cuz Lesley said I had to

Her blog, her rules

1. Where is your cell phone? counter
2. Where is your significant other? searching
3. Your hair color? brownish
4. Your mother? inquisitive
5. Your father? strong
6. Your favorite thing? WJ
7. Your dream last night? eerie
8. Your dream/goal? happiness
9. The room you're in? kitchen
10. Your hobby? GH
11. Your fear? death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? stable
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? boring
15. One of your wish-list items? Dyson
16. Where you grew up? Cali
17. The last thing you did? sleep
18. What are you wearing? jammies
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? Jake
21. Your computer? ThinkPad
22. Your mood? FUD
23. Missing someone? always!
24. Your car? Focus
25. Something you're not wearing? panties
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? gone
28. Love someone? yes
29. Your favorite color? black
30. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? Sunday

Now it's your turn!

yeah, it's been awhile!

I've been pinged by a few of you asking "Are you ever going to blog again?"

Well, it's not an original excuse, but it's the truth. I've been busy! Truly busy. Not too busy to keep reading everything all of you are writing about, and occasionally comment. Just too busy to give blogging any real thought.

I've noticed a few of you doing a meme that was started by Avitable, and that I found over at Kapgar's. Maybe this will get my juices flowing to start writing again since I really miss it.

Here's my take on things...

My favorite age: 40 – truly the best year of my life… so far!

My best friend: Stacie and Groove – sometimes they both know more about me than I know about me.

My celebrity crush: Sean Connery – yummy!

My defining characteristic: I’m told it’s my blue eyes.

My most evil moment: Do you think I’d honestly put that in writing? Those who were with me know, and they’ll never tell either.

My favorite food: That’s a hard one. If I had to pick only one I’d say enchiladas, but any and all pasta comes in close second.

My grossest injury: The bloodiest was when I sliced the tip of my finger off while shaving potatoes on a mandolin, but I think the bruise on my ass from slipping off the stairs going out my back door was the ugliest.

My biggest hatred: People who whine, ask for advice and then never do anything to help themselves.

My most illegal activity: I plead the 5th on this one.

My need for justice: What goes around, comes around.

My most knowledgeable field: Having fun!

My life's goal: To quote an unknown author, "Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."

My mother's influence: Being inquisitive.

My nerdiest point: Having the clothes in my closet sorted and grouped by color.

My oldest memory: Coming home from my Grandmother’s house on Thanksgiving when I was 5 and finding that someone had broken in and turned the house “upside down” taking stuff. Didn’t sleep right for months.

My perfect date: Date? What’s that?

My unanswered question: Why with the power of the Death Star do we not have a tray that is fucking dry?

My random fact: I haven’t been on an airplane in over 4 years.

My stupidest decision: Quitting college to work full-time after getting my Associates degree.

My favorite television show: Survivor. Season premiere is tomorrow!

My style of underwear: VS thongs.

My favorite vegetable: Corn – any form – and tomatoes.

My weakest trait: I’m with Kevin on this one. Delegating tasks. I like to be in control.

My X-men power: I know nothing about X-men, so I had to look this one up. I’ll go with telekinesis like Jean Grey.

My strongest yearning: To live happy.

My moment of Zen: Relaxing with friends.

when the working day is done, oh girls... they wanna have fun

The past month has been a complete beeyotch, workwise. I spend nine to twelve hours a day working, most of those hours in meetings, and then trying frantically to catch up with all the work that didn't get done during the aforementioned snooze sessions. By the time the weekend rolls around I'm faced with mountains of household chores that need done, a yard turning into a jungle, and a little man that wants to suck up as much time with his "old, fun" mommy as he can.

One of the yearly requirements for all employees of The Winnebago is to complete a series of mandatory training. They make it very convenient for us by providing the classes on-line so we can do them whenever, and wherever, we find the time. Time is the one thing I don't have nearly enough of, so... Do you see the problem here?

The other day management sends us a gentle reminder to complete our classes that reads something like this:

"...if not already completed, please work on the mandatory training. I find
taking them during boring meetings kills two birds with one stone."

Uh, okay. So what you're saying is we shouldn't need to pay attention in the meeting therefore nullifying our need for attending in the first place? Okay, yeah!

For the record, I won't be getting to any of those "mandatory trainings" anytime soon. In fact next week, I won't be getting to very much work at all. I am taking a few hours off (I say hours cuz I'll still be monitoring email periodically and attending required meetings) to spend some much needed girl time with her majesty. She'll be here in two days. W00t!!

We've kept the schedule pretty open at this point but I can assure you there will be a lot of Rock Band/Guitar Hero playing, beer drinking, movie watching, pool playing, yakking, smoking, visiting the carnies, eating, shopping and otherwise girlish fun for 5 straight days. Because when the working day is done, oh girls... they wanna have fun. Oh girls, just wanna have fun!

he's done it again

Matt Harding, aka Dancing Matt, has done it again. He recently released his 2008 Dancing video which, in my opinion, is the best one yet. Check it out!



So now that his 2008 tour is over, Where The Hell is Matt?

name that tune - another iTunes meme

It's been awhile since I've done a good meme and found this one floating around. Hell, I might have already done it before, but if it's about tunes, it's always worth doing... even if it's for a second time.

Open up iTunes, if you have it (if not, improvise), and answer the following questions:

How many total songs?
423 songs, 1.1 days, 1.70 GB (I don't store all my tunes in iTunes, so there's LOTS more I just haven't imported)

Sort by song title - first and last
A*****e Father, Sick Puppies, Dressed Up As Life
(You Want To) Make a Memory, Bon Jovi, Lost Highway

Sort by time - shortest and longest
I Don't Care, Black Flag, Everything Went Black - 0:59 seconds
Free Bird, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Guitar Rock (1974-1975) - 9 minutes, 0:05 seconds

Sort by Album - first and last
Act III, Death Angel
Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!, Hellogoodbye

Sort by Artist - first and last
ABBA
Yes

Top five played songs:
Jump Jive 'n' Wail, Brian Setzer
Don't Know What You Got, Cinderella
All the Same, Sick Puppies
Clocks, Coldplay
Carry on Wayward Son, Kansas

Find the following words. How many songs show up?
Sex: 0
Death: 4
Love: 8
You: 59
Home: 10
Boy: 6
Girl: 8

First five songs that come up on Party Shuffle
What If, Creed
Pump Up the Jam, Technotronic
Everything About You, Ugly Kid Joe
My Own Prison, Creed
You And Me, Lifehouse

And now, all that remains is to tag. I tag:
If you're a music freak, consider yourself tagged

F is for...

It's been a holiday weekend full of fun, friends, food, fireworks, Rock Band frenzy and film! A much needed break from the chaos of working life, to be sure.

Friday afternoon just before we headed across the street to our friends' for a BBQ, I asked the little man if he wanted to bring his new Guitar Hero III with us. It was one of the games he got for his birthday and hadn't tried out yet, so we scooped up the unopened box, our food, bevvies, camera and whatever else we needed and headed across. After some yummy snacks (while the ribs, yum, were cooking) the kids went and set up the game.



While having fun, it's kinda hard to play Guitar Hero III with only one guitar and three kids. I headed back to the house to retrieve the guitar from Rock Band in hopes it would be compatible. Not. So. Much. After dinner, diappointed that the guitars weren't working together, I asked the son to help me grab the remainder of Rock Band. (I'd been told the guitar from Guitar Hero worked with Rock Band - still not sure why it doesn't work in the reverse?).

Even the adults got in on it!

(You'll have to pretend there's a video here since Blogger was being a beeyotch and wouldn't load it.)

We finally found the perfect mix of talents for our band - friends' son on lead guitar, little man on bass, me on the drums, and friends' daughter singing. We played and played for hours until it finally got dark enough to head outside for the fire works (if you could really call them that considering our city banned all fireworks a few years ago). Sorry for the crappy pics but my camera was out of battery so I had to use my Blackberry.

Saturday afternoon the little man and I finally went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I have to say though it wasn't one of my favorite of the bunch, it was still good and I'm happy we saw it on the big screen rather than waiting for the DVD.

When we got home there was a voicemail from our friends inviting us over for pie. We'd discovered the pie we tried to eat the night before was still raw in the middle despite it supposedly being a fully cooked, ready to eat pie from Safeway. But in true Safeway fashion, when they returned the pie yesterday, they were given a new one (with apologies) and this time it was fully cooked and yummo! After pie and ice cream I asked if anyone was up for another round "road trip" (aka round of Rock Band) and we headed back to our house for more frenzy.

Our band name... The Goofballs!

Hope you've all had a safe and fun holiday weekend!

8 years ago

It's hard to believe that 8 years ago today this little man made his grand entrance into the world. Where does the time go?

Happy Birthday, Sweetpea! I love you more than you'll ever know!!

remember me? - the final round

As I was trying to clean up my inbox this morning I realized that there's only one word to describe me these days. Slacker!! That's right. Complete and total slacker on anything that doesn't have to do with work, my kiddo, and/or the necessities of life.

I found two sets of questions that I never answered. Oy! Sorry girls. Here's the Q&A for the final round of Remember me?

Hilly wants to know:
1. What do you think of Angelina Jolie?
DSL, baby! DSL!!!

2. When did you last eat a cupcake?
Ummm... maybe a year ago? Sad, I know.

3. Boxers or Briefs? (on men) Why?
Boxers. They leave a little something to the imagination.

4. What did you last buy that made you happy?
A piece of artwork in celebration of my previous, tumultuous three years.

5. What's your favorite time of the day?
First thing in the morning, when the kiddo's still sleeping, and I'm hanging out, waking up, and trying to keep up with all you verbous bloggers.

6. How would you teach the world to sing?
In perfect harmony?

LOL

I used to sing (in public) when I was younger, and I've been told that my voice doesn't totally suck, but I seriously doubt anyone would want me teaching anyone, let alone the world, to sing.

7. Whom would you most like to get drunk with?
Stacie. I'm trying to help her come out of her shell!

38 more days, baby!!! W00t!!!!

**************************************************

And Nicki (as my final inquisitor) wants to know:

1. What do you think of boochachas?
I've been told on more than one occassion that I've got a pretty nice set of them.

2. When did you last fart?
About 30 minutes ago

3. Boxers or Briefs? Why?
See question #3 above

4. What did you dream of last night?
I was so tired last night, I didn't dream.

I go through stages where I have very, very elaborate dreams for nights on end and then total dry spells with nothing I remember. Last weekend I had a few doozies, but nothing since then.

5. What's your favorite blog? - I can answer this one - Everybody Else is Doing It.
Indeed. LOL

6. How would you tip a stripper?
Is this a male or a female stripper?

The female strippers don't seem to like me much being that the guys aren't giving them (the strippers) their undivided attention.

7. Whom would you most like to poison?
Oh, that's an easy one! Can you say beeyotch!??! I knew you could.

Thanks to everyone who participated! I'm sure you don't know me any better than you did before this all started. But, hell! At least I blogged a few times this month.

my friend went to Canada and all i got was...

Disclaimer: Please do not lecture me on the dangers of smoking. This post is not meant to endorse anything. I am simply sharing what I think is humorous. If you can't read this and laugh along with me, you've got bigger problems than I do.

Groove spent the weekend in Canada, much like he does a couple of times a year. Fun was had by all, from what I've been told.

Along his trip, despite my persistence that he wasn't packing enough cigarettes to last the trip, he found himself without and was forced to track down a pack or two at one of the out of the way liquor stores that sell the product that shouldn't be in the public view of children. Don't believe me? Look at the proof.

My very own pack of smokes from Canada, complete with the following warning from Health Canada:

WARNING: Second-hand smoke contains carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde, benzo[a]pyrene and nitrosamines. These chemicals can harm your children.

And if that's not bad enough, check out the "You CAN quit smoking!" card inside the box.

And here I thought the US smoking laws were bad! Sheesh!!

remember me? - Round 2

Well the week got away from me again, but I still have more questions that need answering so here's the next round.

Stacie wants to know:

1. What do you think of your new blackberry?

I'm addicted! Now if I could just get you added as a contact. Grrr!!

2. When did you last go on a road trip?

Depends on what your definition of a road trip is. If it's just driving for longer than an hour or so away from home, then it was the middle of last month when I went to Oregon. Otherwise I guess I'd have to say it was March '01 when I moved to WA from Arizona.

3. Skiing or rock climbing? Why?

I really wouldn't pick either, but I'll take skiing. Keeping my feet on the ground sounds better than dangling in mid air.

4. What did you want the most for Christmas as a kid?

A 10-speed bicycle. I finally got one right before going into the 6th grade and promptly told my parents to keep it since I was also told the reason they'd finally bought me one was because I was being sent to a new school that was further away.

5. What's your favorite laundry detergent?

Tide

6. How would you like to come visit me?

Nah. That doesn't sound like much fun at all. :P

7. Whom would you most like to kick?

Depends on the day, but in general, stupid drivers.

****************

And Groove asks:

1. What do you think of free soda?

Free is always good.

2. When did you last mamba horizontally?

I don't mamba, or limbo, or any other latin dancing. But thanks for asking.

3. Silk or Cotton? Why?

Cotton. I'm a low maintenance kinda girl.

4. What did you have fun doing last week?

Playing pool.

5. What's your favorite pick-up line?

Is it time? LOL

6. How would you break into a sperm bank?

Doubtful I'd ever want/need to break into a sperm bank considering I'm done having kidlets.

7. Whom would you most like to (Damn Sizzle stole it) rub virgin olive oil into their scalp?

You! I'd take all those long locks you're growing, lube 'em up, then slick 'em back.

remember me? - Round 1

Wow! I'm shocked there's still any of you who care enough to check up on li'l old me. Makes a girl feel kinda special!

Here's Round 1 of the Q&A from the Remember Me? questions I posted yesterday. (I'm calling this Round 1 assuming there might be another round. Then again, maybe no one else cares. We'll see. LOL)

Here are Sizzle's questions:

1. What do you think of the LOST season finale?

LOST? What is this LOST you speak of? I know I've been missing for awhile, but I had no idea they'd created a finale about it.

2. When did you last get a pedicure?

Um... never. In case I haven't already mentioned it before I have a foot phobia. Now, let me just say that doesn't keep me from putting on my "party toes" during the sandal wearing season (are we ever going to have one out here this year?), but the idea of someone else touching my feet. Ewww!!!

3. Chocolate or Vanilla? Why?

Definitely chocolate. There is no other choice.

4. What did you do on Sunday?

This past Sunday I got up, read through blogs (yes, I still read even though I don't post or comment much), yakked with Stacie for a bit, put away some laundry, washed some more laundry, talked to my Dad, showered, watched NASCAR, went to the grocery store, played hide-n-seek out front with the little man and all the other neighbor kids, made dinner, checked work email, then vegged out in front of the TV.

5. What's your favorite pizza topping?

Honestly I don't have a favorite. There's truly one two things I won't eat on a pizza - anchovies and cashews.

6. How would you explain a prolonged absence without really giving anything away?

There's this thing called work. It pays my bills. It keeps me working strange hours. It's even been known to make me think once or twice. And... it's definitely gotten in the way of my personal computer time. And then there's this other thing about taking a break and not really posting much of anything of personal nature because snooping eyes (you know who you are) like to read about it.

7. Whom would you most like to shag?

Stacie.

Okay, not really. But if I swung that way...

I could go with someone obvious like Matthew McConaughey, but I'd like a sexy man with more experience so I'll say Sean Connery.

********

And here's Kim's questions:

1. What did you think of all natural disasters in the world?

Apocalypse. I know where I'm headed when it comes.

2. When did you last go to the theater?

You know it's been too long when you can't remember. I think it was either Meet the Robinsons or Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Whichever came to the theater 2nd.

3. Sweet or Salty? Why?

Yes. One always follows the other. There is no separation.

4. What did you eat for breakfast?

I don't eat breakfast, so Diet Coke and a smoke it is.

5. What's your favorite thing to do in the evening?

Relax on the phone with friends and have a couple of beers.

6. How would you quit your job if you could do it any way you want?

Oh, I'm in NO way thinking of quitting my job since I've worked very, very hard to get it and hold on to it, but... if I was going to quit, it'd depend on the circumstances. I pretty much don't like to leave a place in a bad way just in case I ever need to go back to them for whatever reason, but in my wild imagination I'd walk up to everyone I've ever thought was a moron and tell them directly to their faces.

Quite the imagination, eh?

7. Whom would you most like to meet?

You.

Hehe! Okay, you and a bunch of the other bloggers I've gotten to know over the past few years. I just never seem to be able to make any of the meet ups that are scheduled either because of work, lack of funds, or whatever.

remember me?

I know it's been months since I've posted anything. What can I say? I've been busy? I've not had anything to write (bullshit)? I've been a slacker (mayhaps!)? Whatever.

It's not that I don't think of posting, I just don't do it. But when I saw Chag's Libs I figured I'd throw one out there for myself on the off chance there's still anyone who checks up on me periodically to see what I think.

With that said, here you go. Leave a comment filling in the blanks to the questions and I'll answer them in a future post. Whatever you want. Within reason, of course.

1. What do you think of ________?

2. When did you last ________?

3. ________ or ________? Why?

4. What did you ________?

5. What's your favorite ________?

6. How would you ________?

7. Whom would you most like to ________?

You know you want to.

birthdays are for those who still count the months

It's that time of year again. Time to start the official birthday countdown, that is. In four short days I will officially be forty and twelve-months of age. Why 'forty and twelve-months' instead of forty-one?

I am mourning the loss of my fortieth year! Seriously!!

With all its ups and downs (those things I didn't blog about) it was a mighty fine year, indeed. I had some pretty big shake-ups in my life and worked through all of them, one at a time. It was a year of growth, self-realizaton, and freedom. But I'm not ready to move on from saying "I'm forty!"

When I'm 85 and tooling down the nursing home hallway trying to escape being knocked over I'll still be saying "I'm forty and one-thousand and twenty months!" Not sure if I'll be able to remember how to calculate that. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

speaking of eggscellent

Enjoy!

eggscellent in someone elses eyes

Well lookie here! Just when you think you've made the decision to go into hibernation and contemplate shutting things down permanently someone (Kevin) goes and gives ya a damned award. (Did the check arrive yet, Kev?)

Seriously, thanks buddy for thinking of me! I wouldn't have thought to give one to myself, so I'll thank you for doing it for me.

Now for the rules of the award:

1. Identify the originator of this award, and link so (s)he can get his well-deserved traffic. Again, that would be my buddy Kevin, blog writer extraordinaire over at kapgar.
2. Pass on at least 10 Excellent Blog Awards.

So now it's time to pay it forward. Ten blogs? Hmm! It's not going to be hard to pick 10, it's just finding 10 that haven't already received the big E. Alrighty... here we go in no particular order cuz I luv them all equally.

• Everybody Else is Doing It
• Cynical Dad
• patron saint of smart mouths
• L.A. Daddy
• It's a Pug's Life
• Make it a Double
• stickyfeathers
• the weirdgirl
• Creative-Type Dad
• Never what you think it should be...

There ya have it. If you're not on my list it doesn't mean I luv you any less, so don't send the hit squad over just yet. And if you haven't checked out these eggscellent bloggers, do. They keep me laughing and smiling and thinking with every post.

and here I thought it was Spring!?! wth?

Because I've been gone so long, a meme for you

A MEME IN PICTURES (stolen shamelessly from Hilly & Karl)
Here’s how it works:
1. Go to www.photobucket.com
2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box
3. Use only the first page
4. Insert the picture into your Blog

1.) What is your relationship status?



2.) What is your current mood?



3.) Who is your favorite band/artist?



4.) What is your favorite movie?



5.) What kind of pet do you have?



6.) Where do you live?



7.) Where do you work?



8.) What do you look like?



9.) What do you drive?



10.) What did you do last night?



11.) What is your favorite TV show?



12.) Describe yourself.



13.) What are you doing today?



14.) What is your name?



15.) What is your favorite candy?

birthday wishes and sloppy kisses

Because I'm a total slacker as of late, but mostly because I doubt I could top this one, enjoy a repost from last year in honor of Groove's birthday. And as last year, feel free to leave him lots of birthday wishes and sloppy kisses here. He really likes them sloppy kisses! Hehe!

So without further ado, Ode to My Friend Groove. Luv ya!

Your name is Groove
and you often act rude,
except for the times
you feel the need to be lewd.

You're evil and silly,
and smart as a whip,
but one thing's for certain
you don't take any shit.

The tough act you flaunt
makes everyone stare,
so I won't let them know
you're a big teddy bear.

You've given me guidance,
support, and laughing fits,
and rained piss on my "party"
when I'm down in the pits.

So, today, on your birthday
I just want to say,
you're a friend to the end.
Go have fun... and get laid.

Happy Birthday Groove!!

surprise packages

I love getting presents! Especially surprise presents that come in the mail. There's nothing better than opening the mailbox to find a key to one of the bigger lock boxes and know you didn't order something, yet there's a box waiting for you. The kind that contain something personal - a luxury just for me. I had one of those surprise packages waiting for me yesterday. (I'm sure it was actually there on Thursday, but since I completely had the DAY FROM HELL that day, I never bothered to stop and check for mail.)

When we FINALLY got home last night after making countless stops to pick things up on the way home - trust me, DO NOT plan errand running on a Friday evening - I grabbed the mail, and my surprise package, unloaded the car, put everything away, checked email, and got on the phone. Never even opened the box. Yeah, I'm weird like that.

Around 8:30pm my mother calls. "Did you get the box I sent, or did the USPS lose it?"

I told her it was here but I hadn't opened it yet. She couldn't understand what in hell I was waiting for. Frankly, neither could I, but as I mentioned, I'm weird like that. So she pushes and says "Go open it now." {sigh} If I must.

Sometimes my mom's pushing and prodding drives me crazy but was I ever happy she pushed me to open the box. Take a look what was inside.....

My mom ROCKS!!! Buh-bye my old friends, you've been replaced.

thinking differently

I was tagged last week by Jenny at stickyfeathers for this thinking challenge. To get the blah blah out of the way, here's the rules..... Write a blog post about thinking differently. Let them know it's part of the Think Different Challenge and include a link and/or trackback to this post. At the end go ahead and tag some fellow bloggers. Don’t forget to let them know they've been tagged.

Wow this is a tough one! At the ripe old age of forty my opinion meter is pretty well stuck on most subjects. I’ve sat here running through things I might be able to think differently about and am really stretching on this one. Don’t know that I can actually pull it off, but it’s worth putting in writing I suppose.

The thing I’d like to start thinking differently about is me. That’s right, me. I am totally my own worst critic (I think?). I’m pretty damned hard on myself and hold myself to a much higher standard than I do anyone else. Why is this? Was it the way I was raised? Was there some turning point in my life that I can’t quite pin down? Who the hell knows, but I’m willing to examine it and give it shot, so here goes.

The physical me
One would think after working hard to lose a whopping 45 lbs. I’d have a better self-image. One would be wrong. Any time I look in the mirror I find something, and more times than not multiple something(s), to criticize. From my muffin top to my hair to my double-chin, all are open targets. And I won’t even tell you how disgusted the wide load I carry on the back side makes me. I want to start looking in the mirror and seeing the positive, the progress I’ve made, and not worry so much about what’s left to work on.

The emotional me
I’m a worrier. I worry about anything and everything. Sadly many of my worries are things that are out of my control, such as problems my friends are facing that the intellectual side of me knows I can’t fix but the emotional side wants to. I want to continue to be as supportive as I can but stop sweating what I know I cannot change. Maybe this will help with my erratic sleep cycle?

The intellectual me
Haha! What intellectual me? See, there I go criticizing myself again. I’ve never claimed to be the sharpest crayon in the box but I’m certainly not the dullest either. For years I’ve beat myself up for not finishing my college degree. I know, it’s never too late, yet right now I really can’t see (read as “afford”) finishing it. I want to stop using it as an excuse for not finding that ideal job. I want to use the brain power I know I harness for bettering myself. I just wish my brain wasn’t always so tired.

So there you have it. I want/need to start thinking differently about me. Let’s see what these people want to think differently about…

Liss at Epiphanies & Random Thoughts
Nicki at Everybody Else is Doing It
Lesley at patron saint of smart mouths