so i have been MIA for a few months now. not entirely sure why. just haven't spent the time getting on here to write. prolly cuz my life is pretty bland and boring right now. but i will write when i can think of anything to write about. kinda hard since my beau is in kuwait and i do pretty much nothing. ooooh . . . perhaps i'll post tomorrow about my venture back into the restaurant business. remind me of that.
and hayley -- i'm totally buying myself a SNUGGIE for christmas.
12.05.2009
9.25.2009
9.17.2009
an issue being addressed that really shouldn't need to be addressed . . .
so i have developed quite the pet peeve while working here with my new company. it's not something that has ever been much of an issue at my past jobs, but this job takes my pet peeve to a whole new level. what is it?
**people not flushing the toilet when they're done using it.**
and i'm not talking just about "number one." i mean the whole sha-bang, the whole enchilada, the "number two." so far, i have gone to the bathroom seven times today -- blame all the water i drink (so far three bottles, which is actually less than i typically drink) for the amount of times i use the lavatory, but this is all not the point -- and five of the times i have gone, **i have had to flush behind someone** (and three of those times were for more than just pee and toilet paper).
okay, i guess i didn't have to flush behind them, but i am just that person. no one wants to walk into a bathroom stall and !surprise! there's last night's dinner floating in the toilet, in the form of, well, "number two" (i'm trying to keep this post somewhat clean, despite the nasty topic). and so i irritatedly flush the toilet so that the next person who walks in isn't caught off guard by what i saw.
now i know there is another business that is located here in this strip center, so i can't entirely blame it on my co-workers. but the only other business here is a "daycare" for the mentally handicapped, and anytime one of the clients goes to the bathroom, they are accompanied by a supervisor, whom i always hear tell them to flush the toilet. and that makes it even less acceptable, if they aren't flushing the toilet, because there are two people there who can flush.
i have never left a stall without flushing first, and yet **it seems pretty commonplace here at my job.** i just don't understand it. i hear people in the process of potty-training a child tell that child to "flush the toilet." it's something we all have learned. i work with people WITH DEGREES! with MILITARY EXPERIENCE! you would think they would be able to police up after themselves. i am not the united states and my co-workers are not foreign countries.
**there is no reason that i should be handling their business.**
**people not flushing the toilet when they're done using it.**
and i'm not talking just about "number one." i mean the whole sha-bang, the whole enchilada, the "number two." so far, i have gone to the bathroom seven times today -- blame all the water i drink (so far three bottles, which is actually less than i typically drink) for the amount of times i use the lavatory, but this is all not the point -- and five of the times i have gone, **i have had to flush behind someone** (and three of those times were for more than just pee and toilet paper).
okay, i guess i didn't have to flush behind them, but i am just that person. no one wants to walk into a bathroom stall and !surprise! there's last night's dinner floating in the toilet, in the form of, well, "number two" (i'm trying to keep this post somewhat clean, despite the nasty topic). and so i irritatedly flush the toilet so that the next person who walks in isn't caught off guard by what i saw.
now i know there is another business that is located here in this strip center, so i can't entirely blame it on my co-workers. but the only other business here is a "daycare" for the mentally handicapped, and anytime one of the clients goes to the bathroom, they are accompanied by a supervisor, whom i always hear tell them to flush the toilet. and that makes it even less acceptable, if they aren't flushing the toilet, because there are two people there who can flush.
i have never left a stall without flushing first, and yet **it seems pretty commonplace here at my job.** i just don't understand it. i hear people in the process of potty-training a child tell that child to "flush the toilet." it's something we all have learned. i work with people WITH DEGREES! with MILITARY EXPERIENCE! you would think they would be able to police up after themselves. i am not the united states and my co-workers are not foreign countries.
**there is no reason that i should be handling their business.**
9.16.2009
pink pink, you stink!
so sometimes i am a mean person (surprise, surprise). i never intend to be, but there are **things that happen or outfits that people wear** that bring out the mean-spiritedness in me and i just can't contain myself.
said bad outfit occurred yesterday. and i couldn't resist. he is a co-worker, so i did the courtesy of cropping his head out of the picture. but the rest of this outfit? **too classic not to post.**
notice the salmon-colored pants, the light pink shirt . . . just notice it all. and laugh. cuz sometimes, **i think it's okay to laugh at other people's expense.** it keeps us sane.
and perhaps, **it will make us all think twice** about wearing certain outfits!
said bad outfit occurred yesterday. and i couldn't resist. he is a co-worker, so i did the courtesy of cropping his head out of the picture. but the rest of this outfit? **too classic not to post.**
notice the salmon-colored pants, the light pink shirt . . . just notice it all. and laugh. cuz sometimes, **i think it's okay to laugh at other people's expense.** it keeps us sane.
and perhaps, **it will make us all think twice** about wearing certain outfits!
9.13.2009
frank, jr.
so if you know my father, you know that he is just about the clumsiest guy ever . . . tied with three of my brothers. those three are all just about as clumsy as he is. however, his girls are all equally as clumsy (including me). we may not all look like ol' frankie one eye (as we like to call him since he lost his right eye to cancer and had it removed), but **we all inherited his clumsy gene.**
and before he comments on this note and says he's not clumsy, let me just give you **a rundown of some of his most famous "moments" :**
-- fell down concrete stairs playing santa claus at church and broke his ankle. ended up in the emergency room in full santa garb.
-- kicked a watermelon once on accident. the rind ended up wedging itself between his toe and his toenail. he had to have surgery to have it removed.
-- dropped a frozen pork roast on his foot and broke his ankle. twice.
-- had corrective surgery on his nose to fix his deviated septum; something ends up happening that i can't remember and he runs into a guy or something and his corrective surgery? done for nothing. guy breaks his nose and dad again has a deviated septum.
-- was sitting on the bench of a picnic table; picnic table ends up flipping over and he falls into a fire, burning his hand.
-- is standing inside a small pop-up trailer that my brother failed to mount properly, while preparing his bed for the night; trailer flips on one end and my father falls and gets trapped inside the trailer until my brothers come to his rescue.
-- middle of vietnam war : dad is walking in the dark in his barracks, kicks a bunk bed and breaks his toe (i think it was a toe; it might've been his foot); he likes to tell the story that had they been under attack at that very moment, he would've received a purple heart for his injury.
-- is getting out of the cab of a semi tow truck. misses the step, falls out of the tow truck. stands up, bloody from head to toe, thanks the man for the ride in the tow truck, shuts the door and goes inside the house.
pretty sure that my list can go on and on, but as you can see . . . my point is proven. **my daddy is, by far, one of the clumsiest men i know and now, prolly one of the clumsiest men you know.** so why am i talking about this today? cuz unfortunately, as mentioned previously, i am my father's daughter.
i run into walls constantly. and it's not like i am walking in the dark or in an unfamiliar place. i am typically walking from the living room to my bedroom, via the kitchen. for some reason, whenever i take that corner from the kitchen to my bedroom, **nine times out of ten, i run into the wall.** and i have the bruises to prove it. funny thing is, i have had conversations with my brothers and sisters and they all do the same thing. that one time out of ten that i miss the wall? it's cuz i have to consciously think, "i will not run into that wall" when i am walking by it. my brothers and sisters do the same thing.
once, at dinner, daddy noticed some of my bruises and asked what i did. i told him **my beau beats me.** my beau looked mortified (mind you, this was still fairly new into the relationship). my daddy laughed and asked me what really happened. he knows me too well. turns out, i could only tell him what happened with one of the bruises. the other twelve? not sure where those came from, but undoubtedly, they were from a wall or a desk corner or something of that nature.
last weekend, my beau and i spent the better part of it cleaning and organizing. at one point, he leaves the bedroom to put something away. what do i do? **walk by the bed and kick it,** stubbing my toe to the point that i was pretty sure i broke it (and it's still sore, by the way). of course i screamed and said a few expletives and my beau comes running in. he asks me what happened, am i okay and i just tell him i'm fine. again, he asks what happens, but i refuse to tell him, stating that he makes fun of me and calls me "frank, jr" whenever i hurt myself. he shakes his head, turns and exits the room, leaving me there to rub my toe and wipe tears out of my eyes.
i would go ahead and list all of my latest debaucles but quite honestly, i can't remember how i got most of my bruises. i do remember that i once stepped off the front porch at my parents' house, landing half on the sidewalk, and half in a hole. **twisted my ankle and ended up tearing all the ligaments on the top of my foot.**i still have a bad ankle from that. and once you hurt an ankle in the pritchard family, you always hurt that same ankle.
last night **which brings me to the whole reasoning behind this post** i was putting things away in my room. i happen to have a full-length mirror resting against one of the walls in my bedroom cuz i haven't yet hung it on said wall. let me preface all this with the fact that a couple of times that this mirror has been moved from my room to other places and then put back against the wall in my room for various reasons, i have managed to chip off one of the corners of the mirror, basically leaving a sharp, jagged edge (see picture below).
so what do i do? walk too close to the wall and the said mirror and slice open my "pinky" toe. i can't say that the cut wasn't bad enough for stitches, but since i have no medical insurance, i knew that that wasn't happening. **three bandaids and five bloodied tissues later,** my toe stops bleeding enough for me to put a bandaid on it that i don't have to take off ten minutes later due to the fact that it's blood-soaked and no longer effective at stopping the bleeding. and i can't help but laugh at myself and to silently thank my daddy in my head for those clumsy genes.
and so now, **whenever my beau calls me frank, jr., i just laugh it off.** i might as well quit denying my fate and realize that should i ever have to have kids one day, they'll prolly end up with the same clumsy gene, and their significant others will call them "holly, jr." at least i have someone else to blame for my genes.
**i'm not sure where my daddy gets his from.**
and before he comments on this note and says he's not clumsy, let me just give you **a rundown of some of his most famous "moments" :**
-- fell down concrete stairs playing santa claus at church and broke his ankle. ended up in the emergency room in full santa garb.
-- kicked a watermelon once on accident. the rind ended up wedging itself between his toe and his toenail. he had to have surgery to have it removed.
-- dropped a frozen pork roast on his foot and broke his ankle. twice.
-- had corrective surgery on his nose to fix his deviated septum; something ends up happening that i can't remember and he runs into a guy or something and his corrective surgery? done for nothing. guy breaks his nose and dad again has a deviated septum.
-- was sitting on the bench of a picnic table; picnic table ends up flipping over and he falls into a fire, burning his hand.
-- is standing inside a small pop-up trailer that my brother failed to mount properly, while preparing his bed for the night; trailer flips on one end and my father falls and gets trapped inside the trailer until my brothers come to his rescue.
-- middle of vietnam war : dad is walking in the dark in his barracks, kicks a bunk bed and breaks his toe (i think it was a toe; it might've been his foot); he likes to tell the story that had they been under attack at that very moment, he would've received a purple heart for his injury.
-- is getting out of the cab of a semi tow truck. misses the step, falls out of the tow truck. stands up, bloody from head to toe, thanks the man for the ride in the tow truck, shuts the door and goes inside the house.
pretty sure that my list can go on and on, but as you can see . . . my point is proven. **my daddy is, by far, one of the clumsiest men i know and now, prolly one of the clumsiest men you know.** so why am i talking about this today? cuz unfortunately, as mentioned previously, i am my father's daughter.
i run into walls constantly. and it's not like i am walking in the dark or in an unfamiliar place. i am typically walking from the living room to my bedroom, via the kitchen. for some reason, whenever i take that corner from the kitchen to my bedroom, **nine times out of ten, i run into the wall.** and i have the bruises to prove it. funny thing is, i have had conversations with my brothers and sisters and they all do the same thing. that one time out of ten that i miss the wall? it's cuz i have to consciously think, "i will not run into that wall" when i am walking by it. my brothers and sisters do the same thing.
once, at dinner, daddy noticed some of my bruises and asked what i did. i told him **my beau beats me.** my beau looked mortified (mind you, this was still fairly new into the relationship). my daddy laughed and asked me what really happened. he knows me too well. turns out, i could only tell him what happened with one of the bruises. the other twelve? not sure where those came from, but undoubtedly, they were from a wall or a desk corner or something of that nature.
last weekend, my beau and i spent the better part of it cleaning and organizing. at one point, he leaves the bedroom to put something away. what do i do? **walk by the bed and kick it,** stubbing my toe to the point that i was pretty sure i broke it (and it's still sore, by the way). of course i screamed and said a few expletives and my beau comes running in. he asks me what happened, am i okay and i just tell him i'm fine. again, he asks what happens, but i refuse to tell him, stating that he makes fun of me and calls me "frank, jr" whenever i hurt myself. he shakes his head, turns and exits the room, leaving me there to rub my toe and wipe tears out of my eyes.
i would go ahead and list all of my latest debaucles but quite honestly, i can't remember how i got most of my bruises. i do remember that i once stepped off the front porch at my parents' house, landing half on the sidewalk, and half in a hole. **twisted my ankle and ended up tearing all the ligaments on the top of my foot.**i still have a bad ankle from that. and once you hurt an ankle in the pritchard family, you always hurt that same ankle.
last night **which brings me to the whole reasoning behind this post** i was putting things away in my room. i happen to have a full-length mirror resting against one of the walls in my bedroom cuz i haven't yet hung it on said wall. let me preface all this with the fact that a couple of times that this mirror has been moved from my room to other places and then put back against the wall in my room for various reasons, i have managed to chip off one of the corners of the mirror, basically leaving a sharp, jagged edge (see picture below).
so what do i do? walk too close to the wall and the said mirror and slice open my "pinky" toe. i can't say that the cut wasn't bad enough for stitches, but since i have no medical insurance, i knew that that wasn't happening. **three bandaids and five bloodied tissues later,** my toe stops bleeding enough for me to put a bandaid on it that i don't have to take off ten minutes later due to the fact that it's blood-soaked and no longer effective at stopping the bleeding. and i can't help but laugh at myself and to silently thank my daddy in my head for those clumsy genes.
and so now, **whenever my beau calls me frank, jr., i just laugh it off.** i might as well quit denying my fate and realize that should i ever have to have kids one day, they'll prolly end up with the same clumsy gene, and their significant others will call them "holly, jr." at least i have someone else to blame for my genes.
**i'm not sure where my daddy gets his from.**
9.09.2009
do you think the surgeon general smokes?
so on my way to work yesterday, i passed a very pretty girl driving a very pretty car. i happened to notice her cuz she almost hit me as i was passing her on the highway. when i looked over to shake my fist at her, i realized the reasoning of her subpar driving: she was texting with one hand and flicking her cigarette out the tiny crack of her window with the other. and you know, i wasn't even mad about the texting or the whole no-hands-on-the-wheel bit.
**i was upset about the cigarette.**
like i said, the girl was pretty. long flowing hair, dark complexion. i didn't get to gaze into her eyes or anything like that so i can't tell you what color her eyes were, but i thought that she was very attractive. until i saw that cigarette. that took away the prettiness and it was replaced with an image of an old wrinkled lady with a hacking cough, choking up a lung while sucking on her oxygen and cigarette alternately.
**not a very pretty site, huh?**
i can remember being in the ninth grade and playing soccer with a girl who, for the sake of this blog, i will call "jane doe." one day, while we were changing for practice, jane doe realized she had forgotten an extra practice shirt. because i had worn a t-shirt to school that day, i gave her my intended practice shirt, wore the same one i had on already, and we went out to practice. a couple of days later, we were again in the locker room getting ready to change and she mentioned that she had brought my shirt back, freshly washed the night prior by her mother. she pulls the shirt out of her bag, presses it to her face, and takes a long sniff and tells me how wonderfully clean it smelled, like fresh flowers or something. she throws it to me and tells me to smell. i lift the shirt to my nose and take a huge whiff . . . and **smell nothing but stale cigarette smoke.**
of course, i don't wanna hurt jane doe's feelings, so i lie to her and tell her how flowery it does smell as i stifle a cough and try to hold in the tears that have quickly formed in the corner of each eye. and because she has made such a big deal about how great this shirt smells, another girls grabs the shirt out of my hand and presses it to her nose. **and she isn't so nice.**
"EEEEEW!" i remember her screeching. "that doesn't smell flowery! that smells like cigarettes!" and she throws the shirt back at me. jane doe looks at me as if her feelings are hurt, and i shrug my shoulders, throw the shirt in my dirty clothes bag and locker and quickly run out to the practice field.
i don't really have a point to this blog, other than to say that i think smoking is dithguthting. i have a few friends who still do it and they all know my opinion. i am one of those people who makes a HUGE deal when someone lights up in front of me. i cough, i act like i can't breathe -- in general, **i make them feel bad** for doing it. i don't do it to insult anyone or to offend any smokers out there, however. i just prefer to breathe fresher air than a cloud of cigarette smoke allows. and okay, okay -- i guess i have to admit here that frankly, i kind of like being an ass sometimes.
**so sue me.**
**i was upset about the cigarette.**
like i said, the girl was pretty. long flowing hair, dark complexion. i didn't get to gaze into her eyes or anything like that so i can't tell you what color her eyes were, but i thought that she was very attractive. until i saw that cigarette. that took away the prettiness and it was replaced with an image of an old wrinkled lady with a hacking cough, choking up a lung while sucking on her oxygen and cigarette alternately.
**not a very pretty site, huh?**
i can remember being in the ninth grade and playing soccer with a girl who, for the sake of this blog, i will call "jane doe." one day, while we were changing for practice, jane doe realized she had forgotten an extra practice shirt. because i had worn a t-shirt to school that day, i gave her my intended practice shirt, wore the same one i had on already, and we went out to practice. a couple of days later, we were again in the locker room getting ready to change and she mentioned that she had brought my shirt back, freshly washed the night prior by her mother. she pulls the shirt out of her bag, presses it to her face, and takes a long sniff and tells me how wonderfully clean it smelled, like fresh flowers or something. she throws it to me and tells me to smell. i lift the shirt to my nose and take a huge whiff . . . and **smell nothing but stale cigarette smoke.**
of course, i don't wanna hurt jane doe's feelings, so i lie to her and tell her how flowery it does smell as i stifle a cough and try to hold in the tears that have quickly formed in the corner of each eye. and because she has made such a big deal about how great this shirt smells, another girls grabs the shirt out of my hand and presses it to her nose. **and she isn't so nice.**
"EEEEEW!" i remember her screeching. "that doesn't smell flowery! that smells like cigarettes!" and she throws the shirt back at me. jane doe looks at me as if her feelings are hurt, and i shrug my shoulders, throw the shirt in my dirty clothes bag and locker and quickly run out to the practice field.
i don't really have a point to this blog, other than to say that i think smoking is dithguthting. i have a few friends who still do it and they all know my opinion. i am one of those people who makes a HUGE deal when someone lights up in front of me. i cough, i act like i can't breathe -- in general, **i make them feel bad** for doing it. i don't do it to insult anyone or to offend any smokers out there, however. i just prefer to breathe fresher air than a cloud of cigarette smoke allows. and okay, okay -- i guess i have to admit here that frankly, i kind of like being an ass sometimes.
**so sue me.**
8.29.2009
TDY again
so i have been at this academy for work since monday. it's basically a two week long course on how to use this program that i work with. it's pretty boring and i prolly should study more, but i think i have it down. i guess we'll see once i take the final exam on it this coming week.
in the meantime, i got my first "assignment" for work. brace yourself . . . i am going to camp shelby, mississippi. i am not entirely thrilled about it, but i hear it's only two hours from new orleans. i'm hoping that that is true and that i can make my way down to new orleans at some point when i'm down there. i haven't been there in forever and was only there for two days when i went. when i was in college. at mardi gras. so i am looking forward to heading that way again and doing some touristy things that have nothing to do with mardi gras or fat tuesday.
trying to think what else to write about. quite frankly, i live a boring life and don't have much to write about. i know i had something to write about, but now i can't think about what it was i wanted to say here. so i guess for now, i'll close this out and be boring.
in the meantime, i got my first "assignment" for work. brace yourself . . . i am going to camp shelby, mississippi. i am not entirely thrilled about it, but i hear it's only two hours from new orleans. i'm hoping that that is true and that i can make my way down to new orleans at some point when i'm down there. i haven't been there in forever and was only there for two days when i went. when i was in college. at mardi gras. so i am looking forward to heading that way again and doing some touristy things that have nothing to do with mardi gras or fat tuesday.
trying to think what else to write about. quite frankly, i live a boring life and don't have much to write about. i know i had something to write about, but now i can't think about what it was i wanted to say here. so i guess for now, i'll close this out and be boring.
8.20.2009
i now pronounce you . . . father and daughter?
at my office, i sit in a room with other people who do the same job as i do, or one very similar. we sit at long brown tables, typically 2 or 3 people per table. there are no cubicles and **virtually no privacy.** because of that reason, i'm careful with what i do and what people can see on my computer. right now, my desktop picture is one of my niece and nephew, right after she was born. i don't have pictures of my beau on there or anything that i wouldn't want unwanted questions about. naturally.
i just happened to glance up and notice my co-worker's screensaver slideshow contains a picture of beautiful pregnant lady, whose belly is exposed, with the only thing covered being her breasts, with a small black strip, which from this angle, i can't tell if it's something she was wearing, or if the picture was censored. i could see that being on some young kid's laptop at home or even in this dude's pictures folder on his desktop or external hard drive. the creepy part is that **the picture is of his daughter.** i just don't think i'd ever feel comfortable enough to take a picture like that to give to my father. not to mention the pants she wears in the picture are incredibly low-cut. but it's just not that picture. he has several on there of his daughter in otherwise seemingly sexy poses. and even some of his wife, whom you can tell is older but is very pretty. just think of glamour shots in the mall and you know exactly what poses these girls are in. nothing too suggestive, but something that will definitely make the imagination wander.
to me, i just don't feel that **it's entirely appropriate for a work laptop.** granted, the man has other pictures on there -- pics of his motorcycle, of him riding the bike, of his daughter's wedding. but there are just several provocative pictures of his daughter that, in my opinion, should've been given to her husband and not her father. and he proudly displays them.
**again, can i reiterate the word creepy here?**
i just happened to glance up and notice my co-worker's screensaver slideshow contains a picture of beautiful pregnant lady, whose belly is exposed, with the only thing covered being her breasts, with a small black strip, which from this angle, i can't tell if it's something she was wearing, or if the picture was censored. i could see that being on some young kid's laptop at home or even in this dude's pictures folder on his desktop or external hard drive. the creepy part is that **the picture is of his daughter.** i just don't think i'd ever feel comfortable enough to take a picture like that to give to my father. not to mention the pants she wears in the picture are incredibly low-cut. but it's just not that picture. he has several on there of his daughter in otherwise seemingly sexy poses. and even some of his wife, whom you can tell is older but is very pretty. just think of glamour shots in the mall and you know exactly what poses these girls are in. nothing too suggestive, but something that will definitely make the imagination wander.
to me, i just don't feel that **it's entirely appropriate for a work laptop.** granted, the man has other pictures on there -- pics of his motorcycle, of him riding the bike, of his daughter's wedding. but there are just several provocative pictures of his daughter that, in my opinion, should've been given to her husband and not her father. and he proudly displays them.
**again, can i reiterate the word creepy here?**
8.19.2009
long lost picture of heidi . . .
so in case you are wondering who heidi is, i'm not talking about the piggy-tailed blonde swedish girl from the fairytales. i'm talking about my oldest sister. she lives on a 400-acre ranch in rural arkansas with her husband and 7 kids (well 6, since one resides in idaho for the next two years).
regardless, i was looking through some old pictures i have, and found this one of my oldest sister. it was taken a few thanksgivings ago, when the weather was still warm enough to run around without a shirt and in shorts. this is her at the town's annual "redneck festival" (seriously, that's what it's called), where she took home the title of REDNECK QUEEN for her bellyflop. we're all so proud of her!
enjoy and comment!
regardless, i was looking through some old pictures i have, and found this one of my oldest sister. it was taken a few thanksgivings ago, when the weather was still warm enough to run around without a shirt and in shorts. this is her at the town's annual "redneck festival" (seriously, that's what it's called), where she took home the title of REDNECK QUEEN for her bellyflop. we're all so proud of her!
enjoy and comment!
five-star cooking, right?
so apparently not cooking for almost a month can really affect one's cooking skills. or at least mine, anyway. last night, my beau had a few errands to run right around dinnertime, and even though i promised him i wouldn't cook and he could cook for me when he got home, he took too long, i got hungry and in turn, started cooking. simple enough task . . . saute the chicken, steam the broccoli, boil the pasta and make a quick cheesy lemon garlic sauce to pour over the broccoli and pasta. easy enough, right? **apparently not.**
first of all, i admit that whenever i cook, i have a timing issue. i typically don't consider that something like chicken takes a lot longer to cook than, say, broccoli. and so i start the broccoli at the same time i start the chicken and my broccoli ends up being ready quite a few minutes before the chicken and is only lukewarm by the time we actually eat. it's something i've been trying to work on, but **i'm completely scatterbrained most of the time** and i forget and make timing mistakes all the time.
well last night, it was a little different. my beau had already seasoned the meat and cut the broccoli before he left for his errands. when i got hungry, i went into the kitchen and started getting things in pans and whatnot, at the same time talking with my roommate about schizophrenics (she's a social work major AND we were watching true crime). **apparently this was all too much for my brain to handle,** and after putting the vegetable steamer in the pot and the broccoli in that, i just turned the stove on and threw the pot on the burner. without water in the pot. and let it "steam" that way for prolly close to ten minutes before i noticed a bad odor and remembered what i had done. i quickly pulled the pot off the stove, put water in it and put it back on there. needless to say, the broccoli had a slightly-burned-tasting-a-lot-like-metal flavor to it that we both had to drown out with tons of that sauce i was telling you about.
and about that sauce. see what had happened was . . . to start the sauce, you have to melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan. so i turned the burner on, on high of course cuz i wanted to get the pan hot really quick, and threw the butter in. and then i forgot that butter burns very easily if it's too hot. and so my butter burned. all this was going on when my broccoli was supposedly steaming (pre-water in the pot) so you can **just imagine the sweet smell of burned butter and heated metal** wafting through my kitchen. it was at this point that my back was turned to the stove and i didn't even realize anything was burning when my roommate asked me what the smell was. and that's when it dawned on me that my butter was scalding and the broccoli had no water in it. of course i couldn't wholely smell the burning cuz the chicken was already sauteeing at this time and it did smell good.
as all of this is going on, my chicken is cooking and the noodles are boiling. by now i've thrown out the burned butter and started over with the sauce. everything seems to be going well. and then the chicken gets done, the sauce thickens, the pasta softens . . . and the broccoli still isn't cooked. remember what i said about timing? this time it was backwards, though. had i put water in the pot originally, i'm inclined to say that **everything would've prolly turned out done at about the same time.** but this time, because the broccoli took so long, the noodles were a bit cold and the sauce was just a bit too thick. the chicken was still okay, but the onions i threw in with it were now pretty much caramelized.
the broccoli finally finishes steaming -- or is as steamed as i was going to let it get cuz i was tired of waiting for it to become completely done. it was a bit crunchy, but nothing that was unedible. i mean, people eat raw broccoli all the time anyway, right? right. i make up two plates, one for me and the other for my beau, and we settle in to eat. and all i can taste when i eat the broccoli is burned metal. and since i didn't scrub the burned butter out of the bottom of the pan, the sauce tastes a bit like that, which adds to the burned flavor of the broccoli and kind of ruins the pasta. the noodles are lukewarm and the **sauce has the texture of oatmeal** at this point. i admit it: not my best meal.
and then my beau takes a bite of everything, and tells me how **great it all tastes.** and then i remember why i keep him around . . . no matter how bad my cooking is, or how horrible of a mood i'm in, or how irritated i get so quickly, he is always there to tell me how great my cooking is, how amazing i am, how he's lucky to have me in his life.
**and that always makes me feel better.**
first of all, i admit that whenever i cook, i have a timing issue. i typically don't consider that something like chicken takes a lot longer to cook than, say, broccoli. and so i start the broccoli at the same time i start the chicken and my broccoli ends up being ready quite a few minutes before the chicken and is only lukewarm by the time we actually eat. it's something i've been trying to work on, but **i'm completely scatterbrained most of the time** and i forget and make timing mistakes all the time.
well last night, it was a little different. my beau had already seasoned the meat and cut the broccoli before he left for his errands. when i got hungry, i went into the kitchen and started getting things in pans and whatnot, at the same time talking with my roommate about schizophrenics (she's a social work major AND we were watching true crime). **apparently this was all too much for my brain to handle,** and after putting the vegetable steamer in the pot and the broccoli in that, i just turned the stove on and threw the pot on the burner. without water in the pot. and let it "steam" that way for prolly close to ten minutes before i noticed a bad odor and remembered what i had done. i quickly pulled the pot off the stove, put water in it and put it back on there. needless to say, the broccoli had a slightly-burned-tasting-a-lot-like-metal flavor to it that we both had to drown out with tons of that sauce i was telling you about.
and about that sauce. see what had happened was . . . to start the sauce, you have to melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan. so i turned the burner on, on high of course cuz i wanted to get the pan hot really quick, and threw the butter in. and then i forgot that butter burns very easily if it's too hot. and so my butter burned. all this was going on when my broccoli was supposedly steaming (pre-water in the pot) so you can **just imagine the sweet smell of burned butter and heated metal** wafting through my kitchen. it was at this point that my back was turned to the stove and i didn't even realize anything was burning when my roommate asked me what the smell was. and that's when it dawned on me that my butter was scalding and the broccoli had no water in it. of course i couldn't wholely smell the burning cuz the chicken was already sauteeing at this time and it did smell good.
as all of this is going on, my chicken is cooking and the noodles are boiling. by now i've thrown out the burned butter and started over with the sauce. everything seems to be going well. and then the chicken gets done, the sauce thickens, the pasta softens . . . and the broccoli still isn't cooked. remember what i said about timing? this time it was backwards, though. had i put water in the pot originally, i'm inclined to say that **everything would've prolly turned out done at about the same time.** but this time, because the broccoli took so long, the noodles were a bit cold and the sauce was just a bit too thick. the chicken was still okay, but the onions i threw in with it were now pretty much caramelized.
the broccoli finally finishes steaming -- or is as steamed as i was going to let it get cuz i was tired of waiting for it to become completely done. it was a bit crunchy, but nothing that was unedible. i mean, people eat raw broccoli all the time anyway, right? right. i make up two plates, one for me and the other for my beau, and we settle in to eat. and all i can taste when i eat the broccoli is burned metal. and since i didn't scrub the burned butter out of the bottom of the pan, the sauce tastes a bit like that, which adds to the burned flavor of the broccoli and kind of ruins the pasta. the noodles are lukewarm and the **sauce has the texture of oatmeal** at this point. i admit it: not my best meal.
and then my beau takes a bite of everything, and tells me how **great it all tastes.** and then i remember why i keep him around . . . no matter how bad my cooking is, or how horrible of a mood i'm in, or how irritated i get so quickly, he is always there to tell me how great my cooking is, how amazing i am, how he's lucky to have me in his life.
**and that always makes me feel better.**
8.18.2009
a question . . .
so i got this cavity filled the other day, and i must say that my tooth is bothering me more now than it did when it wasn't filled.
**is that normal?**
**is that normal?**
8.17.2009
the grasshopper
so over the weekend, my beau and i were out running errands. at one point, i had run into the store, which was located in a strip mall, and he waited for me in the car. i turned around and looked outside as i waited my turn in line and noticed a huge leaf on my windshield wiper. i didn't think anything about it til it started to move. and then i realized that it actually wasn't a leaf but a **gigantic grasshopper!** it was dithguthting! i should've told my beau to use my camera in my purse to snap a pic or two, but i forgot it was in there and he used his iPhone instead and got these three shots. i would've also put a quarter down on the ground next to the grasshopper so you could see the difference in size, but that's just me. oh well. here are the pictures, if you can even tell what they are. i just thought they were neat!
mr. grasshopper, hanging out on my windshield wiper (i wish you could really see how big he was . . . and now that i think about it: are grasshoppers 'hes' and 'shes' or are they 'its?')
escaping the papparazzi that is my beau
one more shot before the party's over
mr. grasshopper, hanging out on my windshield wiper (i wish you could really see how big he was . . . and now that i think about it: are grasshoppers 'hes' and 'shes' or are they 'its?')
escaping the papparazzi that is my beau
one more shot before the party's over
and a random question . . .
is anyone else having trouble trying to post comments to my blog or to your own? i can post on other people's, but i cannot post on my own. and some people have told me they are having trouble posting on mine, while others are having no trouble at all. i don't know what to do! if you have a suggestion or know the solution, please email me at holly_pritch@yahoo.com
**thanks**
**thanks**
. . . losing my religion . . .
so i'm a big believer in separation of church and state. not saying i believe that a prayer before a football game is inappropriate or anything like that, but i definitely believe that religion has no business being in anything not religious.
**like work, for example**
two of my co-workers discuss religion at length every single day. and while i understand it's their right and their belief, it really gets on mine -- and everyone else's -- nerves. if there is one thing i am not, it's pushy. and i never discuss religion, politics or most of my beliefs with people (or in front of people) because i never wanna make someone feel as though i am pushing my thoughts and beliefs on them. and i completely feel that they are pushing all of their beliefs on me whenever they discuss religion. it's one thing if you invite me in on the conversation and give me the choice to say yes or no. but simply talking -- and might i add, very loudly -- about it really irritates me.
**and it's not because i'm not very religious**
it's like my daddy. he is huge into politics and loves to send out political emails. however, because he knows my thoughts on politics, and because i have asked him to refrain from sending me anything deemed "political," he doesn't send me anything anymore. and i kind of wish i could say something to these two guys about it. ask them to discuss their beliefs on anything religious on breaks, in a quieter tone, via email or in the hall. cuz i can see everyone else roll their eyes when they profess to be experts on a certain book in the bible or prophecy received by some random prophet. for the sake of my sanity, i wish they'd stop.
**at least while we're at work, anyway**
**like work, for example**
two of my co-workers discuss religion at length every single day. and while i understand it's their right and their belief, it really gets on mine -- and everyone else's -- nerves. if there is one thing i am not, it's pushy. and i never discuss religion, politics or most of my beliefs with people (or in front of people) because i never wanna make someone feel as though i am pushing my thoughts and beliefs on them. and i completely feel that they are pushing all of their beliefs on me whenever they discuss religion. it's one thing if you invite me in on the conversation and give me the choice to say yes or no. but simply talking -- and might i add, very loudly -- about it really irritates me.
**and it's not because i'm not very religious**
it's like my daddy. he is huge into politics and loves to send out political emails. however, because he knows my thoughts on politics, and because i have asked him to refrain from sending me anything deemed "political," he doesn't send me anything anymore. and i kind of wish i could say something to these two guys about it. ask them to discuss their beliefs on anything religious on breaks, in a quieter tone, via email or in the hall. cuz i can see everyone else roll their eyes when they profess to be experts on a certain book in the bible or prophecy received by some random prophet. for the sake of my sanity, i wish they'd stop.
**at least while we're at work, anyway**
8.14.2009
a little quiz about my biz . . .
What is your favorite flavor of Kool-Aid?
*red . . . no seriously, that's my favorite flavor. doesn't matter what color red, as long as it's red.
Do you have a wireless keyboard and mouse?
*just a wireless mouse. and only because i hate using the little mouse pad thingy on the laptop. i'm not coordinated enough to use it, to be honest.
Last sporting event you watched on tv or in person?
Who makes the best fudge?
*my mama. here is the recipe:
Mama's Fudge
3 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 oz.)
2 c. nuts
1/2 lb. butter
2 c. miniature marshmellows (pressed down in cup)
1 tsp. vanilla
4-1/2 c. sugar
1 large can evaporated milk
Put milk and sugar in large saucepan and boil exactly 8 minutes, after
it has started boiling (be sure to reduce heat to medium and boil on medium heat). After boiling, remove from stove and add all other ingredients (put all other ingredients in one bowl first and add all at once to the milk and sugar). Mix well and put in 9x13 pan. Let it sit out until it cools down and then refrigerate. Serve after fudge has refrigerated at least an hour.
Do you like it when toothpaste bubbles in your mouth?
*i don't care if it bubbles or not, although i don't know that i'd call it bubbling, per se. isn't it more like foaming? either way, i don't care if it happens cuz i brush my teeth about 15 times a day anyway. so i know my teeth are good to go!
Do you believe that the world is gonna end at 2012?
*man i hope not . . . i have big plans for my life, none of which include dying in that year.
How many songs are on your iPod or MP3 Player?
*sadly, it depends on the iPod. i have my iPhone, which has prolly about 325 songs with more to be added soon; my night-time iPod, which has 89 songs; my buddy's iPod that i have been using, which has about 1000 songs on it; my shuffle, which has about 95 songs on it. i really just wanna get one big iPod so i can put everything on one and then sort by playlists.
Have you ever made your own survey?
*no . . . i'd rather just answer questions from someone else. i'm waiting for hayley to write one.
Can you swear inside your house?
*i can swear wherever i f&$*#@ choose to . . . but i try to limit myself anyway. typically a bad word or two will come out when i'm either really upset or when i run into something (cuz sadly, i do that a lot; so much so, that my nickname is frank, jr., cuz my dad does it more).
Do you save Bed Bath and Beyond coupons?
*nope . . . only victoria's secret and bath and body works. bed, bath and beyond is way too expensive for my blood.
Have you ever had a pet goldfish?
*nope. i once had a betta fish in college, named lil swim. my nephew would clean out it's little bowl for me weekly. when i moved home, i had to leave the fish with my ex-boyfriend (my then boyfriend) and he killed it by cleaning the bowl with AJAX.
When did you last eat waffles?
*hmm . . . the other night at mama's house. i can't remember what day it was. was that sunday dinner? no wait -- that was tuesday, i think.
What is the most overrated thing in your opinion?
Do you have a video Skype account?
*i'm not even sure what skype is.
What color is your bed comforter?
*white down comforter. but it's always pushed off onto the floor cuz it's too hot to keep on the bed!
Does being in love make you gain weight?
*no . . . eating carbs makes me gain weight.
Dumbest person you know? and why?
*i typically don't associate with dumb people, so i can't answer this.
Do your parents have home videos of you as a kid?
*yes . . . and i hope that someone will break into their house, go into my dad's walk-in closet and steal them (i'm willing to pay for that to happen).
How old is your oldest cousin?
*to be quite honest, i have no clue. i only really talk with one of my cousins, and i wanna say she's between heather's and hilary's age? i have a lot, but we just never kept up with them growing up.
If you HAD to get a tattoo, where and what would it be?
no really . . . i would. i want this tattoo. i think it's perfect. BWAHAHAHA!
Do you think Obama has tried drugs?
*remember the question above that asked what i believed was the most overrated thing? reference that and you'll realize why i am not answering this question.
What color is your bra or boxers?
*black. black goes with everything.
What is your favorite radio station?
*honestly, i'm not even sure the last time i listened to a radio. i'm all about CDs and iPods, people.
What ethnicity was your last ex?
*africanus-americanus
What brand is your refrigerator?
*hmm . . . i have no clue. i think it's like a whirlpool or something? or maybe that's my dishwasher. i didn't pick it out, so i have no idea. it's off-white.
How many people do you know that are pregnant?
*um . . . i don't know. i really don't keep up with that. i think two?
Do you have a picture with your middle finger up?
*i do . . . but typically i edit out the finger part of the picture. my mama doesn't like it.
When is the last time you went to a birthday party?
*technically, last night. ty's (my nephew) birthday is sunday, but they're going to be visiting family in washington, so we celebrated it last night with fried chicken and cheesecake.
What is the best thing to happen to you this year so far?
*getting a permanent job and meeting my beau (sappy, i know)
How long have you lived in the house you live in?
*long enough that when i move, i will cry.
Do you read a newspaper daily?
*nope. i get the sunday paper delivered. and even when i get that, i only look at weddings, birth announcements, dear abby and the crossword puzzle. the rest gets thrown away.
Anything you're really afraid of?
*live fish. they gross me out.
Do you read tabloids?
*not at all. not so big into celebrities and their screwed up lives. i have enough in my own world to worry about.
Have you ever had a really bad haircut?
*see pictures below. what do you think?
Do you like your peanut butter crunchy or creamy?
*creamy, fo' sho. but it has to be the peter pan honey-roasted creamy PB. the best ever!
What is the scariest movie you've ever seen?
*the ending of "carrie" or "signs." considering that i don't watch scary movies because everything scares the crap out of me, those were pretty bad. quit laughing now . . . all of you!
Have you ever ridden a skateboard?
*yes . . . we used to sit on it and roll down my parents' driveway. good times.
Do you drink enough water on a daily basis?
*more than enough. at least a case every three days. i pee like every hour on the hour. my mama worries that i'm going to get water intoxication.
Would you burn the American flag for a million dollars?
*i'd like to believe i wouldn't . . .
The main thing you can't leave your house without?
(sunglasses, in case you're wondering)
Do you think the economy is improving yet?
*my economy isn't. not yet. wait til i get paid and then we'll talk.
When was the last time you read a book?
*been reading a couple of different books, at different times. last book i actually finished was "i know my first name is steven." trying to read more.
Where did you get that shirt you're wearing?
Do you play pranks on April Fool's Day?
*i typically don't even remember it's april fool's day cuz it's also my niece's birthday. that takes priority over any pranks.
*red . . . no seriously, that's my favorite flavor. doesn't matter what color red, as long as it's red.
Do you have a wireless keyboard and mouse?
*just a wireless mouse. and only because i hate using the little mouse pad thingy on the laptop. i'm not coordinated enough to use it, to be honest.
Last sporting event you watched on tv or in person?
Who makes the best fudge?
*my mama. here is the recipe:
Mama's Fudge
3 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 oz.)
2 c. nuts
1/2 lb. butter
2 c. miniature marshmellows (pressed down in cup)
1 tsp. vanilla
4-1/2 c. sugar
1 large can evaporated milk
Put milk and sugar in large saucepan and boil exactly 8 minutes, after
it has started boiling (be sure to reduce heat to medium and boil on medium heat). After boiling, remove from stove and add all other ingredients (put all other ingredients in one bowl first and add all at once to the milk and sugar). Mix well and put in 9x13 pan. Let it sit out until it cools down and then refrigerate. Serve after fudge has refrigerated at least an hour.
Do you like it when toothpaste bubbles in your mouth?
*i don't care if it bubbles or not, although i don't know that i'd call it bubbling, per se. isn't it more like foaming? either way, i don't care if it happens cuz i brush my teeth about 15 times a day anyway. so i know my teeth are good to go!
Do you believe that the world is gonna end at 2012?
*man i hope not . . . i have big plans for my life, none of which include dying in that year.
How many songs are on your iPod or MP3 Player?
*sadly, it depends on the iPod. i have my iPhone, which has prolly about 325 songs with more to be added soon; my night-time iPod, which has 89 songs; my buddy's iPod that i have been using, which has about 1000 songs on it; my shuffle, which has about 95 songs on it. i really just wanna get one big iPod so i can put everything on one and then sort by playlists.
Have you ever made your own survey?
*no . . . i'd rather just answer questions from someone else. i'm waiting for hayley to write one.
Can you swear inside your house?
*i can swear wherever i f&$*#@ choose to . . . but i try to limit myself anyway. typically a bad word or two will come out when i'm either really upset or when i run into something (cuz sadly, i do that a lot; so much so, that my nickname is frank, jr., cuz my dad does it more).
Do you save Bed Bath and Beyond coupons?
*nope . . . only victoria's secret and bath and body works. bed, bath and beyond is way too expensive for my blood.
Have you ever had a pet goldfish?
*nope. i once had a betta fish in college, named lil swim. my nephew would clean out it's little bowl for me weekly. when i moved home, i had to leave the fish with my ex-boyfriend (my then boyfriend) and he killed it by cleaning the bowl with AJAX.
When did you last eat waffles?
*hmm . . . the other night at mama's house. i can't remember what day it was. was that sunday dinner? no wait -- that was tuesday, i think.
What is the most overrated thing in your opinion?
Do you have a video Skype account?
*i'm not even sure what skype is.
What color is your bed comforter?
*white down comforter. but it's always pushed off onto the floor cuz it's too hot to keep on the bed!
Does being in love make you gain weight?
*no . . . eating carbs makes me gain weight.
Dumbest person you know? and why?
*i typically don't associate with dumb people, so i can't answer this.
Do your parents have home videos of you as a kid?
*yes . . . and i hope that someone will break into their house, go into my dad's walk-in closet and steal them (i'm willing to pay for that to happen).
How old is your oldest cousin?
*to be quite honest, i have no clue. i only really talk with one of my cousins, and i wanna say she's between heather's and hilary's age? i have a lot, but we just never kept up with them growing up.
If you HAD to get a tattoo, where and what would it be?
no really . . . i would. i want this tattoo. i think it's perfect. BWAHAHAHA!
Do you think Obama has tried drugs?
*remember the question above that asked what i believed was the most overrated thing? reference that and you'll realize why i am not answering this question.
What color is your bra or boxers?
*black. black goes with everything.
What is your favorite radio station?
*honestly, i'm not even sure the last time i listened to a radio. i'm all about CDs and iPods, people.
What ethnicity was your last ex?
*africanus-americanus
What brand is your refrigerator?
*hmm . . . i have no clue. i think it's like a whirlpool or something? or maybe that's my dishwasher. i didn't pick it out, so i have no idea. it's off-white.
How many people do you know that are pregnant?
*um . . . i don't know. i really don't keep up with that. i think two?
Do you have a picture with your middle finger up?
*i do . . . but typically i edit out the finger part of the picture. my mama doesn't like it.
When is the last time you went to a birthday party?
*technically, last night. ty's (my nephew) birthday is sunday, but they're going to be visiting family in washington, so we celebrated it last night with fried chicken and cheesecake.
What is the best thing to happen to you this year so far?
*getting a permanent job and meeting my beau (sappy, i know)
How long have you lived in the house you live in?
*long enough that when i move, i will cry.
Do you read a newspaper daily?
*nope. i get the sunday paper delivered. and even when i get that, i only look at weddings, birth announcements, dear abby and the crossword puzzle. the rest gets thrown away.
Anything you're really afraid of?
*live fish. they gross me out.
Do you read tabloids?
*not at all. not so big into celebrities and their screwed up lives. i have enough in my own world to worry about.
Have you ever had a really bad haircut?
*see pictures below. what do you think?
Do you like your peanut butter crunchy or creamy?
*creamy, fo' sho. but it has to be the peter pan honey-roasted creamy PB. the best ever!
What is the scariest movie you've ever seen?
*the ending of "carrie" or "signs." considering that i don't watch scary movies because everything scares the crap out of me, those were pretty bad. quit laughing now . . . all of you!
Have you ever ridden a skateboard?
*yes . . . we used to sit on it and roll down my parents' driveway. good times.
Do you drink enough water on a daily basis?
*more than enough. at least a case every three days. i pee like every hour on the hour. my mama worries that i'm going to get water intoxication.
Would you burn the American flag for a million dollars?
*i'd like to believe i wouldn't . . .
The main thing you can't leave your house without?
(sunglasses, in case you're wondering)
Do you think the economy is improving yet?
*my economy isn't. not yet. wait til i get paid and then we'll talk.
When was the last time you read a book?
*been reading a couple of different books, at different times. last book i actually finished was "i know my first name is steven." trying to read more.
Where did you get that shirt you're wearing?
Do you play pranks on April Fool's Day?
*i typically don't even remember it's april fool's day cuz it's also my niece's birthday. that takes priority over any pranks.
just some fun sunday pictures (mostly)
so my beau and i went to my mama's house this past sunday for dinner, as we always do on sundays. we were there hanging out when my little brother scott, sister-in-law val and their two kiddos (jared and alexis) walked in. immediately, i noticed that leslie and jared were wearing the same outfit! it cracked us all up. i love that jared is in love with leslie. they are two peas in a pod, and i love how he says leslie's name. it's the cutest thing ever. so for your viewing pleasure, here a few shots i snapped with my iPhone of them playing and posing for pictures. i also added one of chad being "chad marley" with my ruined mop head (my daddy borrowed my mop and washed it, forgetting to turn off the spin cycle so it was ruined) and just a cute one of scott and alexis that i stole from val's page.
leslie and jared
leslie and jared sticking out their tongues
more sticking out of the tongues (this seemed to be jared's favorite pose of the night)
you can tell they're both *just thrilled* to be in pictures (and what's the deal with leslie's head looking alienesque in this pic?)
"chad marley" (i'm not sure why this picture turned out on it's side. when i checked the picture program, it was right but i can't get it to post without being sideways for some odd reason)
scott and alexis at the beach in san diego a couple of weeks ago (i love this picture cuz they both have the *same* expression on their faces!)
leslie and jared
leslie and jared sticking out their tongues
more sticking out of the tongues (this seemed to be jared's favorite pose of the night)
you can tell they're both *just thrilled* to be in pictures (and what's the deal with leslie's head looking alienesque in this pic?)
"chad marley" (i'm not sure why this picture turned out on it's side. when i checked the picture program, it was right but i can't get it to post without being sideways for some odd reason)
scott and alexis at the beach in san diego a couple of weeks ago (i love this picture cuz they both have the *same* expression on their faces!)
8.13.2009
8.07.2009
more job stuff . . .
so part of my job includes the chance that **i'll have to instruct when i'm out on a fielding.** i have no issues with instructing . . . i did some of that at my last job whenever i had to teach people about the program i worked in. today we are going to be practicing the instructing part of the job. and i'm okay with that in general; but specifically, i'm not.
see . . . i don't know the information i'm teaching like i knew the information from the last job. granted, it's basically reading slides to the "students," but **i really like to have some knowledge of what i'm teaching.** i have 3 experienced instructors in the class who will be critiquing me and offering suggestions on how to teach better, and three guys who have held different positions than the ones they hold now. in the long run, i am glad to be doing this now and getting the experience for when i'm on a real fielding. in the short run, though . . . i'm nervous.
**teaching is right after lunch, in less than an hour!**
see . . . i don't know the information i'm teaching like i knew the information from the last job. granted, it's basically reading slides to the "students," but **i really like to have some knowledge of what i'm teaching.** i have 3 experienced instructors in the class who will be critiquing me and offering suggestions on how to teach better, and three guys who have held different positions than the ones they hold now. in the long run, i am glad to be doing this now and getting the experience for when i'm on a real fielding. in the short run, though . . . i'm nervous.
**teaching is right after lunch, in less than an hour!**
8.06.2009
yes she's back, back again . . .
much to my chagrin.
remember me blogging awhile back about the girl i worked with at my other job who was a troublemaker? i ended up taking the post off cuz anyone can access my blog and with her craziness, **i wasn't sure if she was stalking me** or not and i didn't want there to be any further issues with her.
well, guess who popped up in my new office yesterday and is now officially working with me? yep . . . it's her. **and i am none too happy about it.** the only good thing is that she is in a position lower than me (which makes me *so* happy that i'm making more money than her, no matter how petty that is) which means she is in a different sub-office. i can handle that. but the funny thing is, when i walked into work yesterday, and she saw me, she immediately shot me a dirty look. so i smiled as big as i could and waved and said, "hey girl! so good to see you!" and then that forced her to be fake, too, and smile and say hi. we haven't spoken since.
i just hope that i never end up having to go on a fielding with her, which is actually quite possible, considering the amount of people who work here and whatnot. **she is just a troublemaker** and likes to stir pots that have no business being stirred. remind me to stay away from her and her pettiness if you ever hear me getting sucked into it. i am better than her ways.
**and if not, just remind me that i make more money!**
remember me blogging awhile back about the girl i worked with at my other job who was a troublemaker? i ended up taking the post off cuz anyone can access my blog and with her craziness, **i wasn't sure if she was stalking me** or not and i didn't want there to be any further issues with her.
well, guess who popped up in my new office yesterday and is now officially working with me? yep . . . it's her. **and i am none too happy about it.** the only good thing is that she is in a position lower than me (which makes me *so* happy that i'm making more money than her, no matter how petty that is) which means she is in a different sub-office. i can handle that. but the funny thing is, when i walked into work yesterday, and she saw me, she immediately shot me a dirty look. so i smiled as big as i could and waved and said, "hey girl! so good to see you!" and then that forced her to be fake, too, and smile and say hi. we haven't spoken since.
i just hope that i never end up having to go on a fielding with her, which is actually quite possible, considering the amount of people who work here and whatnot. **she is just a troublemaker** and likes to stir pots that have no business being stirred. remind me to stay away from her and her pettiness if you ever hear me getting sucked into it. i am better than her ways.
**and if not, just remind me that i make more money!**
8.05.2009
a rant and some amateur photography
so what's going on with this website? i have been trying to post comments on this thing (in response to your comments, of course) and i can't post anything. then my buddy kevin sent me an email saying he couldn't post comments, either. does anyone know how to change that? then when i tried to change my boring background, it messed up and had some of the new background mixed in with this background. you would think i would know all this seeing that i work with computers **on a daily basis,** but i have no clue what's going on! i might have to task this out to someone who is more computer savvy than i am, cuz my knowledge just ain't cutting it.
in other news, i have been inspired. my sister and hayley have been my primary inspirations, but vanessa is up there, also. i have had a digital camera for forever and i have rarely taken pictures, and when i have, **they're always just boring shots.** i noticed that my sister and hayley always alter their photos to make them . . . make them, well better isn't the word. perhaps more interesting? either way, i have been playing around with pictures, mostly on photobucket, and this is what i've come up with. work with me here, people . . . remember that i've only just begun!
leslie and jared, playing with cars:
before
after
veronica and i getting ready to go out to dinner with our beaus:
before
after
colby and daddy, riding the electric wheelchair at walmart:
before
after
so there are my pictures. prolly not that original, but i have to say that i did work hard on them! i am still learning and waiting to make some money so i can get the photoshop program. my beau thought he had it, but come to find out, he doesn't. does anyone else have it? if so, would you recommend it? just curious.
anyhow, it's time for me to actually do some work and get to studying. hopefully i can stay awake today.
**yesterday i fell asleep standing up. twice.**
in other news, i have been inspired. my sister and hayley have been my primary inspirations, but vanessa is up there, also. i have had a digital camera for forever and i have rarely taken pictures, and when i have, **they're always just boring shots.** i noticed that my sister and hayley always alter their photos to make them . . . make them, well better isn't the word. perhaps more interesting? either way, i have been playing around with pictures, mostly on photobucket, and this is what i've come up with. work with me here, people . . . remember that i've only just begun!
leslie and jared, playing with cars:
before
after
veronica and i getting ready to go out to dinner with our beaus:
before
after
colby and daddy, riding the electric wheelchair at walmart:
before
after
so there are my pictures. prolly not that original, but i have to say that i did work hard on them! i am still learning and waiting to make some money so i can get the photoshop program. my beau thought he had it, but come to find out, he doesn't. does anyone else have it? if so, would you recommend it? just curious.
anyhow, it's time for me to actually do some work and get to studying. hopefully i can stay awake today.
**yesterday i fell asleep standing up. twice.**
8.04.2009
just an observation . . .
so for this job of mine, i am in some intensive training. training where things go up on the wall from a projector and we write. which is actually fine with me, cuz i tend to learn things better when i write them down. i also have copies of slides that i can look at on the computer, but **i like to take notes** when the instructor teaches.
my hand cramps up a lot while writing. not complaining, just find it interesting. it's prolly cuz i haven't written -- well, handwritten -- anything in ages. not much more than "happy birthday" on a card or something like that. here at work, i am writing a novel. it's funny how much **technology has taken over our lives.** we type all day in emails, we text instead of calling, we push a button to listen to music, rather than playing an instrument. there are so many parts of our lives where technology has come into play and dominated.
and sadly, i can't say that i miss the "good old days" of snail mail and telephone calls. i like that everything seems to move in fast forward nowadays.
well, everything but the night **(i need more sleep).**
my hand cramps up a lot while writing. not complaining, just find it interesting. it's prolly cuz i haven't written -- well, handwritten -- anything in ages. not much more than "happy birthday" on a card or something like that. here at work, i am writing a novel. it's funny how much **technology has taken over our lives.** we type all day in emails, we text instead of calling, we push a button to listen to music, rather than playing an instrument. there are so many parts of our lives where technology has come into play and dominated.
and sadly, i can't say that i miss the "good old days" of snail mail and telephone calls. i like that everything seems to move in fast forward nowadays.
well, everything but the night **(i need more sleep).**
7.31.2009
dr jekyll and ms hyde
i have never been one of those girls to use smiley faces after every sentence or dot my Is with hearts or stars. i guess it's the tomboy in me that has always prevented me from being too girly, "too cool" for unicorns, barbie, doodles and dresses. i was more into football (or any sport, for that matter), gi joes, cars and ninja turtles. **if a boy could do it, i could do it better.** nobody was going to convince me of anything differently.
it's funny how we when we grow-up to become functioning adults of society, we mostly stay the same as we were at 5 years old, but add little tweaks here and there. i am sitting in my office today in a skirt and a girly sweater. i feel out of place in it; **i feel like i am a fraud.** i'm used to jeans, tees, sweats, workout clothes, flip flops or running shoes. instead, i'm running around in grown-up clothes, pretending that this is normal attire for me. my co-workers know no different, either. they've only seen me in these clothes. and it makes me wonder if they think i look "normal" in them, or can they sense my discomfort? it's not that i think i look ridiculous in them; it's just that i'm not used to them.
i have always disliked wearing dresses. i remember being in the second or third grade and it was picture day at the school. my mama really wanted me to wear a dress for the picture, but there was NO WAY she was going to get me to wear a dress to school. so when it was time for pictures, my mama showed up at the school, dress in hand. i even remember the dress . . . purple flowery thing with white lace somewhere on the dress. she tells me to go into the bathroom, put on the dress and to give her my other clothes. i did, and only after taking my picture, did i realize **my mama had left me and taken the shorts and tee i had on before with her.** i had to wear the dress for the rest of the day. even though it was only for an hour or so, i remember crying -- sobbing, if you will -- that i had to wear that dress for the rest of the day. (she will prolly deny this story, but a little girl who was a tomboy could never forget something as traumatizing as having to wear a dress for the rest of the school day!)
and yet here i sit in this office, legs crossed at the ankles cuz nowadays i'm too old to put on a pair of shorts under my skirt like my 6 year old niece does. i am now ladylike. i am in frilly skirt and ruffly shirt, makeup perfectly plastered on my typically natural face. i am polite, funny, somewhat aloof. i smile when appropriate, and pay attention in class, back straight, hands folded in my lap. **ever the lady.** and it makes me realize that i don't think i would ever wanna do this fulltime.
quite honestly, it makes me appreciate the weekends, when i can roll out of bed, through on a pair of shorts or sweats or whatever the day feels like, with a tank or shirt that sometimes matches, sometimes doesn't. and my shoes don't have to be heels or cute or girly. they can be flip-flops or those running shoes. and i can shave my legs if i want to, or skip it if i don't wanna. and i can throw on a baseball cap or put my hair up in a messy ponytail and not care. **and i can be loud and obnoxious and say inappropriate things at inappropriate times and not feel bad.** i can be the tomboy that i have always been; i can be comfortable in my own skin.
but when monday morning rolls around, i get out of bed, put on my skirt or my pressed slacks, my button-up or girly sweater, my heels and **i pretend all over again.** and my co-workers have no clue that the night before, i was at my mama's house dressed in mismatched clothing, being my true self: laughing loud, talking louder, being obnoxious.
**and i think i like it that way.**
it's funny how we when we grow-up to become functioning adults of society, we mostly stay the same as we were at 5 years old, but add little tweaks here and there. i am sitting in my office today in a skirt and a girly sweater. i feel out of place in it; **i feel like i am a fraud.** i'm used to jeans, tees, sweats, workout clothes, flip flops or running shoes. instead, i'm running around in grown-up clothes, pretending that this is normal attire for me. my co-workers know no different, either. they've only seen me in these clothes. and it makes me wonder if they think i look "normal" in them, or can they sense my discomfort? it's not that i think i look ridiculous in them; it's just that i'm not used to them.
i have always disliked wearing dresses. i remember being in the second or third grade and it was picture day at the school. my mama really wanted me to wear a dress for the picture, but there was NO WAY she was going to get me to wear a dress to school. so when it was time for pictures, my mama showed up at the school, dress in hand. i even remember the dress . . . purple flowery thing with white lace somewhere on the dress. she tells me to go into the bathroom, put on the dress and to give her my other clothes. i did, and only after taking my picture, did i realize **my mama had left me and taken the shorts and tee i had on before with her.** i had to wear the dress for the rest of the day. even though it was only for an hour or so, i remember crying -- sobbing, if you will -- that i had to wear that dress for the rest of the day. (she will prolly deny this story, but a little girl who was a tomboy could never forget something as traumatizing as having to wear a dress for the rest of the school day!)
and yet here i sit in this office, legs crossed at the ankles cuz nowadays i'm too old to put on a pair of shorts under my skirt like my 6 year old niece does. i am now ladylike. i am in frilly skirt and ruffly shirt, makeup perfectly plastered on my typically natural face. i am polite, funny, somewhat aloof. i smile when appropriate, and pay attention in class, back straight, hands folded in my lap. **ever the lady.** and it makes me realize that i don't think i would ever wanna do this fulltime.
quite honestly, it makes me appreciate the weekends, when i can roll out of bed, through on a pair of shorts or sweats or whatever the day feels like, with a tank or shirt that sometimes matches, sometimes doesn't. and my shoes don't have to be heels or cute or girly. they can be flip-flops or those running shoes. and i can shave my legs if i want to, or skip it if i don't wanna. and i can throw on a baseball cap or put my hair up in a messy ponytail and not care. **and i can be loud and obnoxious and say inappropriate things at inappropriate times and not feel bad.** i can be the tomboy that i have always been; i can be comfortable in my own skin.
but when monday morning rolls around, i get out of bed, put on my skirt or my pressed slacks, my button-up or girly sweater, my heels and **i pretend all over again.** and my co-workers have no clue that the night before, i was at my mama's house dressed in mismatched clothing, being my true self: laughing loud, talking louder, being obnoxious.
**and i think i like it that way.**
7.30.2009
jobs, school and clothes
so i guess i haven't really written anything on here in quite awhile, so i thought i'd update this thing while i'm sitting here at work, doing a whole lot of nothing. it's kind of a chill day here today because half of my co-workers are leaving for el paso on monday. everyone is just kind of visiting and hanging out because those who are leaving have the day off tomorrow **and get paid for it.**
so as everyone knows, i started my job this past monday. i feel like a complete idiot and i'm not entirely sure i am even qualified for this position. however, i typically catch onto things rather quickly, so i'm hoping that **all of this will click at some point** and i will just get it. i am going to go out into the main office today to study and to try to get a bit of help from my supervisor since he has been working with this program for at least 3 years. he is one of the co-workers who leaves on monday, so that kind of sucks. he is full of knowledge on this system and he's also one of the only people who talk with me here. i must say that i find that awfully peculiar -- or perhaps i should say typical -- because i work with a lot of women. women don't like me. and none of them here talk to me. i say "good morning" to all of them each day, and they all mumble the same back to me, and look at me with a look of contempt. i don't know what that is all about, but i just try to ignore their callousness and have a good day. whatever, right?
in other news, my beau lost his job :( he was hired and three days later they put him and the other new guy in the academy to work on the same program that i am working on. he had to take a certification exam at the end of the class and failed the exam by one point. when i spoke to my supervisor about it, he said that **one and a half weeks in an academy to learn this entire program is not enough time to learn it** and that he didn't feel it was fair to either of the new guys that they were let go. that made me feel a bit better about everything and i relayed the message to my beau.
he and i have been talking for awhile about the both of us **getting back into school and finishing up our degrees.** now that he is unemployed, he and i discussed him going back and we feel like that is a good decision. he registered at CTC yesterday and is getting his stuff together for classes. the GI Bill will pay for his schooling because he served in the marines, and they will also be paying extra because he was in the armed forces on or after 9/11. i am really excited for him to get back in it and get going. he has big plans, and i know he will reach all his goals.
funny thing i have figured out about work and the business attire: a woman can pair ANY shirt she wants -- t-shirt, tank, halter, etc. -- with a blazer, nice pants / skirt and heels, and call it "business casual." **i am in love with that policy.** today i am wearing a somewhat dressy t-shirt, but to be honest . . . it's a t-shirt. has a little flower on it in the front with a scoop neck. paired it with a white blazer, blue pants and camel boots. everyone has told me how great i look today. i think that that is awesome.
**time for lunch, though.** maybe i'll write more later this afternoon.
so as everyone knows, i started my job this past monday. i feel like a complete idiot and i'm not entirely sure i am even qualified for this position. however, i typically catch onto things rather quickly, so i'm hoping that **all of this will click at some point** and i will just get it. i am going to go out into the main office today to study and to try to get a bit of help from my supervisor since he has been working with this program for at least 3 years. he is one of the co-workers who leaves on monday, so that kind of sucks. he is full of knowledge on this system and he's also one of the only people who talk with me here. i must say that i find that awfully peculiar -- or perhaps i should say typical -- because i work with a lot of women. women don't like me. and none of them here talk to me. i say "good morning" to all of them each day, and they all mumble the same back to me, and look at me with a look of contempt. i don't know what that is all about, but i just try to ignore their callousness and have a good day. whatever, right?
in other news, my beau lost his job :( he was hired and three days later they put him and the other new guy in the academy to work on the same program that i am working on. he had to take a certification exam at the end of the class and failed the exam by one point. when i spoke to my supervisor about it, he said that **one and a half weeks in an academy to learn this entire program is not enough time to learn it** and that he didn't feel it was fair to either of the new guys that they were let go. that made me feel a bit better about everything and i relayed the message to my beau.
he and i have been talking for awhile about the both of us **getting back into school and finishing up our degrees.** now that he is unemployed, he and i discussed him going back and we feel like that is a good decision. he registered at CTC yesterday and is getting his stuff together for classes. the GI Bill will pay for his schooling because he served in the marines, and they will also be paying extra because he was in the armed forces on or after 9/11. i am really excited for him to get back in it and get going. he has big plans, and i know he will reach all his goals.
funny thing i have figured out about work and the business attire: a woman can pair ANY shirt she wants -- t-shirt, tank, halter, etc. -- with a blazer, nice pants / skirt and heels, and call it "business casual." **i am in love with that policy.** today i am wearing a somewhat dressy t-shirt, but to be honest . . . it's a t-shirt. has a little flower on it in the front with a scoop neck. paired it with a white blazer, blue pants and camel boots. everyone has told me how great i look today. i think that that is awesome.
**time for lunch, though.** maybe i'll write more later this afternoon.
7.22.2009
monday, monday, monday!
that is the day i start my job. i'm so excited:
**means i get to go shopping (who cares if it's for business attire clothes! it's shopping and i haven't been able to go in MONTHS!)**
**means i get to go shopping (who cares if it's for business attire clothes! it's shopping and i haven't been able to go in MONTHS!)**
7.20.2009
7.19.2009
you're all a bunch of snollygosters!
**SUNDAY**
i watched a show today that i had DVR'd from some random channel called "the joy of lex." obviously, it was about words: their origins, how they become "official" and how they die. i must admit that i was highly intrigued. it made me think about words and their sounds and how much i love them. i don't write much anymore, but when i was in college, my major was actually english with an emphasis in creative writing, moreso poetry than anything else. **i used to write a lot, all the time.** i love everything about it. i haven't done it in a long time. i wish i had the enthusiam about it now that i had then. maybe if i was being graded still, i'd write more. we'll see. maybe i'll start writing more. who knows. but that show is where i got the word "snollygoster" from . . . i'm not even sure it's in the dictionary anymore. however, i won't tell the meaning and i'll let you all google it to find out the meaning, if you already don't know.
in other news, i said that i'd write about the job, so i guess i better do that. i interviewed last monday with a company called MTCI. i know a guy who works there and i sent him my resume; he, in turn, passed it on to the recruiters and i got a call monday morning at 9am to come in for an 11am interview. i hurridly went out to leslie's house to get an outfit for the interview and headed home to iron it. of course it was linen so it didn't iron well, but it looked good enough. i made it to the interview with 15 minutes to spare. i even beat the guy who was interviewing me to the office.
the interview went *very* well . . . he was incredibly impressed with my resume and basically told me i had the job, although he had two other people to interview. he said i'd "definitely" hear from him. so fast forward to **friday afternoon and i still haven't heard from the guy.** i started to lose hope at that point, convinced i wasn't getting the job. however, due to the urging of many people, i called and he apologized for not calling sooner. he told me i had the job, but that he didn't have a start date for me, so he was waiting to call. SOOO relieved. i am very excited and can't wait to start working! especially for those benefits :)
**MONDAY**
in other sad, devastating news. my neighbor and i have been having a mini-feud for the past couple of years. she is like 93 and a pain in the ass (pardon my french). anyway, i have always had a chainlink fence in my backyard and she went ahead and built a cedar privacy fence about 6 inches away from the chainlink. since i have lived here, there have been trees growing between the chainlink and privacy fence. she insists they're my responsibility, because when my brother-in-law lived here with my sister, he would cut the trees back for her **out of the kindness of his heart.** i got my lawn guy to agree to come in a year or two ago to cut the trees down but that he'd have to go into her backyard and remove some of the cedar planks from her fence to do it. she disagreed and they were never cut down. after that, things were prickly between us for awhile until one day they just weren't and she was speaking to me again, although clipped and in short sentences.
fast forward to this last friday. she leaves a note on my burglar bars saying she has found someone to cut down the trees, but that she will need to have them come into my backyard. i didn't want her to cut down the trees -- even though they are hers -- cuz **they provide amazing shade in the backyard** and it's a wall of green on the one side of my yard. it's very pretty. i reluctantly agreed, however, because i didn't want there to be animosity between us anymore. now i am regretting it. the green is slowly being replaced by her ugly cedar fence and the shade is disappating. i stood outside for a bit in my backyard to oversee the project and to make sure they weren't going to cut down my fig tree or any trees on my side of the fence.
[side note: the guy cutting the trees made some snotty remarks to hazel about me coming out earlier and acting as if the trees were mine (my roommate and i were listening to him talk about me through my bedroom window). so i had to get dressed to correct his remarks to hazel. i mean, really, they ARE her trees . . . there isn't much i can do aside from tell them they can't come into my backyard, and that would just make it more difficult for them but they'd get the trees down, so i viewed that as pointless. **i just wanted them to leave my trees alone.**]
hazel comes over to me as i'm standing at my fence watching and she begins to tell me how much easier it will be for me now to care for my lawn, how the trees were ruining her fence, blahblahblah. i admit that i am bitter. i may even be overreacting a bit, but whatever. those trees have been there forever and they look nice.
**old people suck.**
i watched a show today that i had DVR'd from some random channel called "the joy of lex." obviously, it was about words: their origins, how they become "official" and how they die. i must admit that i was highly intrigued. it made me think about words and their sounds and how much i love them. i don't write much anymore, but when i was in college, my major was actually english with an emphasis in creative writing, moreso poetry than anything else. **i used to write a lot, all the time.** i love everything about it. i haven't done it in a long time. i wish i had the enthusiam about it now that i had then. maybe if i was being graded still, i'd write more. we'll see. maybe i'll start writing more. who knows. but that show is where i got the word "snollygoster" from . . . i'm not even sure it's in the dictionary anymore. however, i won't tell the meaning and i'll let you all google it to find out the meaning, if you already don't know.
in other news, i said that i'd write about the job, so i guess i better do that. i interviewed last monday with a company called MTCI. i know a guy who works there and i sent him my resume; he, in turn, passed it on to the recruiters and i got a call monday morning at 9am to come in for an 11am interview. i hurridly went out to leslie's house to get an outfit for the interview and headed home to iron it. of course it was linen so it didn't iron well, but it looked good enough. i made it to the interview with 15 minutes to spare. i even beat the guy who was interviewing me to the office.
the interview went *very* well . . . he was incredibly impressed with my resume and basically told me i had the job, although he had two other people to interview. he said i'd "definitely" hear from him. so fast forward to **friday afternoon and i still haven't heard from the guy.** i started to lose hope at that point, convinced i wasn't getting the job. however, due to the urging of many people, i called and he apologized for not calling sooner. he told me i had the job, but that he didn't have a start date for me, so he was waiting to call. SOOO relieved. i am very excited and can't wait to start working! especially for those benefits :)
**MONDAY**
in other sad, devastating news. my neighbor and i have been having a mini-feud for the past couple of years. she is like 93 and a pain in the ass (pardon my french). anyway, i have always had a chainlink fence in my backyard and she went ahead and built a cedar privacy fence about 6 inches away from the chainlink. since i have lived here, there have been trees growing between the chainlink and privacy fence. she insists they're my responsibility, because when my brother-in-law lived here with my sister, he would cut the trees back for her **out of the kindness of his heart.** i got my lawn guy to agree to come in a year or two ago to cut the trees down but that he'd have to go into her backyard and remove some of the cedar planks from her fence to do it. she disagreed and they were never cut down. after that, things were prickly between us for awhile until one day they just weren't and she was speaking to me again, although clipped and in short sentences.
fast forward to this last friday. she leaves a note on my burglar bars saying she has found someone to cut down the trees, but that she will need to have them come into my backyard. i didn't want her to cut down the trees -- even though they are hers -- cuz **they provide amazing shade in the backyard** and it's a wall of green on the one side of my yard. it's very pretty. i reluctantly agreed, however, because i didn't want there to be animosity between us anymore. now i am regretting it. the green is slowly being replaced by her ugly cedar fence and the shade is disappating. i stood outside for a bit in my backyard to oversee the project and to make sure they weren't going to cut down my fig tree or any trees on my side of the fence.
[side note: the guy cutting the trees made some snotty remarks to hazel about me coming out earlier and acting as if the trees were mine (my roommate and i were listening to him talk about me through my bedroom window). so i had to get dressed to correct his remarks to hazel. i mean, really, they ARE her trees . . . there isn't much i can do aside from tell them they can't come into my backyard, and that would just make it more difficult for them but they'd get the trees down, so i viewed that as pointless. **i just wanted them to leave my trees alone.**]
hazel comes over to me as i'm standing at my fence watching and she begins to tell me how much easier it will be for me now to care for my lawn, how the trees were ruining her fence, blahblahblah. i admit that i am bitter. i may even be overreacting a bit, but whatever. those trees have been there forever and they look nice.
**old people suck.**
7.18.2009
good news . . .
i got the job! more to follow tomorrow. or the next day.
**or whenever i feel like writing**
**or whenever i feel like writing**
7.16.2009
the butcher and candlestick maker . . . what about the third?
i'm going to some friends' house tonight for dinner with my beau. we're going to watch a movie while there. i was asked to bring "something sweet" for dessert. i decided to bake cookies. i might have burned them a bit.
**a baker i am not.**
**a baker i am not.**
7.15.2009
oh to be independently wealthy!
so **i have interviewed for two jobs in the past three days.** that is very exciting news, considering i haven't had any interview in the past, um, who knows how many weeks! i am fairly confident i will be receiving a call from at least one of them, and i really hope it's for the one i want! so until then, everyone keep your fingers crossed, knock on wood and all that other superstitious crap people do, okay?
i realized when i was getting ready for the interviews that **i really have no interview clothing** to wear. step in my best friend, leslie, and clothes she bought ages ago for interviews she never went on. i had stopped out at her place last week to see her, mags and little sophie and happened to mention the interviews i was supposed to go on this week and how i had no clothes for them between talking about whatever it is we were talking about. she disappeared to her bedroom and popped back out with a brown linen suit (which, by the way, is a horrible thing to iron but so cute when worn) and a cute white blazer (which, by the way, i never wore to the interview cuz it needed to be dry-cleaned and i never got around to dropping it off there). of course, we started talking again and i left and forgot the clothes. ended up having to race to her house monday morning to get them for the interview at 11am, that was set-up that morning at 9am. gotta love the organizational skills of that one . . . i just hope that's not indicative of how the job will be, seeing that that interview was with the company i really wanna work for.
during said interview, i was informed that the dress code would be "business casual," although i was already quite aware of that because my beau works on the same contract, albeit with a different company. going through my closet that night, i realized that i have absolutely no business casual attire. no polos, no button-ups that really fit, nada. the thing is, i hate wearing button-up shirts in the first place. **button-ups belong on men or lesbians,** both of which i am not. not sure when i started thinking they belonged on lesbians, but it prolly happened around the time i worked at olive garden and was forced to wear black slacks, white button-up shirt, tie, and my hair pulled back. every time i looked in the mirror when i wore that uniform, i swear there was a man staring back at me. and ever since then, it has been a difficult thing for me to wear button-up shirts. i realize i do own a few, but those, or any new ones, will definitely not be going into my business casual attire. not unless there are frills or ruffles, so that i can feel more like a woman and less like a man (even though, admittedly, i am not sure i would be comfortable in frills and ruffles). all i know is, i am going to have go to shopping at some point soon after i get hired.
on a somewhat unrelated note, i have been unsuccessful in convincing myself to go back to the gym. oh how i have tried to tell myself it's time to get up and go at 630am when my beau leaves for work, but honestly, i'm not getting up that early for anything unless i'm getting paid to! and so i always roll over, turn off any alarms and go right back to sleep. until i wake up, whenever that may be. typically, it's mid-afternoon and i convince myself i have things to do, errands to run or people to see and so i must pass up the gym. i think back to how i used to get up EVERY morning at 5am, come hell or high water, and trek the 20 minutes one way to the gym, work out for a good two hours, come home, shower, change and go to work. and then go back for another two hours in the afternoon after work. what was i thinking?!?! actually, i know that i looked better then and that i was happier with myself then. but for the life of me, i cannot convince myself that that is a good idea for me to do anymore. i just come up with excuses. i am hoping that once i start working again (whenever that will be), i will get back into some sort of routine and head straight to the gym after work. until then, **i am going to stop lying to myself** and everyone else and face the fact that right now, the gym and i are no longer friends. we might reconcile one day, but today is not that day. happy? i know i am.
one thing i am looking forward to about this job i really want and hope i get, is the benefits! it has been so long since i had a job that offered REAL benefits. granted, they only pay 80% of medical, but that is better than nothing! i will also get full dental (which is awesome cuz i have that blasted cavity i still have to get filled and then maybe i can get braces on my bottom teeth again to fix that one tooth that is out of line (yes, i'm OCD about my teeth)) and have the option of enrolling in a 401k (which is awesome and or course i'm doing). i am so excited about said benefits -- medical, mostly -- cuz i have been sick recently. not sure what is going on, but every single time i eat ANYTHING, i get sick. and i mean S-I-C-K. spending hours in the bathroom, not sure if i'm going to puke or let it come out the other end (sorry for being somewhat mildly graphic there, but i needed you all to get the point). and this happens in the middle of the night sometimes, hours after i've eaten, for hours at a time. i get the chills, i feel dizzy, and i am in agonizing pain. my mama thinks that it might possibly be an ulcer and / or stress-induced, and i'm inclined to believe her at this point. **not having a steady income and bills piling up has put an undo amount of stress on me lately.** i'm now just waiting to puke up blood before i pay out of pocket to see the doctor. hoping i get hired very quickly so i can go and have tests run or whatever it is that they are going to do. heaven knows i'd like one night of uninterrupted sleep!
what else, what else. oh . . . **i am selling a brand new 8x external DVD-RW from dell.** my beau needed to get a new laptop before heading to kuwait for a year because his is, well, a piece of crap. continuously freezing, shutting itself down, running slower than whatever runs slow in the first place. so we signed up for a dell account to get the computer for him. i needed an external DVD drive for my computer since i have this little tiny laptop and it doesn't have one. dell had their drives on sale, so i added that to the cart, along with a messenger bag for the laptop and an external hard drive, to put all my music on. somehow everything was shipped twice and i was charged twice on my card. when i called today to find out about returning everything (excluding the extra hard drive cuz my beau is keeping that for his new laptop so that he can have movies and music for his year in kuwait), the guy offered me a $40 credit on my account if i kept all the other stuff. the bag is really cute -- red and black -- and would be perfect for things other than a 9" screen laptop (so i am selling the second one of those, too) and the DVD-RW is still in the box. i paid $89 for it and am asking $60. so keep that in mind if you know anyone who might want it. and i am even willing to ship it to whomever buys it (keep that in mind, john and hayley). otherwise, ask around and see if you know anyone who wants either the bag or the DVD thing. i can provide pictures, should you want them. i'd post them now, however i haven't taken any and i'm being lazy and totally laying on the couch as i write this. so there.
can't think of anything else to write, really. i might try to take a quick power nap since last night was one of those nights where i was up sick for hours and i really didn't sleep well. once my beau gets home, we're going to dinner at mama's and then swimming afterwards:
**i sure hope that the water stays warm!**
i realized when i was getting ready for the interviews that **i really have no interview clothing** to wear. step in my best friend, leslie, and clothes she bought ages ago for interviews she never went on. i had stopped out at her place last week to see her, mags and little sophie and happened to mention the interviews i was supposed to go on this week and how i had no clothes for them between talking about whatever it is we were talking about. she disappeared to her bedroom and popped back out with a brown linen suit (which, by the way, is a horrible thing to iron but so cute when worn) and a cute white blazer (which, by the way, i never wore to the interview cuz it needed to be dry-cleaned and i never got around to dropping it off there). of course, we started talking again and i left and forgot the clothes. ended up having to race to her house monday morning to get them for the interview at 11am, that was set-up that morning at 9am. gotta love the organizational skills of that one . . . i just hope that's not indicative of how the job will be, seeing that that interview was with the company i really wanna work for.
during said interview, i was informed that the dress code would be "business casual," although i was already quite aware of that because my beau works on the same contract, albeit with a different company. going through my closet that night, i realized that i have absolutely no business casual attire. no polos, no button-ups that really fit, nada. the thing is, i hate wearing button-up shirts in the first place. **button-ups belong on men or lesbians,** both of which i am not. not sure when i started thinking they belonged on lesbians, but it prolly happened around the time i worked at olive garden and was forced to wear black slacks, white button-up shirt, tie, and my hair pulled back. every time i looked in the mirror when i wore that uniform, i swear there was a man staring back at me. and ever since then, it has been a difficult thing for me to wear button-up shirts. i realize i do own a few, but those, or any new ones, will definitely not be going into my business casual attire. not unless there are frills or ruffles, so that i can feel more like a woman and less like a man (even though, admittedly, i am not sure i would be comfortable in frills and ruffles). all i know is, i am going to have go to shopping at some point soon after i get hired.
on a somewhat unrelated note, i have been unsuccessful in convincing myself to go back to the gym. oh how i have tried to tell myself it's time to get up and go at 630am when my beau leaves for work, but honestly, i'm not getting up that early for anything unless i'm getting paid to! and so i always roll over, turn off any alarms and go right back to sleep. until i wake up, whenever that may be. typically, it's mid-afternoon and i convince myself i have things to do, errands to run or people to see and so i must pass up the gym. i think back to how i used to get up EVERY morning at 5am, come hell or high water, and trek the 20 minutes one way to the gym, work out for a good two hours, come home, shower, change and go to work. and then go back for another two hours in the afternoon after work. what was i thinking?!?! actually, i know that i looked better then and that i was happier with myself then. but for the life of me, i cannot convince myself that that is a good idea for me to do anymore. i just come up with excuses. i am hoping that once i start working again (whenever that will be), i will get back into some sort of routine and head straight to the gym after work. until then, **i am going to stop lying to myself** and everyone else and face the fact that right now, the gym and i are no longer friends. we might reconcile one day, but today is not that day. happy? i know i am.
one thing i am looking forward to about this job i really want and hope i get, is the benefits! it has been so long since i had a job that offered REAL benefits. granted, they only pay 80% of medical, but that is better than nothing! i will also get full dental (which is awesome cuz i have that blasted cavity i still have to get filled and then maybe i can get braces on my bottom teeth again to fix that one tooth that is out of line (yes, i'm OCD about my teeth)) and have the option of enrolling in a 401k (which is awesome and or course i'm doing). i am so excited about said benefits -- medical, mostly -- cuz i have been sick recently. not sure what is going on, but every single time i eat ANYTHING, i get sick. and i mean S-I-C-K. spending hours in the bathroom, not sure if i'm going to puke or let it come out the other end (sorry for being somewhat mildly graphic there, but i needed you all to get the point). and this happens in the middle of the night sometimes, hours after i've eaten, for hours at a time. i get the chills, i feel dizzy, and i am in agonizing pain. my mama thinks that it might possibly be an ulcer and / or stress-induced, and i'm inclined to believe her at this point. **not having a steady income and bills piling up has put an undo amount of stress on me lately.** i'm now just waiting to puke up blood before i pay out of pocket to see the doctor. hoping i get hired very quickly so i can go and have tests run or whatever it is that they are going to do. heaven knows i'd like one night of uninterrupted sleep!
what else, what else. oh . . . **i am selling a brand new 8x external DVD-RW from dell.** my beau needed to get a new laptop before heading to kuwait for a year because his is, well, a piece of crap. continuously freezing, shutting itself down, running slower than whatever runs slow in the first place. so we signed up for a dell account to get the computer for him. i needed an external DVD drive for my computer since i have this little tiny laptop and it doesn't have one. dell had their drives on sale, so i added that to the cart, along with a messenger bag for the laptop and an external hard drive, to put all my music on. somehow everything was shipped twice and i was charged twice on my card. when i called today to find out about returning everything (excluding the extra hard drive cuz my beau is keeping that for his new laptop so that he can have movies and music for his year in kuwait), the guy offered me a $40 credit on my account if i kept all the other stuff. the bag is really cute -- red and black -- and would be perfect for things other than a 9" screen laptop (so i am selling the second one of those, too) and the DVD-RW is still in the box. i paid $89 for it and am asking $60. so keep that in mind if you know anyone who might want it. and i am even willing to ship it to whomever buys it (keep that in mind, john and hayley). otherwise, ask around and see if you know anyone who wants either the bag or the DVD thing. i can provide pictures, should you want them. i'd post them now, however i haven't taken any and i'm being lazy and totally laying on the couch as i write this. so there.
can't think of anything else to write, really. i might try to take a quick power nap since last night was one of those nights where i was up sick for hours and i really didn't sleep well. once my beau gets home, we're going to dinner at mama's and then swimming afterwards:
**i sure hope that the water stays warm!**
7.07.2009
a day in the life . . .
**being sick sucks.**
i have had some sort of stomach flu for the past two days. it started sunday evening and i am still feeling it today. i am very bored since i can't be away from a toilet for more than 10 minutes at a time. i have been mostly laying around the house and **doing a whole lot of nothing.** i managed to water the back lawn today and i'm going to venture into the kitchen to make chili in a minute, if i have all the ingredients. if not, my beau will just have to have turkey salad or something for dinner. i feel like i should have dinner on the table since he is at work everyday.
and speaking of work . . . he is thoroughly enjoying his new job. he says that the people are all very nice and that they have all the cokes someone could want to drink **for free.** he assures me, however, that he is not drinking any of them. we are supposed to be eating very healthy and not having coke **although i admit i've had a lot of sprite over the last couple of days due to my illness** and going to the gym. so far, i've accomplished a bit of the healthy eating. but i guess that is veering off subject. so back to his job. so his supervisor (also the guy who hired him) told him that one of the girls they have working in kuwait is prolly going to be quitting in the next week or so. she is in kuwait right now and is miserable. she is due home for her r&r next week and he doesn't believe she will be back.
**enter my resume**
my beau's supervisor told him that i am the top candidate being considered for her position, should she quit. he had already looked over my resume and apparently everyone there is pretty impressed with my "skills" and computer knowledge. i am hoping that she quits, as horrible as that sounds. i am looking forward to going back to work and the money to be made in kuwait is just ridiculous. so everyone cross your fingers and hope that i get that job!
i guess it's time for me to throw something together for dinner. if it's chili, it will take a couple of hours to cook. i still don't know if i have everything, but if i don't, maybe i can convince my mama or heather to run to the store for me. **heaven knows i hate using public restrooms.**
i have had some sort of stomach flu for the past two days. it started sunday evening and i am still feeling it today. i am very bored since i can't be away from a toilet for more than 10 minutes at a time. i have been mostly laying around the house and **doing a whole lot of nothing.** i managed to water the back lawn today and i'm going to venture into the kitchen to make chili in a minute, if i have all the ingredients. if not, my beau will just have to have turkey salad or something for dinner. i feel like i should have dinner on the table since he is at work everyday.
and speaking of work . . . he is thoroughly enjoying his new job. he says that the people are all very nice and that they have all the cokes someone could want to drink **for free.** he assures me, however, that he is not drinking any of them. we are supposed to be eating very healthy and not having coke **although i admit i've had a lot of sprite over the last couple of days due to my illness** and going to the gym. so far, i've accomplished a bit of the healthy eating. but i guess that is veering off subject. so back to his job. so his supervisor (also the guy who hired him) told him that one of the girls they have working in kuwait is prolly going to be quitting in the next week or so. she is in kuwait right now and is miserable. she is due home for her r&r next week and he doesn't believe she will be back.
**enter my resume**
my beau's supervisor told him that i am the top candidate being considered for her position, should she quit. he had already looked over my resume and apparently everyone there is pretty impressed with my "skills" and computer knowledge. i am hoping that she quits, as horrible as that sounds. i am looking forward to going back to work and the money to be made in kuwait is just ridiculous. so everyone cross your fingers and hope that i get that job!
i guess it's time for me to throw something together for dinner. if it's chili, it will take a couple of hours to cook. i still don't know if i have everything, but if i don't, maybe i can convince my mama or heather to run to the store for me. **heaven knows i hate using public restrooms.**
7.05.2009
drains, lemon tarts and jobs
so my beau and i have been doing some stuff around the house to clean and whatnot. my roommate also helps me a lot, too. but last night, when i was getting ready to get out of the shower, i looked down and decided it was time to clean out the drain. i got all the hair off the top of it, which honestly wasn't that much cuz i clean it frequently. however, i couldn't get down under the drain cuz there are no screws holding the drain in and i have tried to pull it off several times, to no avail.
step in my white knight.
he got a pair of old tweezers and popped the drain off. i won't proceed to tell you all what nastiness existed below the surface, but i will say that it was grody enough for me to leave the bathroom so i wouldn't puke! i guess it's cuz i used to have a recurring dream a few years back in which **someone would force me to eat the hair and gunk**from the drain. now, i can't look at it without thinking about that dream and making myself wanna puke everywhere.
okay . . . now that i blogged about that dithguthing topic, i will blog about another: iced lemon pound cake from starbucks.
this used to be my **favorite**snack EVER. even though it has like 86 carbs PER SLICE, i used to get it every week, on either saturday or sunday. my beau and i went to get an iced passion lemonade today from there and he really wanted a treat. so he ordered that. i took a bite and it was awful. the cake is super dry and the frosting on it is like confectioner's (is that the word i'm looking for?) icing . . . sugar and water. it's pretty horrible. my suggestion if you're there and looking for something sweet and lemony? the lemon tart. almost perfection.
and another side note: **my beau starts his new job tomorrow.** we are both pretty excited about this, although i admit i will prolly spend most of the day bored out of my mind since he'll be gone. i'm hoping (and cross your fingers here) to start up at the gym hardcore tomorrow. we'll see how that goes. heaven knows i was just looking at some pictures of me at the lake on july 3rd and i need to lose a few pounds!
once again **wish me luck!**
step in my white knight.
he got a pair of old tweezers and popped the drain off. i won't proceed to tell you all what nastiness existed below the surface, but i will say that it was grody enough for me to leave the bathroom so i wouldn't puke! i guess it's cuz i used to have a recurring dream a few years back in which **someone would force me to eat the hair and gunk**from the drain. now, i can't look at it without thinking about that dream and making myself wanna puke everywhere.
okay . . . now that i blogged about that dithguthing topic, i will blog about another: iced lemon pound cake from starbucks.
this used to be my **favorite**snack EVER. even though it has like 86 carbs PER SLICE, i used to get it every week, on either saturday or sunday. my beau and i went to get an iced passion lemonade today from there and he really wanted a treat. so he ordered that. i took a bite and it was awful. the cake is super dry and the frosting on it is like confectioner's (is that the word i'm looking for?) icing . . . sugar and water. it's pretty horrible. my suggestion if you're there and looking for something sweet and lemony? the lemon tart. almost perfection.
and another side note: **my beau starts his new job tomorrow.** we are both pretty excited about this, although i admit i will prolly spend most of the day bored out of my mind since he'll be gone. i'm hoping (and cross your fingers here) to start up at the gym hardcore tomorrow. we'll see how that goes. heaven knows i was just looking at some pictures of me at the lake on july 3rd and i need to lose a few pounds!
once again **wish me luck!**
7.04.2009
the third and fourth
yesterday was a good day. heidi's family is here from arkansas and we all decided to go down to inks lake state park. her family, mama and daddy, me and my beau, scott and val all loaded up and we headed that way. heidi grabbed some chicken from walmart as well as some chips and drinks. we had an informal picnic and played games. jacob even beat me in scrabble! it was a bit hot, though, and i never swim in lake water, so we left pretty quickly. stayed about two hours before we rolled out. everyone followed shortly afterwards. we came back to the house and i brought some movies i rented for the kids. had i known that "hotel for dogs" and "high school musical 3" were going to be so bad, i would've left them at the redbox! i also rented "spiderwick chronicles" but they haven't watched that yet. maybe tomorrow after church.
today has been pretty . . . good, i guess. i slept in really late and then headed to mama's house for the festivities. we had a family barbecue at 2pm and ate *tons* of good food. everyone went swimming after and then headed onto fort hood for fireworks. i opted not to go, though . . . too hot and too crowded. so basically, we're sitting at mama's house while mostly everyone else is gone. chad and scott are here with a couple of their friends. honestly, i'm kind of waiting for them to leave so that my beau and i can go swimming. we'll see how long that takes.
anyhow . . . i am posting some pics of our time at the lake yesterday. enjoy and happy fourth to everyone!
today has been pretty . . . good, i guess. i slept in really late and then headed to mama's house for the festivities. we had a family barbecue at 2pm and ate *tons* of good food. everyone went swimming after and then headed onto fort hood for fireworks. i opted not to go, though . . . too hot and too crowded. so basically, we're sitting at mama's house while mostly everyone else is gone. chad and scott are here with a couple of their friends. honestly, i'm kind of waiting for them to leave so that my beau and i can go swimming. we'll see how long that takes.
anyhow . . . i am posting some pics of our time at the lake yesterday. enjoy and happy fourth to everyone!
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