Random Meme

all pictures courtesy of the interwebs

Speaking of...

...Wednesday...

What? I'm sure someone was. Somewhere...




So, as we have established, it is Wednesday. Today I should have a mondo-sized coffee next to me because it is insanely busy (I mean, I only get to type about 2 or 3 words here before I have to answer the phone again. Sheesh!). In fact, I could use some booze in my coffee, that would help a lot, I'm sure. But I have no coffee left, and I have no booze. How sad.

Oh lighten up. I'm just joking.
Sort of.

Speaking of coffee... I think we have a coffee stand for every 10 persons in this town. They are everywhere. 15 years ago we had maybe three latte stands. They multiply. Like rabbits. Or weasels. (Starbucks is a weasel, in my opinion. No offense, but I am not a fan...) Anyway, a couple years ago I read in the paper that we had something like 256 coffee stands in our county. Which pretty much means in this city, although there actually are a few in outlying areas. I'm sure there are at least another 100 now. It's crazy.

Speaking of stands...I used to pick my coffee stands by proximity. To where I lived, where I worked, that kind of thing. There was an awesome one near where 911 used to be housed (the Public Safety Building morgue basement (used to be the morgue, once upon a time. Cheerful? Not.) I went there primarily because their coffee was okay, but their chai tea was fantastic! They made their own - none of that boxed Oregon Chai crap (sorry, but again, not a fan). Then the owners sold the place and it no longer had that fabulous chai tea. There was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth but they finally told me if I didn't stop doing that they were going to call the police, so I quit. And quit going there.

Then our office moved (thank goodness, because now we have windows! Although, we are near the rendering plant now, so it often stinks to high heaven out there.) There is a coffee stand kitty-corner-ish from there, and I started going there just because it was so close. And they had pretty good coffee. But then the girl who used to work mornings left and the owner took over and for some reason she wasn't open half the time in the morning. So I stopped going there, too.

But then I "found" this place.



It is 5 minutes from my house so I can actually have coffee to drink on the way to work! Which is great. And the coffee is great, and reasonable priced. But now I'm sad. Yes, sad.
And not just because I am at work without booze.
No, today I am sad because my favorite coffee girl is leaving.

This is A--. (Names have been shortened to protect the silly.)


She is almost always here when I come through for my "usual". I haven't had to tell her what I drink for the better part of a year (I am such a creature of habit...although she has, from time to time made special, interesting and tasty suggestions for me!) But A-- is leaving to move onward and upward in the world. She has taken a job that hopefully will parlay into a good career for her.
But I will miss her. And her sunny smile. (And her lattes!)
I am lucky, however, that the other girls there are nice as well and also excellent latte makers!

But speaking of A's last day...to wish her well I made her one of my funky, chunky necklaces:


This is a really cool glass pendant that I got at Wonders of the World downtown. I have no idea how they do it, but it looks like flames on the back, which is fun.


Speaking of fun (not)...Secret Agent Man and I are working on putting in a big flower bed out front. I don't think I'm going to quit my day job to work in landscaping, but it is kind of sucky hard painful rewarding. I am taking pictures, hopefully I can post the finished work soon.
The best part of that will be that we are done! Yea!

So...what are you speaking of on your hump day?

Speaking of...

It's Sunday, which is typically a day of rest. It is, however, not the case around here. I don't know why but Sunday's lately have been awful busy at 911. Don't people have anything better to do on Sunday? Don't people know I have BLOGGING to do!? Sheesh!

Wait...what? I should be working while I'm at work? Pshaw. I'd so rather be home with Secret Agent Man.

Speaking of SAM, he's a lousy husband. I believe he is home right now being lazy and seeding the back hill, paying bills and doing laundry. What a guy! No, seriously he is awesome! He also makes me dinner when I am too tired to do it, takes me purse shopping, and tells me I'm beautiful all the time. Being Mrs. Secret Agent is a pretty good deal.

Speaking of being beautiful, however, I have decided I need to be less beautiful. About 40 lbs less beautiful. (For the record - desk jobs suck.) So SAM and I have been discussing diets and a walking regimen. I clearly need more exercise. Going out for beer and pizza apparently does not count. (Who made that rule, anyway?)

Speaking of exercise, though, we did get a Wii recently. With the intent that we would maybe do some Wii Sports or something. Alas, no. We are completely hooked on a series of Raving Rabbids games.
Oh. My. Gosh. I have not laughed so much in a long time! (Laughing is exercise, right?) For anyone not familiar with the Rabbids, you do crazy things like shoot plungers at them,

race warthogs, and dance dance your booty off! (That's my favorite part...although I checked this morning and sadly, my booty is still all there.)

(For those of you who know and love the little darlings, go here...there's an interesting post about their creation.)
Anyway, it's great fun, but so far it's not doing much to erase my beer and pizza calories.
Damn.

So, still speaking of diets, anyone got any good suggestions? I need a diet I can stick with, that doesn't include fish, brussels sprouts, garlic, cauliflower, zucchini, jelly beans, ice cream, chocolate, donuts, any kind of cupcake...oh wait...I got off track there.

Speaking of cupcakes...
...where I work we have restrooms right across the hall from our main door (I know, stay with me here...). Needless to say, we try to keep air freshener in there at all times. We have to buy our own, so we take turns. A couple days ago a new one showed up, some kind of Febreze something or other.
Now, I am leery of air "fresheners" because they are usually way too strong and give me a headache. But this one....this one.... um, it's just wrong. It smells like vanilla cupcakes.
What the hell Febreze?
I guess it's probably great for the kitchen. But, y' know, I smell a nice vanilla cupcake and hey - I want one!
Kinda disturbing in the bathroom.
I'm just sayin'.

Great, now I want cupcakes and here I am with my rabbit food lunch. It's very frustrating. Think I'll go home and shoot me some Rabbids.

Just For Fun

I was listening to Bruce Hornsby the other day, and this came on. One of my very favorite songs of his:

Circus on the Moon.

I'm here with the elephants, I'm cleaning up mess
I'm trying to be special, but to you I'm just like all the rest
Look what they've got me doing
Got a high wire act I can show you my skills
Trapeze and a bar across my heart, across my ills
Escape through a trap door and I'll go on my way
Try as I do, I just can't connect anyway
Getting bout as much attention as a...
circus on the moon
Standing tall and lone in my...
circus on the moon...

Random

So our anniversary was last week. Secret Agent Man and I had a lovely dinner at a downtown restaurant called Churchill's. It's probably as swanky as it gets around here. It has recently re-opened after a fire gutted the place about a year ago, when a photography studio next door had a chemical fire.
We had not been in yet prior to the fire, but I have to say, it's gorgeous! The bar downstairs is particularly nice, and reminds me of some kind of upscale English pub. I tried to take a picture, but it was too dark down there.
The dining room was nice, too, though.



Dinner was fabulous. My only complaint was that, since I am allergic to garlic I couldn't do the garlic mashed potato side, and asked to substitute a baked potato. They couldn't "substitute" so I had to buy one, and it was SEVEN FREAKING DOLLARS!
Now, in the grand scheme of things (meaning it was a pricey dinner) I suppose $7 should not have been a big deal, but it was.
Regardless, it was a nice evening.


Yesterday I decided to be productive on my day off. I picked up dry cleaning, went grocery shopping, did some online shopping and Armor All'd my bra.
What? It was dirty!




Looks much better now.




Thursday we went to a piano bar that does "dueling pianos" on the weekend. I don't really understand the "dueling" part, because there was no "play-off" or anything like one we went to in Vegas once, but it was pretty fun. They take requests for tips. Secret Agent man was giving them tips like "Don't eat bad eggs" and "Buy low, sell high" and "Booze makes life easier"... but we gave 'em money too, so they played some of our requests.
The one that surprised me was when SAM asked them to play The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - "upbeat". They actually played it!!
Awesome!

Speaking of ...

 I haven't had much to blog about this week, the brain is just not working the way I want it to. I wanted to post some new art this weekend, but I'm really having trouble with that. Kind of like writer's block, I guess. So I'll do another episode of  "Speaking of..."

Ready?

So I was randomly flipping channels last night and happened upon one of those "reality" shows, "Stupid Housewives of Fresno" or whatever. You know the ones. What is with that crap anyway? Do I really need to watch a gaggle of bimbos with too much money, too few brains and wa-a-a-ay too much cleavage talk about their money, and their cleavage? No. I watched about 5 minutes of it and wanted to claw my eyes out. Don't even talk to me about that Jersey show...what little I have read about it, I think it would make my brain bleed out my ears.

Speaking of "reality" shows, I will admit that there are some I really like. Project Runway just makes me happy. Apparently I love Heidi Klum, high heels and silly gay drama queens. I also like almost anything on Sci-Fi (I refuse to call it "SyFy" - what the hell?) and HGTV, even though I'm still miffed that they didn't give me that Dream Home I ordered.

Speaking of HGTV, Secret Agent Man and I have a new favorite show: "Holmes on Homes".  He is a Viking god that fixes homes for people who have been royally shafted by their contractors.  Mike Holmes is kind of like Ty Pennington, but less obnoxious and more buff. It's awesome. Except if I ever have to hire a contractor they are going to hate me because I'll be all, "Mike Holmes says..." and "Do you have the permits?" and "Have you ever done this before?" and stuff like that. And they're going to be all, "Don't you have something else to do, ma'am?"

Ma'am?

Speaking of "Ma'am..." as previously stated in another post, I am am not 45 years old. I wonder if I look funny to people, cruising down the road, head-banging to The Offspring and Kings of Leon. I have very eclectic tastes in music. King of Leon is one of my current favorites, but I also still love Steely Dan (if I was on a desert island and could only bring one CD it would be Steely Dan's "Gold"), and I have Imogen Heap, Lady GaGa, Spoon, the Weepies, Bing Crosby, Bare Naked Ladies, Bruce Hornsby, Elbow and Lyle Lovett, to name a few. My iPod is having an identity crisis.

Speaking of Apple...can someone please explain to me the big deal about the iPad? Isn't it just kind of big iPod Touch? I just don't get it. I guess I'm not all up on the Apple craze. Which is odd for an artist/graphic designer, so I've been told. I don't own a Mac. I have a  Gateway and it's just peachy. (No apples for me. Unless they are this kind.) What I really want is an Alienware laptop.

Actually, what I really want is an iCoffee, an iNap and an iVacation.


Speaking of vacations, you know what I think would be cool? If those of us who blog back and forth with each other regularly could swap houses for vacations. I want to trade with Pseudonymous High School Teacher...although it might not be as much fun if she weren't there to visit with.  Or maybe Midlife Slices so I can stay in their gorgeous new guest house. Of course, if it's cleaner than my house (likely) I may just stay...

 So, what are you thinkin' about today?

Speaking of Random...

Random Monday stuff.









Yah, that's the stuff. 

I went to the freezer last night to get a popsicle (mmm...grape bars!) and when I reached in for one I noticed a box of frozen pre-cooked bacon. I thought,"Mmm, bacon..." and had a split-second debate before deciding to stick with the grape bar. 

Speaking of "pre-cooked", what the heck is it with "pre" stuff? "Pre-cooked" bacon. It's not! It's just "cooked"! Pre-mixed, pre-cut, pre-chewed! Whatever. It sounds really stupid when you think about it enough.

Books on my Kindle that I am simultaneously reading:
"Fragile Things" -Neil Gaiman
"The Heart Is Not a Size" -Beth Kephart

"A Wind In the Door" -Madeleine L'Engle
"The Painter of Battles: A Novel" -Arturo Perez-Reverte
"Frankenstein" -Dean Koontz
"Alice In Wonderland" -Lewis Carroll 

Speaking of Alice, a little late to the game, but Secret Agent Man and I went to see Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland in 3D the other night. If you haven't taken the time to go see it yet, you should, before it's out of the theater. Way cool. 

Speaking of Secret Agent Man, later this month S.A.M. and I will have been married 7 years. We have lived in this house the exact same length of time. We had this kind of weekend 7 years ago:  Wednesday - the house was done being built. I went by on my way home from work and peeked in the windows. Friday we both had the day off, went and signed off on the house and got the keys. Saturday we got married. Sunday I had to go back to work. Sunday and Monday  S.A.M. and his parents moved my apartment-worth of stuff into the new house. I vowed, even though I did not have to move the majority of it, that I would never - ever - move again unless I absolutely had no choice. 

Speaking of moving, my parents are looking at moving back over here. They have been looking at houses when they come over and have been sending me listings to check out. I love looking at houses. Now I want to move again. 

I think I must be a gypsy. I have moved 32 times. Seriously. I'm 45 years old and I have moved 32 times. All but 2 have been since I turned 18. What the heck? (The sad thing is, I just counted them again, and I feel like I'm missing a couple...)

This is my new favorite thing this week.
This is my other new favorite thing. It made me laugh and cry at the same time. I don't know why. It just did.

And last, but not least, I really appreciate you all for stopping by and checking out my silly blog and my art stuff! I guess that makes you my other-other favorite thing this week! :)

A little personality goes a long way...

Sorry I've been MIA lately...I've got way too much on my plate it seems, and I just can't keep up.

I had a class for work all week last week. It was about personality types (and this chart is really interesting...), learning what your type is (I'm an "expressive", go figure) and how to figure out who the idiots are work with other types ("driver", "analytical" and "amiable") and how to convince everyone else I'm right resolve conflict. I think what I actually learned is that other call centers (we had several participants from around the state) have similar issues and we all love/hate our jobs.
And that all the other expressives in my group wear a lot of jewelry, have their nails done and flip off other drivers in traffic - just like me!
(Although, I probably shouldn't flip drivers off in traffic when I have a Jesus fish on the back of my car... sends mixed signals, don't ya' think? "Jesus loves you, asshole!" Ha!)

Anyway, done with that and back at my regularly scheduled work day.

I have been trying to get some jewelry done since Artbeads sent me all those lovely crystals, but it's not going so well because I just don't have enough time! I need at least 4 more hours to my day. If anyone has some spare time I will gladly take donations, preferably in the form of winning lottery tickets.

Also this coming weekend is Secret Agent Man's birthday. I have his presents, and dinner reservations at a swanky restaurant we had Valentine's dinner at, in this hotel:
This is also the hotel we got married in, in one of their lovely ballrooms, so that's always kind of neat.

And my parents are coming to town. I am going to make a killer chicken recipe for dinner for them. (The recipe is "killer" not that it is made with a "killer chicken"! Wouldn't that be awesome though!) Secret Agent Man thinks I missed my calling and I should be a world-class chef. I'd probably hate it then, though. Or I'd be like that really angry British guy that has that restaurant tv show where he screams and cusses at everyone and makes them cry.

And then, on top of it all, I have to take Ms. FluffyButt to the pet groomer and the (shhhh) "v. e. t."
I think she may have feline diabetes. I feel like such a bad mom. I hope she's just fat and not that she's sick. (Not that that is a whole lot better...) She seems happy, though, so I don't really know what to think.


I have to share, too, that I was asked to partake in a giveaway by Midtown Girl when she re-vamped her blog. She wanted to give her winner a "makeover" as well, via a drawing by me of the winner. Like I did for Otin. A lovely girl named Ali, who has this blog, won! She is all about Carrie Bradshaw and fabulous fashion stuff, so I was inspired by one of Carrie's girlie-girl dresses and drew her like this.

It was fun, and she loves it, so it was a win-win!

While I was over at her blog today I saw she got an award for her "Over the Top" blog. It included a really neat one word answer meme. So I stole it. Here it is, with my answers. I'm not going to use it as an award, and therefore am not going to make anyone else do it, but if you like it you can certainly steal it from me, too! I thought it was another fun way to learn you a little about me. If you decide to do one, too, let me know!

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your hair? short
3. Your mother? soft
4. Your father? joker
5. Your favorite food? pizza
6. Your dream last night? weird
7. Your favorite drink? Pepsi
8. Your dream/goal? travel
9. What room are you in? work
10. Your hobby? sarcasm
11. Your fear? mediocrity
12. Where do you want to be in six years? elsewhere
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. Something that you aren't? tall
15. Muffins? sure
16. Wish list item? Lexus
17. Where did you grow up? Boringville
18. Last thing you did? work
19. What are you wearing? sweater
20. Your TV? big
21. Your pets? spoiled
22. Friends? great
23. Your life? better
24. Your mood? snarky
25. Missing someone? yep
26. Vehicle? clanky
27. Something you're not wearing? toupee
28. Your favorite store? Nordstrom
29. Your favorite color? black
30. When was the last time you laughed? daily
31. Last time you cried? movie
32. Your best friend? hubs
33. One place that you could go to over and over? Vegas
34. One person who emails you regularly? dad
35. Favorite place to eat? home

Lost yet again

Ok, so I wanted to do an actual, "real" post today, but it's just been so gosh darn busy I haven't had time. What is it about the nice weather that makes all the crazy people come out of the woodwork? I mean, seriously, people: The weather is nice, school's almost out, it's very nearly SUMMER people, don't you have something better to do than threaten each other, crash your cars into unsuspecting people, punch out your brother and call me all drunk and harass me because no one else will talk to you and the County says I have to?
Oh, you don't. Well, carry on then.

To amuse my self and help maintain what little sanity I have left, I have resorted to watching silly, mindless television the last couple nights. My favorite thing so far is that SciFi has run the entire 2.75 seasons of Land of the Lost from 1974-1975. I recorded them all and have been watching them a couple at a time. It was one of my favorite shows as a kid. I loved the whole cheesy craptasticness of it. And it has made me smile again, so - bonus! I hope that the remake (re-imagining, re-telling, re-working, re-whatever) is half as fun. I imagine it will be, what with Will Ferrell and all.

In the meantime... stop calling me! I have blogging to do!

sevenmeme

So I'm perusing Words of Wisdom from a Smart Mouthed Broad today and she has this meme thing going. Sounded like fun, so I thought hey, what the heck, I'll give it a try! The idea is to list 7 random things about myself. You may or may not find them interesting. Or funny. Or just plain sad....

1: I am (not so) secretly doing this from work today.

2: If I had lots of money, and a bigger bedroom...and higher ceilings... I would buy this bed. Which probably says a lot about me, actually.

3: I once played Tuptim in a community theater production of "The King and I". Now, that may not sound strange until you realize that Tuptim was Burmese. I am not Burmese. I am a very German-looking white girl. But at the time I was the only one in the company that could hit the high notes.

4: I am allergic to garlic. No, I am not a vampire.

5: I am a huge Stargate fan.

6: In another life I want to live in Arizona and paint pictures of the ocean until I'm old-old and then move to Carmel and paint pictures of the desert.

7: I am only 5 degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. We can discuss that at a later date.

And now, a random picture. My niece, Evelyn (thanks, Dad!). She is a cutie.