Ummm, the bachelor pad is down the hall

After being stuck in traffic on Wednesday night for 2 hours, I finally got home and was able to make my pies for Thanksgiving.  It’s always my favorite part! 

Jeff found this great 80’s station on our cable box, so I was dancing around the kitchen while I was making my pies.  I also kept using the spoon as a microphone and singing at the top of my lungs.  I’m fully convinced that food tastes better when you dance while making it.  I think the recipe should read “Apples?  check.  Sugar? check.  Love added when mixing?  Check, check.  Did you dance around the kitchen while stiring?  CHECK!!!”

Since I was a little preoccupied with the pies, I decided to wait a little bit to make dinner.  Jeff came in the kitchen in the middle of me belting out Whitney’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and just started laughing at me.  He decided to take matters into his own hands and make himself a bowl of Chef Boyardee goodness.  How hard could that be, right????

Well, pretty hard since I was monopolizing the stovetop space.  Alas, I relented and allowed him one burner for him to use.  After having to show him where the pans are actually kept, he opened his can and got to cooking.

Everything was going swimmingly.  Me dancing around like a lunatic, him just trying not to make eye contact lest he be drawn into my crazy rain dance.

Once he decided his food was warm enough, he asked me the question that I will never forget: “So should I get a bowl or just eat right out of the pan?”  I looked at him, trying to figure out what the punchline was, but he was not laughing.  “Are you serious?”, I said.  “Well, yes.  This pan has a nice handle, I could just hold it while I eat out of the pan.”  “But the pan is hot!” I said.  “Well, I’ll just use a trivet!” (This is now one of his favorite words that he learned from me.  Before we lived together, if you had asked him what a trivet is, he might have said a tasty dessert.  Now he tries to use it in every sentance at dinnertime.  It’s actually kinda funny.) 

I told him that might have flied when he was living his single bachelor pad lifestyle, but here in the adult cultured world, we do actually use bowls, plates, real silverware, etc.  I have never once set the dinner table with a spork!  Coincidentally, he never really cooked when he lived alone.  I beginning to wonder if there was maybe a hot pan accident gone wrong that singed the desire to cook right out of him.  I tried envisioning what that would be like, but all I could do was keep laughing.

Shaking my head, I handed him a bowl and told him that I would be MORE than happy to wash one more bowl instead of making him eat out of the pan like he was some camper lost in the woods.  Although now that I think about it, I almost wish I would have let him do it just so I could take pictures of him and mock him about it later.

Gobblin’, gobblin’, gobblin’!

I woke Jeff up this morning by saying “Gobble, gobble, gobble!” and now it’s stuck in my head.  And now I keep singing “I’m a Rambling Man” but substituting gobbling for rambling.  Ah, what a great way to start the day…..with a song stuck in my head!!  Fabulous!!

Well, we’re just about ready for Thanksgiving here.  I’m hoping to leave work early if possible.  The traffic going my way is horrific on holidays.  Last night, it took me an hour and a half to go 20 miles.  Do that math and that’s driving PRETTY SLOW!!!  Tonight I’m sure it will be worse, so I made sure to have some good tunes in the car and some comfy shoes for sitting on the clutch. 

I get to go home today and make my wonderful apple and pumpkin pies.  Several people in my family ask for these pies on a fairly regular basis.  I think there would be mutiny if I decided for some reason not to make them one year.  Yikes!!  But I do love to make them, so I don’t think that will happen.  And after 3 trips to the grocery store, I finally remembered to pick up some apples!!!  Sheesh!!  I’m losing my mind and I’m only 27!!!

I’m still debating going out shopping on Friday.  Now mind you, I won’t be crazy and going out at FOUR IN THE MORNING!!!  Yes, that’s what time Kohl’s is opening.  Let me just tell you that I will DEFINITELY still be in my happy dreamland at that unholy hour!  But I was talking to Jeff about possibly going out sometime that day.  He just looked at me like I was crazy (possible!) and tried bribing me, saying that if I stayed home, we could snuggle all day.  Hmmm…..very tempting!  He knows what will get me! 

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!!  What are your plans?

Roads?? Where we’re going, we don’t need…..roads!

So I’ve been a little bit of a slacker and haven’t posted for a week.  I know, I know, but sometimes there’s this little thing called WORK that needs to get done.  And I’m attached to my crack, aka my Kindle.  I’m also working on my online classes, which are going well.  I finished my first class 2 weeks ago.  For those curious, I received a B in the class.  Hey I’m not looking to break any world records with my grades.  I just want to finish!!  But I was still happy with the grade because I kinda sucked on the quizzes.  It doesn’t make much sense because they were all open book tests, but for some reason, just knowing it was a quiz kinda freaked my freak and messed me up.  Oh well.  It’s done, and now I’m on to business taxation.  Woo hoo!!! 

I was able to take a little breather by going on a spa excursion with my friend Mrs. Kitty.  She posted a blog about her birthday and how she was planning on getting a massage on Friday, along with going shopping for an ab-FAB purse and getting her hair done.  I did have to work and I wasn’t able to join her for the shopping (dang it!!!) but I was determined to meet her for the massage.

Before her wedding, she and I, along with another great friend, had a spa day that was heaven on earth.  Massage + facial + mani/pedi+ great friends + lots of laughs = GREAT TIMES!!!  I can’t afford to do that very often but how many times does your best friend get married???  (Just once I hope because  I like Mr. Cat!!)

I begged and pleaded with my manager and promised her my first-born to let me leave a little early on Friday to meet her.  We made an appointment at 5:00pm in SCV.  Now granted, I work in Encino and had to drive to SCV (about 20 miles away, but with Friday traffic, it usually takes 45+ minutes).  My manager had errands that she needed to run, but she promised to be back in the office by 4:30, 4:45 at the latest.  She wanted me to wait until she got back to the office before I left.  Riiiigghhhhtttt, because clients are really likely to call on a Friday at the end of the day!  I don’t think so!!

Well, I stayed as long as I could.  I knew she wouldn’t be back in time, so I left the office around 4:15.  I figured I would need that much time to get there.  Boy was I right!!!  Traffic was crazy!!  I ended up driving in the carpool lane (yikes!!!) for most of the way.  I was driving like a mad woman!!!  I was going to need a massage after the heart attack I was about to have! 

To make matters worse, traffic slowed down and was bumper to bumper.  I was stuck in the carpool lane, and who did I see on the side of the road????  A lovely CHP officer!!  Agghh!!!  I tried to keep as calm as I could and just inch along in the traffic, hoping he wouldn’t see me.  I kept my head down and stared straight ahead.  You don’t see me, you don’t see me!  Phew!!  I passed him with no problems, but I kept checking my rear view mirror to make sure he wasn’t about to pounce on me.  Mentally, I’m trying to come up with the best excuse I possibly can in case I am pulled over.  “My non-existent child needs me to pick him up from day care”.  “What, you mean I don’t have my kid in the backseat???  Oh crap!  I KNEW I was forgetting something!”  “Officer, I’m on my period and need to get home ASAP, if you know what I mean.”  “My doctor told me that if I hold my pee too long, I will inflame the already raging bladder infection that I have.  Do you by chance have a large cup I can borrow??” 

As I was creating my excuse in my head, another CHP officer pulled up by me.  Not only was this a second officer, but it was a motorcycle cop who was in the carpool lane with me and DROVE RIGHT NEXT TO MY CAR!!!  At this point, I was looking around the car for a paper bag because I was sure I was going to hyperventilate.  I was also looking on the dash to see if there was an invisibility button I could press to make my car unseen.  I’m normally a very law abiding citizen.  Granted, I do have a bit of a lead-foot but I still follow the laws of the road.  Thankfully, he just drove right past me as well, without even a second glance at my car. 

At the same time this is all happening, Mrs Kitty and I are text messaging (another no-no while driving in CA) about whether I will get there on time.  I finally said F-it, and dial her number.  As I’m on the phone with her, my manager calls me.  AGGHHH!!!  Can things get any worse???  I was sure that she was either going to A) ream me a new one for leaving early, or B) since she was calling from her cell phone, she would tell me to go ahead and leave because she wasn’t back yet.  Chances were good that it was B but I didn’t want to take that chance.  Click, into voicemail you go!!

I finally was able to get thru the mess of traffic (popping back into a new carpool lane that started on the 5…..no apparently I didn’t learn my lesson after the 2nd close call with my heart attack).  I zipped along and finally got the mall with about 5 minutes to spare.  I’m not sure how many traffic laws I broke in my race to relax, but it was more than one!! 

I finally got to a parking spot and hit the re-dial button on my phone to call Mrs. Kitty back and tell her that I had arrived.  I forgot that my manager had called me last and my phone started dialing her number.  I looked at it in horror, wondering what I ever did to it for it to betray me so.  I hit the end button so hard as I’m screaming “No, no!!!  Don’t call her!!!  Anyone but her right now!!!”  I’m sure the people standing on the sidewalk as I was walking past them in a deranged powerwalk were thinking I was crazy.  I decided maybe I should just turn off the phone and actually relax. 

Ok.  I’m in.  Phew!!  I quickly changed my clothes (probably the fastest that I’ve ever stripped!) and met Mrs Kitty in the quiet solarium where you are supposed to relax before your service.  I was so wired up that I didn’t think I could relax at all!  Luckily, once I saw her there and realized that the crisis had been averted, I did calm down a little bit.  Unfortunately she couldn’t do the massage, but she still was able to get a facial. 

She was called in first and I sat waiting for my tech to come get me.  And I waited.  And waited.  WTF!?!?!?  I started feeling like the last kid picked at school for kick ball.  Nobody wants me on their team!  Finally, after about 25 minutes of waiting (no exaggeration because even though I didn’t have my watch on, I was pacing like a lion on the prowl and glanced at the time on the a/c unit), my tech came thru the door to get me.  As we were walking down the hall, she started apologizing profusely that she had just had car troubles and she thought our appointment was at 5:30.  You mean, I could have taken my time in getting here????  Oy vay!!

I’m hot for teacher!

I have had this issue with my eye twitching since Thursday.  It is really super annoying because I think I look like a freak.  Which, in all actually, isn’t too far from the truth, but I digress.  Jeff said that he couldn’t even tell.  I kept rubbing my eyes to get them to stop twitching, which just weirds him out more cause he thinks I’ll hurt my eyes.  Surprisingly for someone who wears contacts and touches his eyes on a daily basis, he’s squeemish about seeing me do it.

I think it may be from *GASP* reading my Kindle too much.  I work 40 hours staring blankly working in front of 2 computer screens all day and then in my down time, I’m spending hours reading on my Kindle.  Which is pretty much what I did all day Sunday while Jeff played his videogame, and enjoyed my French Onion dip that didn’t end up going bad in the car on Saturday.  It was bliss!!!

I have glasses that I’m supposed to wear when I’m using the computer but who needs glasses???  I mean really???  So today I broke down and put them on at work.  And guess what???  NO MORE TWITCHING!!!!  Horray!!!

However, I did get my hair cut on Friday and I’m so not used to seeing myself with glasses.  Everytime I walk by a mirror, I scare myself a little bit.  I think it’s someone else.  Here are what my glasses look like:

(Model not included!)  They are purple cat eye glasses.  ‘Cuz that’s just the way I roll!!

So now when I walk by a mirror, I keep thinking that I should have my hair all pulled back with my glasses on.  I should swing my hair down and around, and look seductively at someone and start singing “I’m Hot For Teacher”.  Maybe jump up on a car or something.  Yes, I DO believe that I am stuck in an 80’s metal song and I’m the star.  What’s wrong with that????

Maybe I need to stop listening to Jack FM!!!!

A smoker’s paradise

The recent wildfires in Southern California must be a smoker’s paradise.  They are the only people who I think would be enjoying the abundance of smoke and ash everywhere.  I certainly don’t!

The Sylmar fire has moved farther up the 14 freeway towards us, and has completely engulfed the east side of the hillside.  It was like driving thru a barren wasteland this morning on my way to work.  And I was actually able to GET to work today since they decided to open the freeways again.

On Saturday, Jeff and I were planning on going into Hollywood to meet up with some friends.  As I leisurely got up that morning, I glanced out the window and saw quite a bit of smoke and fire coming from the hillside.  Hmmm…..that’s pretty close.  We decided to just continue on with our plans and head out to Hollywood.  We left a little early because we figured they may be diverting traffic.

Boy was that an understatement!!!  They had closed off all freeway and side street access out of Santa Clarita.  LOVELY!!!  That’s part of the problem with Santa Clarita….one way in and one way out.  Which is just fine if you don’t need to leave the valley, but we were doing our darnest to try.  Jeff was determined to get out of there though, so we were going to go the long way via the 126 (ie. WAY THE HECK OUT OF THE WAY!!!).  As we sat in stopped traffic forever, I kept telling Jeff that maybe we should do this another day.  He was determined.  All I could think about was my lovely french onion dip sitting in the backseat that was going bad as we sat there figuring out what to do.

We decided to swing thru a drive thru (mmmm…..Jimmy Dean’s!!) to grab some lunch, and thankfully we had Chatty Cathy as our server.  She informed us that all the freeways were shut down, and the 126 that we were planning on taking had an overturned big rig on it.  That was all the encouragement Jeff needed to turn the car around.  So we ate lunch in the car and headed back home.  Thankfully we could still get home.  We can see flames from our livingroom window, so it’s a little unnerving.

We ended up just spending the weekend at home relaxing.  We did have date night on Saturday.  We went out to see Role Models (hysterical!!!) and to dinner.  Then we went home for some more Buzz action on the PS3.  It turned out to be a really nice day.  Jeff and I tend to make everything an adventure and have fun no matter what we’re doing (even sitting in traffic!!!)  Thanks for the fun honey!!

Thought for the day

I got home from work early today and what did I decide to do???  Clean out the fridge.  I thought it would be a good time to do it since I was home before Jeff. 

In my cleaning, I came across a container of pesto, and the thought occured to me: “How can I tell if the pesto is bad?  It’s already green and I can’t smell a darn thing!!”

These are my ponderances as I go about my day!! 

Christmas shopping is underway

Today Jeff and I went out and started our Christmas shopping.  Jealous much???  I know you are!!  We tried to get a jump on it so we’re not fighting the crowds as the big day draws closer. 

We began at Costco, which was a mad house!  I’ve never seen so many cars there!  We ran into my aunt and uncle there, who were quite incredulous that we only bought a few items and were able to carry it to the car without a cart.  They, on the other hand, looked like they could have used a second cart to hold all their loot.  One of the good things about shopping with Jeff: in, out, on with life.

We also went to Toys R Us and the mall.  I was shocked I was able to get Jeff into a mall on a weekend.  Well, it was some stores on the outskirt of the mall, but close enough.  It was on mall property.  He HATES malls!!  Too many people, I suppose.  I can usually get him there on a week night because it’s not too crowded.  But on a Saturday???  Forget it!!  I might as well wait for the real Santa to climb down my non-existant chimney, ’cause that’s how soon I’ll get Jeff into a mall on a weekend.  What, there’s no Santa, you say????  Well, hell!!  There goes that idea!

But I will give him credit, he did go and we had a fun time.  We had lunch at Johnny Rockets, which being from the mid-west, he had never been to.  It’s very similar to a Steak ‘N Shake for all you mid-westerners out there.  We were be-bopping away to oldies music as we ate our burgers.  Yum!!  My kind of place. 

We were both very successful in our shopping.  I actually only have 3 more people to shop for, and Jeff is pretty close to finishing his list as well.  SWEET!!

During our shopping adventure, I started thinking about getting Christmas cards.  I love sending out Christmas cards and seeing the ones that I get in return.  I love the funny ones the best.  I also get cards that have pictures of people’s kids on them.  You know the ones I’m talking about.  Little Suzy and Bobby are sitting posed for the picture, while you can just tell they want to rip those bows out of her hair and go roll around in the mud for a while.  While these are very cute, I never know what to send out in reply.  Seeing as we don’t have kids, it wouldn’t make sense for us to send out pictures of random kids.  Hmmmm….maybe we SHOULD do that just to confuse the relatives that don’t see us on a regular basis.  “Look grandma, I have 3 kids to support.  Send money now!!”. 

Or my other thought is to take pictures of ourselves in random poses and send that out with our cards.  We could take pictures of us BBQ-ing, grocery shopping, or Jeff playing his video games with me reading next to him.  “This is our life”.

My favorite idea, though, has to be taking a picture of us, sleeping in until 11am while surrounded by piles of money, expensive electronic gadgets littered around the room.  I think this is what we should send out to every family that sends us a picture of their kids.  “This is the kind of life we have without kids”.  I think the text in the card would read: “See, THIS is our life.  Maybe you could enjoy that too if you didn’t have so many gosh darn kids!  Merry Christmas, and good luck on saving for those braces that little Timmy needs.  Thanks for procreating so much that now my Christmas shopping will take a government bailout to complete”.  Yep….I think we have a winner, ladies and gentlemen!!

I heart my Kindle

Let me just say that this was probably the best money I have ever spent!!  I am now OBSESSED with my Kindle!!  I am carrying this thing around with me everywhere I go.  Jeff is now just expecting to see it in my hand whenever he sees me.  This actually works out pretty well, because while he plays “Fall Out 3″ on his PS3, I can be snuggled next him reading my book.  It’s spending time together without me having to watch every moment of his video game (don’t get me wrong, it is entertaining and a great game, but sometimes it’s more fun when you playing and not just watching the whole time.  I don’t have any interest in playing the game though.  Oh well)

I was a little distraut because I brought my Kindle to work on Monday to read on my lunch break.  I went to turn it on and it wouldn’t turn on.  WTF????  I was trying everything I could think of (as I didn’t read the whole user’s guide.  How funny is that…..I love to read and yet I didn’t want to read the owner’s manual.  Jeff thinks I’m crazy!!)  Turns out I had read SO much over the weekend that I had drained the battery.  As soon as I got home, I plugged it in and everything was good again.  Phew!!

I also bought a little book light to attach to the Kindle so I can read even in pitch black.  It’s so super bright, I think if I were ever spelunking and got lost in a cave, I would want this little baby with me to find my way out.  I could attach it to my head and be like a miner.  How cool would that be????  Probably not very cool as I’d be lost but whatever!!  Of course knowing me, I’d wear out the battery reading and be stuck without a light.  Who needs to find their way to safety when I can sit here and read 200 books????

Currently I am reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.  This book is 576 pages.  I have had the book and Kindle less than a week and I am more than halfway thru it.  This goes to show you how attached at the hip I am with this thing, as I am still working my regular 40 hour week, as well as doing homework for school.  Yes, I am an Oprah book club geek and proud of it.  Which reminds me of a discussion that Jeff and I were having…….which is better, being a nerd and a geek?  What is the difference between the two?  Any thoughts???  Jeff and I both consider ourselves geeks but what would you call yourself?

Happy reading!!!

Wow, someone pinch me!

Ok, I really didn’t intend on making today’s post political.  I try not to, and even yesterday I didn’t feel the need to force my ideas down your lovely throat so I didn’t say who I was voting for.  However, today is a new day and probably one of my only political posts, so just bear with me today.

My vote for President went to Barack Obama.  Personally, I feel like the Bush administration has gone from bad to worse (as I think most people would agree!), and the McCain camp was getting right in line with him.  I know McCain tried to distance himself after a while from Bush, but I still feel that his ideas were very similar to Bush.  I completely respect McCain and feel like he is a great American; I just don’t think he’s set to run the country at this point in time.  We have so much work to do to repair the economy and bring our troops home.  Change can be good!!  I also worried about McCain’s VP selection in Sarah Palin.  I thought if she gets elected, there’s a good chance I’m going to have to shoot someone!  This prima-donna just seemed to drag McCain’s campaign thru the mud.  I’m sure he was hoping to garner some of the female vote from Hillary Clinton’s campaign.  I’m ALL for women in politics, just not that one!  I know people said the same thing about Hillary.

So my vote was for Obama.  I wasn’t sure if it was a pipe dream that would never come true, but I had to try.  He is probably the most liberal senator in the Senate, even more so than Ted Kennedy, so just having him be the Democratic nominee was a feat in itself. 

Last night as I sat glued to the tv, I was shocked to see that Obama was actually winning.  I thought this might actually happen.  I was so excited!!  I felt like this is one of the defining moments for our generation.  This is our Martin Luther King Jr “I Have A Dream” speech moment; this is our JFK assasination moment; this is our men land on the moon moment.  These are times in our country’s history that are forever marked as landmarks in time that generations to come will study and learn about.  Tears ran down my cheeks as I watched the gap in electoral votes grow wider and wider.  Jeff came into the room and made fun of me for crying, but I was overcome with emotion.  I quickly pointed out that there were people in Grant Park who were crying as well.  Who knows what I would have been like if I was there???  Sheesh!! 

My hope today is that Obama can live up to the expectations that have now been set for him.  I knew whoever was elected would have a long hard road ahead of him to clean up Bush’s acts.  I also hope that this country can come together and work as one.  I know there are Republicans who are very upset with the election last night.  I just hope that we can put hurt feelings aside and do what’s best for our country.  The Democrats have given the Republicans 28 years of rule (along with Democrats that acted like Republicans).  Let’s let the other team have a chance at making real change.

Thanks for listening to me today.  Back to the funny stuff next time!!! 

Vote or die (as Puffy would say!)

Go on, people!  Get out there and vote. 

Exercise your civic duty and get in those polling lines.  We have to make changes to the current government regime, and the only way to do that is to get off your butt and make your voice heard.  I promise it won’t hurt!!!  (Well, maybe a little if you accidently poke yourself with the little chad hole puncher, but other than that….no pain at all!!!)  Many Americans died to give you the opportunity to have your voices heard in a Democratic and free nation.  Don’t let polling officials influence your vote, and report anyone at a polling place giving you a hard time.  If you’re not sure where your polling place is, click here.  Take your time when voting to make sure you have filled out your ballot as intended, and feel free to ask for a new ballot if you think you’ve made a mistake.

You probably have an opinion about what’s been going on lately.  Make your voice heard!!  Tell them what you think!  Don’t feel overwhelmed if you haven’t researched all the propositions.  Vote on the ones you care about and skip the ones you’re unsure of.  At least then your vote will be counted on what you care about. 

Jeff and I have been scouring the voter booklets that we received.  We’ve had a politcal discussion almost every night for the last few weeks.  And surprisingly, it hasn’t come to blows yet!!  We filled out our sample ballots and are planning on comparing what we are each voting for.  We do have the same presidential candidate picked out, so that makes it a little easier.

I voted 2 weeks ago with an absentee ballot because I had no idea if I would have time to get to the polls today.  So come on, let’s enact some change!!  Let’s be part of a historical presidential election!