| Yesterday |
[Nov. 7th, 2009|10:16 am] |
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Had a pretty good birthday yesterday, for the most part. The majority of the day was in Chicago at a company meeting. However, they brought us gifts from their Greece trip, and I got myself a mother-of-pearl bracelet. It's so pretty!
And, to thank us for holding down the fort while they were in paradise, we're each getting a paid day off and a massage & facial at the spa of our choice.
The day was going splendidly until I arrived back in Palatine and discovered a parking ticket on my windshield. Now, this is utter bullshit. I PAID the $2.00 for the parking, I know for a fact I did. Why - because I gave them my very last $2.00 and went without coffee that morning. And, yes, I am sure I put the money in the right slot. I try to park in spaces that have repeating numbers, so I'll remember them better. Example: 5220, which was yesterday's number.
So today, I have to go to the Village Hall to contest it & see if anything can be done. Pisses me off greatly. I'm prepared to pay $2.00 but not $20.00 to park there. Don't know if I"ll have a choice, though. That REALLY put me in a foul mood yesterday.
However, I shook it off best I could so that Matt & I could go out for sushi and plum wine, with some coconut ice cream for dessert. Yum!
Matt made me a birthday cake, and he even made the icing from scratch! With frosting roses & the whole works. Will post pix later.
So, older. Woot.
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| Thyme of Death |
[Jul. 28th, 2009|05:04 pm] |
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I have recently gotten into books by Susan Wittig Albert. They are the "China Bayles mysteries." If there is any such thing as a lighthearted murder mystery, without the campiness of a Clue movie, these books have it by the bushell.
China, once a high-powered and successful criminal attorney in Houston, decides that the rat race needed one less rat. Tired of the stress, the constant adrenelain rush, and being paid to get the obviously guilty a slap on the wrist, she cashes in her retirement, chucks the whole career and life in the city, moves to a small Texas town, and buys a small herbal shop called Thyme and Seasons.
All she wants is the quiet life. A simple life. Dealing with herbs, having fun with friends, and dating the hunky cop-turned-law-professor. The LAST thing she wants is for various people to keep turning up dead under suspicious circumstances, and having everybody point the finger at her and say, "Ya know, YOU were once a criminal attorney. You'd be the PERFECT person to figure this out."
Yet, it keeps happening. Of course, she solves the case and catched the fiend.
What I like about her is that she's chocked full of flaws and indecisions. Her wonderful boyfriend is dying to make an honest woman out of her, but she's dragging her heels about losing her independence and having to make a committment. Her estranged mother keeps turning up, uninvited, trying too hard to win her daughter's graces and make up for a lousy childhood. Her best friend is her exact opposite, giving her the best and sometimes worst advice. She has baggage and issues and pet peeves. A real person.
I am just churning through these books as fast as I take them home from the library.
The only thing I don't like about them is that, after reading #6 in the series, I'm beginning to see the author's pattern of writing. I can recognize a type of formula she's using while creating the plots. So much so that I actually guessed at the killer's identity in chapter three, and was very disappointed when I was proven right at the end of the book "Lavender Lies." I LIKE being surprised at the end. I like thinking that I've got the killer pegged, only to find out it was somebody WAY out in left field.
I'm off to get more in the series, but I'm sincerely hoping that the next books don't follow this obvious pattern. I love getting my claws into a good series of books, and I don't want to wind up disappointed.
The first book in the series is "Thyme of Death." Matt and I read it when we rode up to Wisconsin last year. It is a very cool read. |
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| B-Day |
[Jul. 22nd, 2009|03:18 pm] |
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Happy Birthday David!
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| Renn Faire 2009 |
[Jul. 19th, 2009|05:54 pm] |
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We could not have asked for a better day for Renn Faire. It was a bit cloudy, and only once did it start sprinkling, but the rain stayed away, as did the normal scorching heat we'd expected for a mid-July outing.
Just a few images of the incredible garden sprites. Also, Mike met a new friend, as you will see:
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| Summer evenings |
[Jul. 2nd, 2009|07:38 am] |
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"About seven o'clock you could hear the chairs scraping back from the tables, someone experimenting with a yellow-toothed piano, if you stood outside the dining-room window and listened. Matches being struck, the first dishes bubbling in the suds and tinkling on the wall racks, somewhere, faintly, a phonograph playing. And then as the evening changed the hour, at house after house on the twilight streets, under the immense oaks and elms, on shady porches, people would begin to appear, like those figures who tell good or bad weather in rain-or-shine clocks.
"Uncle Bert, perhaps, Grandfather, then Father, and some of the cousins; the men all coming out first into the syrupy evening, blowing smoke, leaving the women's voices behind in the cooling-warm kitchen to set their universe aright. Then, the first male voices under the porch brim, the feet up, the boys fringed on the worn steps or wooden rails where sometime during the evening something, a boy or a geranium pot, would fall off.
"At last, like ghosts hovering momentarily behind the door screen, Grandma, Great-grandma, and Mother would appear, and the men would shift, move, and offer seats. The women carried varieties of fans with them, folded newspapers, bamboo whisks, or perfumed kerchiefs, to start the air moving about their faces as they talked."
From Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine," based on memories of his boyhood life in Waukegan. It is the best book to read in the summer. I confess I read it once every June or July, just to get the full summer experience. |
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| Ow. Head. Ow. |
[Jul. 2nd, 2009|06:35 am] |
The only thing worse than being woken up at 4:30am by hungry kitties and realizing that you've woken up to a pounding allergy headache.....
Is finding out afterwards that you had accidentally woken up your significant other at 4:00am by stealing the covers & giving him morning frostbite.
Start of the morning - fail. Do-over?
Fetch me Claritin. |
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| RIP |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|10:08 pm] |
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Michael Jackson died at the age of 50.
I'm sure the entire thing will be a media circus for days. I do feel rather bad for his kids; at the end of the day, they've lost their father. However, maybe now their biological mother will actually get some quality time with the kids now that his entourage is in the process of disbanding. |
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| Writer's Block: All-Nighter |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|07:57 am] |
Working on a huge project for work. Luckily, it was in my home office. Although, when the sun rose the next morning, I had to just stay where I was and begin the next day's work.
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| June the 3rd. |
[Jun. 4th, 2009|08:11 am] |
List of interesting things that happened yesterday:
1. 10:00am. Working at home, and two elderly Japanese men ring the doorbell. They are convinced that their friend lives here, and more convincing is needed to assure them that there is no elderly Japanese man hiding in my apartment. I refer them to the front office. They thank me, and I surprise the sushi out of them by saying "you're welcome" in Japanese. ( Doitashimashite)
2. Around noon. I am driving back from store, and I change lanes to avoid an accident scene. Motorcycle vs. car, and although the car is now in two pieces, the motorcycle has lost. The rider is sprawled in the median. First Responder pulled up just as I pulled away. Am keeping fingers crossed he's in better shape that the twisted metal that was his bike.
3. 2:00ish. While trying to figure out how to pay June's bills, a flier is slipped under the door. I discover that my apartment complex is having a Craft Sale on Sunday the 14th. Have decided to craft up a small inventory and see if they sell. Please keep fingers crossed.
4. 4:00pm. Dressed in my best suit, I arrive in a clinic in Mount Prospect for a receptionist interview. I find the place locked up & deserted. After a couple of phone calls, I finally get ahold of the doctor who realizes he'd completely forgotten about our appointment, and didn't want to reschedule at this time. Thanks for caring, doc. Really professional of you.
5. 5:30pm. Matt arrives home. Crappy day at work. The only funny that happened is that his co-worker asked Matt if he was gay, and was surprised to hear that he wasn't. When Matt relayed this to another co-worker, he was surprised to learn that she was gay. Does anyone really know anyone?
6. 9:00pm. We finish watching a DVD, and Matt puts on his coat, saying he was going to return it & get the next in the series. I throw a horrified fit because he's putting his coat over his pajamas and houseslippers. "No boyfriend of MINE is going to be running around in public wearing PAJAMAS like those idiotic teenage girls who think its STYLISH and its really just TACKY!" or somethign to that mortified effect. He lets me go on for about ten minutes before finally telling me that it was a joke. And, a very good one. I can't remember the last time we both laughed that hard. Tears were shed. I'm surprised neighbors didn't complain.
An interesting day.
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| A funny from my co-worker. (Work-friendly) |
[Jun. 2nd, 2009|09:15 am] |
Important Women's Health Issue:
Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
Do you suffer from shyness?
Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Margaritas.
Margaritas are the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions.
Margaritas can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything.
You will notice the benefits of Margaritas almost immediately and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live.
Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had. Stop hiding and start living, with Margaritas.
Margaritas may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Margaritas. However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.
Side effects may include:
Dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration
Erotic lustfulness
Loss of motor control
Loss of clothing
Loss of money
Loss of virginity
Table dancing
Headache
Dehydration
Dry mouth
And a desire to sing Karaoke
WARNING:
The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you are whispering when you are not.
The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
The consumption of Margaritas may cause you to think you can sing.
The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting
Please share this with other women who may need Margaritas.
Thank you.
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| Star Trek (no spoilers) |
[May. 18th, 2009|06:52 am] |
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Matt & I went to see the Star Trek movie yesterday afternoon. It rocked. And I'm a bit discerning with my ST films; not all of them were worth the price of admission. This one, however, WAS.
I'm older than you lot; to be honest, both Star Trek & myself were born in the same year. I can remember my parents being baffled as to why their little girl could like Seseme Street, Zoom, Mr. Rogers, Captain Kangaroo, but also go nuts over that "spacey-program of yours." It was the mothers milk of science fiction to me, and I loved every single drop. Sometimes I think I got my very first TV in my room (8" screen, black and white with rabbit-ear antena and three channels) just so I could watch Star Trek, and the rest of my family could be spared.
This newest movie was as great, as I'd hoped it would be, and it leaves itself wide open for many a sequal. I don't know how many more movies Leonard Nimoy has in him, but he was supurb in this one.
Very well done. |
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| Cautionary Tale |
[May. 17th, 2009|08:23 am] |
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Lesson learned: I shouldn't do laundry when I am exhausted.
A couple of nights ago, I had started laundry, but when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, I crashed, and Matt took it over.
Whilst folding the last load, he made a humorous discovery that he just now shared with me.
Apparently, instead of adding a sheet of Bounce to my dryer load, I added in one of my Swiffer dry sweeping cloths. It did little to reduce the static cling.
I suppose I should be grateful that I didn't add in the mop or the can of Pledge or the toilet brush.
Let the ridicule begin. :) |
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| The Guild |
[Apr. 15th, 2009|07:36 am] |
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Thanks to the Pretty for showing me www.watchtheguild.com.
Felicia Day is hell & gone from Buffy, and she's rocking, Joss Wheden style. Writing, Producing, and Starring.
After watching this, part of me wanted to log on and game...and another part wanted to rush outside and ride my bike before I end up like some of the cautionary tales I'd been laughing at for a few hours.
Nicely done, girl. |
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| Good Friday |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|08:57 am] |
Amazing.
Good Friday comes around, and suddenly everyone's Catholic. So far, we have three manufacturers and about a dozen customers who aren't answering their phones cuz today is the day to get religion. Even our customers who are primarily Jewish are taking a half day off. One of our manufacturers who dwells deep in the heart of Protestant rural South Carolina is operating on a skeleton crew today.
Kind of like when Saint Patrick's day comes around, suddely everyone's Irish. And drunk.
Upside to not being Catholic today: I get to finish up some projects with zero interruptions.
Interview yesterday at the placement agency went pretty well. I was pleased with my typing test as I beat my old score of 72 wpm with six errors. I am now at 84wpm with five errors. |
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| April Fool's |
[Apr. 2nd, 2009|08:32 am] |
It was Matt that remembered about April Fool's day.
I was loading the dishwasher, and he was leaving for work.
"Bye." (Insert usual morning send-off kiss). "Happy April Fool's Day."
"Ah, so it is. I'm pregnant."
"Cool. I'm gay. I'll be home around 5:00."
And that was our celebration. Lame. |
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| Props |
[Mar. 12th, 2009|08:06 am] |
OK - have to give props where they're due.
The Best Buy Geek Squad.
Please hold your scoffing laughter until after the demonstration.
Matt's computer has been overheating to the point of shutting down, and it only happends when we play WoW. So, he turned off the add-ons, turned off as much of the background stuff as he could. No dice.
We went to look at $50.00 cooling tables, but he didn't think that they'd work.
So, we did the token standing-in-the-Geek-Squad-line for about an hour a couple of evenings ago, listening to the woman in front of us complaining that she's been standing there about an hour.
Finally, finally, we make contact with a Geek. We explain the problem, ask if updating the video card or maybe the driver would help.
He recommends a can of air to clean out the vent.
What a major letdown that was. We were expecting a much more complicated diagnosis and treatment. And after standing in line for the better part of an evening, that's all we're handed? Canned air?
Yup - that's all he's offering.
So as not to paint the evening as a complete waste, we obediently trod over to Aisle 11 and pick up a can of air.
Disappointment sets in.
We get home, eat, and then spray canned air into his computer vent.
.....
And then proceed to pull out chunks of cat hair and dust bunnies and unidentifiable lint. Yes, chunks.
Computer works fine now - no overheating, no need for freezer ice packs to finish a quest.
So, thanks to the Geek Squad for the quick $9.00 fix. |
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| Cycle |
[Feb. 21st, 2009|06:28 am] |
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Remember how I foolishly pulled an all-nighter a few days ago?
As a result of that brainy move, I've been hitting the hay around 8:00-ish since then, getting caught up on my sleep. Felt great.
This morning, however, I found myself wide awake at 5:00am. Wide-eyed and full of energy, as if someone had been feeding me a Mountain Dew and an Amp whilest I was sleeping.
Guess I got TOO caught up on my sleep.
The result = I'm up, doing dishes, doing laundry, sweeping floors, and will probably be doing more as the morning progresses. The cats are looking at me funny for being up & active as this unGodly hour.
The upside = I'm having no problems finding open laundry machines at this hour. Fortunate - as I have six loads to do.
And, I'm craving a large Chai, because, of course, what I need right now is MORE caffeine.
I'm filing this under Side-effect of a Side-effect.
And, lookit all the pretty snow. I DID have things to do outside the house today. *sigh* |
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| ICK |
[Jan. 7th, 2009|08:05 am] |
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I went downstairs to do laundry yesterday evening, and got an un-lovely surprise. Some individual had tracked dog poo from the outside, down the carpeted stairs, across the length of the hall, and apparently had gone into the laundry room to try and scrape it off onto the linoleum floor. Unfortunately, I'm not talking little smudges. I'm talking full-out footprints of the stuff.
People amaze me sometimes. I consider this apartment complex my home, and I treat it as such. Everyone else here seems to view it as something they're not responsible for. I mean, why didn't they just take off their shoes and deal with the problem once they got inside their own apartments - instead of ruining the carpet you see every day, and making the now-polluted community laundry room unusuable for the 11 other families in the building?
So, I bagged up my cleaning supplies and was down there so long, I got Matthew worrying. I only cleaned the laundry room. I had to - I didn't want to be tramping that mess back into MY apartment, nor did I want to think about the possiblity of dropping a sock onto the floor while unloading the dryer. Besides - the very air was almost too foul to breath down there. I'm supposed to be washing clothes in this environment?
Dear Lord, people! Given the choice to be uncaring slobs tracking in fecal filth that you WILL smell every day, or taking care of your home, is there REALLY a decision to be made here?
Somewhere in this building, there is a bitch that needs a reeeeealy good choking. |
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