What Word on Yahoo Games, and the pile of printed out knitting patterns on top of my desk. I am having a minor crisis with one of the job sites, but the people who can fix it are on vacation, so I had to slap on the equivalent of a band-aid. It's as cleaned up as it is gonna get for now, which makes me feel a tiny bit better, and like I actually did something productive. I am bailing as soon as I get the schedule done this afternoon. B came and took me to lunch, and then we went and checked out Borders for an hour or so. He perused woodworking and art books, while I parked my ass in the craft section and pored over knitting patterns. His brother and sister-in-law have decided they do not want to know the sex of their baby, which means I have to use generic colored baby yarn for anything I knit them. Now that Christmas is over, I need to restart the Hell Blanket and get crackin' on all my baby knitting. We saw a few scary things while we were out this afternoon. There was a man in a pick-up truck with his dog, drinking a cup of coffee and repairing his gun rack in the parking lot outside Eckerd's. A woman wearing a holiday sweater (you know, with santa and the reindeer and the glitter and the horror) had teased and sprayed her hair into a replica of the Great Wall of China and was berating one of the employees at the information desk at Borders about something I am still not clear on since she had the thickest Southern accent I have ever heard. B saw my puzzled look and told me she was most likely from Alabama....for some reason, I have a hard time understanding the 'bama folk. Then he told me that I better not say anything mean because I have my own warped Southern/Southern California accent. Scary. I love Borders, and I love B because I can stand there and read things out of books to him that I think are funny, and he actually pays attention. He laughs with me, too, because we have the same sick sense of humor. I have made him a Sedaris fan, and we are currently engaged in battle over who gets to read the newest Crichton book...I started it but forgot about it in the pre-Christmas frenzy, and today he started reading it and made the comment he was ahead of me in the book. This means war. I do have a few additions to the reading list, but will have to post them later, since I have to go do my job now. Stupid need for gainful employment.

Whole lotta shakin' goin' on

2004-12-28T10:48:00.000-05:00

I had to re-read this several times in order to wrap my head around it. Quake rattled Earth orbit, changed map of Asia: US geophysicist LOS ANGELES, (AFP) - An earthquake that unleashed deadly tidal waves on Asia was so powerful it made the Earth wobble on its axis and permanently altered the regional map, US geophysicists said. The 9.0-magnitude temblor that struck 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of Sumatra island Sunday may have moved small islands as much as 20 meters (66 feet), according to one expert. "That earthquake has changed the map," US Geological Survey expert Ken Hudnut told AFP. "Based on seismic modeling, some of the smaller islands off the southwest coast of Sumatra may have moved to the southwest by about 20 meters. That is a lot of slip." The northwestern tip of the Indonesian territory of Sumatra may also have shifted to the southwest by around 36 meters (120 feet), Hudnut said. In addition, the energy released as the two sides of the undersea fault slipped against each other made the Earth wobble on its axis, Hudnut said. "We can detect very slight motions of the Earth and I would expect that the Earth wobbled in its orbit when the earthquake occurred due the massive amount of energy exerted and the sudden shift in mass," Hudnut said. Another USGS (news - web sites) research geophysicist agreed that the Earth would have got a "little jog," and that the islands off Sumatra would have been moved by the quake. How will this affect us long-term? What impact will it have on weather patterns, the world economy, the environment, government? This event will change the course of history in more ways than one; it will not go down in the books as just a powerful earthquake. The quake and tsunamis combined have killed at least 44,000 people, and that number is still rising as each day passes. Cities are still being evacuated. Third-world governments are facing economic issues of epic proportion. This will effect us, safe in our homes in the U.S. as we will be called upon to provide aid to those countries that cannot afford to repair and rebuild on their own. Think about how this will change the physical and social shape of the world in which we live. Sorry to get up on a soapbox....I think my mind was blown by the fact this thing "created a wobble" in the axis of the Earth, which got me thinking, which led to an outburst. Seriously though, stop and think about the power of this event. It makes you wonder about so much.

Dear Stacey

2004-12-28T09:04:00.000-05:00

You made my list because I miss you, not because you are the only one who consistently reads my blog. You spelled "consistently" wrong in your comment. HAHAHAHA....my turn to grammar police you! Tee hee! Anyone who reads this must know that Stacey is the best friend a girl could ask for, and that she is incredibly thoughtful and talented. You also must know that I am extremely jealous that Ms. Stacey received a sewing machine for Christmas. I still love you though, Stacey! For a fun read full of witticisms and glorious knitting, check her out.... Too Many Scarves

My Year in Review

2004-12-27T11:07:00.000-05:00

Just thought I would share this little piece of lameness with everyone. 1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before? Moved in with my sister, as a "grown-up" 2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Resolutions, schmezolutions....I never keep them, so I don't make them anymore. 3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Ummmmm....I am thinking....wait...no, no one did. 4. Did anyone close to you die? Not this year. 5. What countries did you visit? None, but Alabama SEEMS like a foreign country, and I went there. 6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004? MONEY. 7. What date(s) from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? The entire month of April, because thats when it alllll started with B. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Landing a kick ass job. 9. What was your biggest failure? Being financially secure. 10. Did you suffer illness or injury? When don't I?? I had a few kidney stones, and got pink eye last spring...other than that, nothing serious. 11. What was the best thing you bought? It's a toss up between Reverend Horton Heat tickets (even though we missed the show), yarn, and wild oregano oil. 12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I think Brian's gentlemanly behavior is worthy of celebration, but then again, I am terribly biased. Ummmm...wait, I know...my cousin who is an upstanding citizen and member of the armed forces. His dedication and devotion to what he believes in and protecting all of our freedoms merits celebration. 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Lots of people who shall remain nameless. 14. Where did most of your money go? Bills and covering overdraft fees...and cigarettes. Lots and lots of cigarettes. 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My New Orleans trip, even though it fell through. Seeing Brian every weekend. 16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2004?! There are way too many to mention...I don't associate songs with years so much as I do with specific events or people. 17. Compared to this time last year, you are... happier and more comfortable in my own skin. 18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Socializing and knitting. 19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Eating and sleeping, and smoking. 20. How will you be spending Christmas? Um, CHRISTMAS WAS ALREADY SPENT! With family and friends. 21. Did you fall in love in 2004? Yes I did, beyond my sappiest romantic dreams. 22. How many one-night stands? None. 23. What was your favorite TV program? Alias, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman, The Venture Brothers, Lost, CSI, Las Vegas, The O.C. 24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No, I pretty much hate all the same people. JUST KIDDING! 25. What was the best book you read? Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris 26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Coheed & Cambria 27. What did you want and get? Peace of mind and clarity 28. What was your favorite film of this year? Kill Bill Vol. 2 29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 24, and I think I went out to dinner with friends 30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not being broke 31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004? "Is this clean"? 32. What kept you sane? Brian, knitting, the Marlboro Man 33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Its a three way tie between Charlize Theron, Jennifer Garner, and Colin Farrel. 34. What political issue stirred you the most? Let's not get started. 35. Who did you miss? My mommy, Stacey, Stephanie, Laura, Jimmy....pretty much everyone back home on the north and south side of the West Coast. 36. Who was the best new person you met? My new boss. 37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004: Never pet a burning dog

Christmas Update and Thanksgiving pictures

2004-12-27T09:02:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I know I did. I wish I had the week off work like everyone else I know, but unfortunately, I have to be here. Oh well, the office pretty much empty, so there is a certain degree of freedom here this week. I spent my Christmas Eve cooking. Being on my feet in the kitchen from 11 am to 6pm was tedious, but I enjoyed it. Nina cleaned the entire house and helped out a lot. Brian showed up at about midnight, we exchanged gifts with Nina and Justin, then drank some champagne before I passed out in bed from sheer exhaustion. Mmmm...Champagne! Christmas day Nina, Brian and I opened our gifts. I love my yarn from my sister and my Bettie Page posters! Not to mention the yummy pineapple body scrub and the mango Chai Tea! Justin got me this awesome book Brian loved his gifts, and as predicted, the Homies picture frame was his favorite. (I had already gotten all my gifts from Brian waaaaaaaaay before Christmas, so it was my turn to spoil him!)He had a very Japanese Christmas. I got him a mini-sushi making kit, and his mom hooked him up with a bottle of sake along with this gorgeous sake set These pretty chopsticks (which I could NOT get a decent pic of) came from Nina's boyfriend, the wonderful Justin: After opening gifts, I finished preparing the food for the brunch, and my family showed up around 1 pm. The rare and elusive "hair-down Sarah" made an appearance that day: Why Brian always makes old lady faces in his pictures, I will never know. Here are some more pics of the family enjoying the food and togetherness...there are more to come as soon as my sister's boyfriend lets me hijack his camera.... My uncle and my cousin Miranda My cousin Raymond, eating, which is his favorite thing to do, since he is a 15 year old boy. I have never seen anyone put away as much food as he does. Check out Nina, my cousins and dorky me in our Christmas photos: By the end of the afternoon, I was worn out. After the family left, Brian and I headed over to his moms, who showered us with gifts and allowed us to take her to a movie. We saw Flight of the Phoenix. Well, they saw it while I napped. She had a bracelet made for me, gave me a bad ass tool kit for my car, a boittle of wine, and this lovely recipe book, which I have been needing/wanting for quite some time: B and I finally got home late, and watched one of Brian's gifts from me, Mars Attacks, while drinking more champagne with Nina and Justin. I finally went to sleep and woke up the next morning to the sounds of B playing Final Fantasy IV on the Playstation. We dorked out for a while, then headed to the mall to find him a coat for his trip to Colorado next month. We went to see The Aviator, which was a great movie, even though Mr. DiCraprio is in it. I finally fell asleep around 10 while B stayed up late watching the Sopranos....and now here I sit at work, bored out of my mind, wishing I could go home and sleep. B had to go to Dothan on Friday, and I made him tell me all about Peanut. If you will recall, Peanut is the kitten I wrote about playing with on Thanksgiving. I finally got some pictures of me and Peanut back. Check 'em out: And look at the gorgeous Alabama sunset on Thanksgiving:

Holiday Wishes

2004-12-23T11:17:00.000-05:00

This is a quick note to say hello. I am escaping from the office early today, and will not be back until Monday, hopefully with lots of Christmas pictures and joy! I was planning on going home and knitting, baking, etc. but at this point, my plans have changed and I am headed home to take a nap. I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and that you all enjoy the time you get to share with family and friends this holiday. Merry Christmas!

Santa Baby

2004-12-21T09:59:00.000-05:00

Christmas is STRESSING ME OUT! Damn Type A personality! So much grocery shopping to do for the brunch....must knit the beer cozy and guitar strap I haven't even started....AHHHHHH! I did finish a lovely scarf made of TLC Amore for my boss who requested that I make one for her sister. It came out so fluffy and warm. I also whipped up some feline dim sum from Knitty last night for Amanda's cat, Meeshu. I made the wonton..... It came out cute, but I don't know how much it looks like a wonton! My aunt's slippers are done, and the straps are getting attached this evening... I am not sure if I like them now, so they may be re-done before Christmas. My ornaments are finally done and being distributed to my sister's co-workers and my friends and family today. A few of the ornaments I painted: The famous glass ornaments I make every year, which are a blatant rip-off of ornaments Stacey made one year. The brunch is ballooning dangerously out of control. It was supposed to be 10 of us, now my aunt is trying to increase the guest list by 6. I think I can handle it, but I haven't said yay or nay to her yet. Early Christmas presents help calm me down! My roomie bought me a dream book, as well as a book I have been wanting for a long time: Amanda remembered how cranky I am befpre my morning caffeine, but knows I can't drink coffee. I love her! Look at all that tea! Brian and I gave each other some of our presents early, so we had media overload.... We stayed up way too late playing old school Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger on PS1. And finally, Brian gave me an AWESOME gift. Check out my samurai sword:

I wish I could clone myself right now

2004-12-20T13:25:00.000-05:00

This weekend was much too short....I have so much to do! I will be posting tomorrow with all kinds of pics. B brought me an early Christmas present, and it is much too awesome to describe with simple words. I am knitting like a fiend....finally started (and finished!) the scarf my boss asked me to make for her sister. Whew. One beer cozy, a guitar strap, slippers, a hat, and another scarf to go. Need to send off cards and packages....yes, they are gonna be late, but I tried! Getting ready for the big brunch. MUST GET BACK TO WORK! More to come soon!