If you don’t know what it means….
too bad.
Because if I told you, I’d have to kill you.
02/04/2010
My Girlzzz
It’s the beginning of February. I’m feeling the cabin fever pretty hard. It’s dark most of our 24 hours per day. Frankly, I had a rough go of things in December. I’m mostly recovered from that month but sometimes…
Well most of every day, I’m telling myself I recovered from the insanity of December. Telling myself to get the Hell Over It. It’s been a month already…what the hell’s wrong with me. Sometimes when the morning starts out gray and I’m feeling groggy, well, I tell myself I’m not over it yet.
Mostly I’m over it though. I know, you’re confused.
Well my friends. I’m over it. I can tell myself this as much as I want but…
I have lovely, smart, creative, delightful girlfriends who let me know. I know I’m over it because what they’ve gone through in the last year? Their shit? Well my shit? It pales in comparison.
So, my girls are getting their groove back on. One needs an awesome new outfit to help turn her around. Like an outfit that’s not jeans and a baggy sweater. Something cute. Something sorta sexy. Something that might make her husband come court her again. Yep, that kind of an outfit.
Another girl needs to start reconnecting. Hanging with her people more face to face. Grooving, sharing, listening to music. Going out of the house for something more than groceries. You know…going out and seeing what the world is doing.
Another girl needs to start reconnecting too. She ’s looking for a new job. She doesn’t have a job now. She needs to find her old friends and reconnect. Then see if the old friends have some connecting they can do for her. To help her find her new, perfect job.
Sound familiar? Yeah, it all sounds real familiar to me. I need my girls. I need the support and friendship to make me feel good. To tell me I’m smart and funny and cute. And I need my girls so I can tell them the same.
I love my girlfriends and the power and hope and fun we can provide for each other.
02/03/2010
Many Dorks Attended
So there’s this quiz nite once a month. It’s hosted by miked. He’s been doing the quiz, which he calls the Pub Quiz for years. It’s trivia nite, hosted in a local bar, the questions are hard. There are ten total rounds of 10 questions each. The 9th round is video quiz, which is ridiculously difficult. More difficult than you’d think.
miked is funny as hell and he’s smart. He has two rules: his word on the correct answer is always final and he will never play the video portion of the quiz twice. If those aren’t his two rules, I guess I’m screwed.
I used to go to the Pub Quiz with my neighbor and other friends a couple of years ago. Due to logistics and crazy schedules, we stopped going.
Tonite was the first night we’ve been to Pub Quiz in about 2 years. It was a blast. We killed in the first 4 rounds, unfortunately we sucked in the rest of the 6 rounds. But we had a hell of a good time.
Just for the record, I rocked with the answers Holden Caulfield, Emma, The Great Depression and Tony the Tiger. The other ones? I sucked.
Thanks to my fine neighbor Jenny and her friend Gerry.
See you next month!
02/02/2010
2. Adventures in Baking
Our Annual GroundHog celebration is just days away. I definitely must be on task this week. First on the agenda is grocery trip….
Supplies for Friday’s dinner and the King Cake are a necessity.
What’s a King Cake? It has everything to do with Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday. It’s a traditional sweet pastry dough cake with yummy pecan, brown sugar filling. A small baby doll is hidden in the cake. The person who eats the piece of cake containing the baby doll gets to make the cake the next year.
Guess who found the King Cake Baby last year?
It should end up looking something like this.
If it’s anything close to this pretty, I promise to give you a little peek later this week. Wish me luck!
01/31/2010
1. Accidental
I accidentally read this in 8th grade. It was in the book shelf and it had to have been my mother’s book. Maybe from college?
My granmother was bothered that I was reading it. She said something about “bad language”. Funny, she had no Idea I could already talk like a sailor.
Grandma probably didn’t like the idea of my mom reading it in the early 60’s. Thanks for writing it Mr. Salinger. Thanks mom, for breaking in grandma.
Oooh, and I think I need to read it again.
Rest in peace, Mr. Salinger.
01/31/2010
3. Communal Beverages
This was purchased the day after Christmas. I was at an event celebrating the fact that it was the day after Christmas and all or most of the shenanigans were over. We rented a limo. It was Girls Nite. We had to drop off a friend who had quickly become “overserved” and needed to get home to her own bed ASAP.
It was 1 am. We needed a few “road pops” for the ride to Parma and back.
We needed a Growler from Great Lakes Brewing Company. A Growler full of tasty beer was exactly what we needed.
We also decided that the growler would become “community property” between our nearest neighbors.
I’m going to need to fill it up in anticipation of our Groundhog Weekend celebration.
01/29/2010
The only problem with that is….
We have PC and Mac overload in this house. Which, like having a hot tub accident, is a very modern, fortunate-persons problem to have. You know, when you’re hurt and somebody asks how you hurt yourself?
“Well, I fell while getting out of the hot tub. Yeah, the hot tub with the amazing view of the Pacific Ocean. Yeah, it sucks. My ankle really hurts.”
Poor baby. You were in a hot tub with a view of the Pacific Ocean?
That’s what our home is like. No, we don’t have a hot tub. Nor do we have a view of the Pacific Ocean.
We have so many PC’s, laptops and Macs that I frankly don’t know where to turn.
The Winner of the Modern Day Problem is…
The G4, while not state of the art, is sweet because it’s wireless. I can surf from anywhere, nearly. Fortunate problem with the G4? Can’t watch videos, can’t print easily.
The super Mondo Mac in the DD’s office? Freaking Awesome. …but the scanner and cool printer are not yet hooked up to this.
The PC in DD’s office? Meh. But it is hooked up to the scanner and cool printer. So that’s a win…sort of.
My Dell? It’s in my office and hardwired to the network. I can watch videos but I can’t watch the widescreen tv at the same time.
The other real problem with the Dell? It’s kind of a Frankenstein mash up of stuff. I disconnected the easily accessible USB ports because I need to upgrade the internal USB thingie. (this is where my technical jargon becomes very suspect, which is the topic of a completely different post)
The other thing with the Dell? Well, when you get right down to it….it’s not a Mac. There. I said it.
Until recently, this was never a concern. I didn’t even know it could be a concern. Other than kind of cool marketing ploy, I thought the PC vs Mac commercials were funny. Funny because the PC guy was wearing an ill fitting, heinous polyester suit and the Mac guy handily harassed him.
This is me. This is my brain on iPhone.
I got my iPhone and everything changed. Everything.
The largest difference? I became obsessed with checking twitter, facebook and my 5 email accounts.
I got more organized. I got better at tracking things like exercise, diet and to do lists.
I started making notes to myself. I kept better track of all my logins.
I started blogging more because I kept track of ideas for posts.
My posts were more interesting because I had photos to go with them. Photos I took with my iPhone.
Which brings me to the crux of the matter. Synching an iPhone with a PC is kind of wonky. Kind of? Who am I kidding?
I never do it the same way twice. Sometimes it doesn’ t work at all. Most times I synch, I mutter to myself, shrug and then abandon it altogether.
Which, like a hot tub accident is a very fortunate persons problem.
Oh and my ankle? My ankle still hurts.
01/18/2010
Warm and safe.
I’m sitting in my warm living room eating a bologna sandwich and some Clementine oranges. I’m watching cable tv while I finish my dinner. I can jump up and get any kind of food, snack or beverage I’d like. My husband is downstairs as is our fuzzy friend, the cat. My neighbor’s kids are making a melty snowman in their front yard.
My home is intact, my family is right here, I have shelter. My neighborhood is humming along as it always does. People going to work, kids going to school.
Sitting here, warm, in my very own home, it’s hard to think about all the destruction and chaos in Haiti. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone there, especially the BRESMA orphans and Jamie and Ali. My wish is for them to have the same warmth, security, health, creature comforts and love that I have. My wish is that they come home soon.
For specific details on the BRESMA orphanage in Port Au Prince, go here. You can also make a secure donation that will go directly to the care of these orphans.
01/09/2010
What I did December ‘09
I should start my own business. One where I’m someone’s personal assistant and errand runner. I can do an amazing amount of work in very little time. My focus is amazing. My demeanor? Mmmmm, pretty intense. (Actually, I get pretty bitchy. Just stay out of my way…)
This is my Team in Training to do list for December:
- Update Team in Training email and snail mail address lists
- Organize & stuff 150 Team in Training donation request letters
- Revamp new Team in Training personal donation website (DD did the main site)
- Attend first Marathon Training practice (it was 27 degrees downtown that morning)
- Keep working on Couch to 5K so I can run next May
- Organize and bake for Team in Training bake sale Dec. 12th
- Work bake sale table all day on Dec. 12th
Here’s my to do list for Grandma this month:
- Suffice to say there were about 12 bullets here.
- I want to forget I did most of them
- I’ve forgotten I did most of them
- Yay!
- I planned and completed a move from Grandma’s nursing home to an assisted living home
- Somehow organized the paperwork, the bureaucratic bullshit, and finances
- And managed to also get her some toilet paper, snacks and diet coke for her new apartment
- Yay! I’m mostly done with the move. I’m definitely done talking about it.
Miscellania on to do list:
- Clean spare bedroom
- Break down bed (DD did this)
- Install new futon (we both did this)
- Move bikes and trainers inside
- Throw all misc. “messes’ in this room, everyone needs a junk room during Christmas
- Purge and organize home office
- Discard two bags of garbage & multiple boxes from office
Fun things I did this month:
- Plan and execute a kick ass, Spider Man themed 40th birthday party for my husband
- Shop for birthday and Christmas gifts
- Do initial research for Ground Hog 2010
- Send Christmas Cards
- Decorate for Christmas
- Prepare Christmas Dinner
- Hang out at Ante Up studio for latest DrunkDude69 session
- Attend The Independent Christmas Crash Soiree
Wow, I guess that’s a ridiculous list. No wonder I don’t know what day it is.
New Year’s Resolution?
Only do Christmas/Birthday and work related things next December.
I’m giving myself permission to feel exhausted and to chill out this week.
There are only about 3 “must do’s” on my list. Today’s list, that is.
12/28/2009
Christmas Day gift: A Timeless Reminder
I did a lot of time-consuming activities this month that had little or nothing to do with Christmas. I rushed around day to day on a strict schedule. I got everything done, but the pace was insane. I didn’t have the time to do things I normally do for Christmas. I didn’t have time to do the things I like to do for Christmas. And I felt I missed out on Christmas because I missed out on these things.
It was finally Christmas Day and we sat and watched the classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” You know the one? The original cartoon? It’s cute. It’s funny. Who doesn’t adore the little dog Max? How cannot you not love the skinny legged, pot-bellied Grinch?
Then it struck me. I still had Christmas. It wasn’t exactly the same kind of Christmas, but it was still Christmas. So, thank you Dr. Seuss, here’s the best of your quotes below:
Welcome Christmas,
Bring your Cheer
To all Whos far and near.
Christmas Day is in our grasp
So long as we
Have hands to clasp.
Christmas Day will always be
Just as long
As we have we.
Welcome Christmas while we stand,
Heart to heart and hand in hand.
