I'm Very Deep

Steve and I have been emailing a little today. He knows about the challenges in my household right now and is always quick to ask, “How are YOU doing?”

So, today in our exchange, he asked how things were going this week and if there was light at the end of the tunnel. And I replied with:

“I can’t even see the end of the tunnel. But when I come to one of the little joints in the ceiling, where the light shines through, I just stand there for a minute and rejoice. It's like a reset button. Gets me through to the next crack.”

I’m very deep, aren’t I?

That’s where I am today. I’m under one of the cracks and the sunlight is warm and bright. I think I’ll stay here for a couple of days, if I can. And that might actually be possible. Kayleigh is off on a band trip until Sunday evening and Tyler will be crashing over at his uncle’s after game on Saturday, so Todd and I have about 24 hours to recharge and pay attention to each other and laugh our asses off.

Don't expect any blog posts.
I sense we'll be occupied.

Weekend Update

I barely have enough brainpower to form a coherent sentence, but I’d still like to give you an update. I just don’t have a personality right now. Therefore, I give you…..BULLETS.

* First, fantastic weekend weather. Blue skies. 75 degrees. Beautiful.

* Friday, my belated birthday dinner with Jamie. Volterra. Yummy poo.

* Saturday, cleaning and organizing with Stephanie. She warned me her garage was in bad, bad shape. But I scoffed at it’s “bad shape”. Todd’s bedroom was worse. And look at it now!

* Also, I clicked a very bad link in an email and now my computer is dead. Todd installed a anti-virus thingy (a bit late, I realize) and it found 22 viruses. And I can’t even open my email. He had a buddy come out today and it doesn’t look good. But he says it’s not hopeless. Just one more reason I’ve been non-existent. And stressed.

* Saturday evening, Val’s wedding reception. Knew three people. Looked at babies. Ovaries screamed, but not too loudly. They knew better. They know the work that lies ahead for those poor mothers.

* Sunday, just wanted to relax in the sunshine and read my wedding book. But got uber productive. Re-organized the shed with all of the yard tools and did a little weed whacking. Good stuff.

* Sunday evening, dinner at Ray’s. Our one year anniversary of dating. It was a lovely time.

* Monday, Star Trek at the Cinerama with the whole family, and Miles. Lunch afterwards at Red Robin on the waterfront.

* Side Note: The movie was pretty good. I don’t consider myself a trekkie by any means now, but the movie was okay. Very entertaining. I even got a few of the references.

* Monday night, a bit of conflict. Not too bad. But enough to make me stay home on Tuesday, and get some me time in that afternoon. Shopping. Semi-productive shopping, but shopping nonetheless.

And today, well, I’m here. That’s all I got for ya.
But I think about you. Really. Life is just so chaotic right now. Looking forward to some normalcy. If there is such a thing.

Uh oh.

What if this IS normal?

Oh, good gawd, we’re gonna need more wine.

Food

I love Sun Chips, but they're too big to put a whole one in my mouth, and I hate being a loud eater so I don't want to bite them in half and make that crunching sound. So I break them, while they're in the bag, which slows my eating down.

Speaking of eating, I looked at swimsuits online yesterday and now I don't want to eat. I asked TBFE if maybe we could honeymoon in the Swiss Alps or Antarctica, rather than Kauai. He said no. Hmph.

But! I learned a nice little trick last night. Kayleigh, Todd and I went to The Charleston Cafe for dinner after Kayleigh's tai kwon do class. I wasn't too hungry and I knew the portions were huge, and my eye kept going to the chicken tenders on the kids' menu ($4.99!) So I asked the waitress if I could order off of the kids' menu. She said "Sure, but for a dollar more."

Sounds good to me!

The chicken tenders came with a salad, so that, plus the three large pieces of chicken filled me right up. Actually, I couldn't even finish the third tender. No one can really ever say that I eat too much.

Our Family is Getting Bigger!

A few of you just had heart palpitations reading the title, didn't you? You thought I put the baby meter back together and wound it up. Ha. Silly reader.

This is Tom.

Elvis has been lonely since Wiley left, so we decided he could use a buddy. Tom is precious and very loving. He'll climb right up on you and nuzzle you. He's a rescue. He'd been kept in a chicken coop, with chicken poop, which burned the pads on his paws and made some of his fur fall out. But that was a year ago, and since then, his fur is coming back and his paws are all better.

So far, he and Elvis seem to get along just fine. We thought Elvis would be the alpha male, but no. He just flops over on his side and meows at Tom. He was rushing Tom last night, but once he'd get up to him, Elvis would just stop and just look at him. Silly Elvis.

Rude Much?

A cow-orker just asked me if I was planning to lose weight for my wedding.

Um. No. Why?
Do you think I need to lose weight for my wedding?

You’re a bit on the hefty side. Why don’t YOU lose weight for my wedding?

I was actually very nervous when I was trying on wedding gowns. I thought there were going to be bulges and dimples and I would become one of those women who declared she would lose 20 pounds before her wedding day.

What a load of crap.

These are the happy times! You eat, you drink, you be merry. That’s makes a diet plan very hard.

Luckily, my dress is designed so that the dimples are hidden, the belly looks flat, and the hips are cleverly hidden. I look damn fine in my dress.

So I merely said, “No, I don’t plan to lose weight. My dress is a size 12 and I am perfectly happy with that.”

Now, I don’t plan to GAIN any weight either. Which is why I tell my co-workers to quit shoving chocolate at me.

The honeymoon, however, is a completely different story. It's gonna take one magical swimsuit to make me feel at ease on a beach.

Or a lot of cocktails.

Which I think can be arranged.

Random Thoughts

I’m smelling football players.

I used to be a football manager in high school, which really meant I got boys’ athletics, I did the team’s laundry, I helped load the buses for the out of town games and I stood on the sidelines to do anything the coached yelled at me. Good times.

Anyway, the bus rides with the football team had a very distinct smell. Some of it was sweat, some of it was the material that the jerseys were made out of.

I’m smelling that right now. I can’t pinpoint it.
Maybe my jeans are dirty.

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Todd, Steve and I went to see Bob Schneider at the Triple Door last night. He is a fantastic performer.

It was so good to have a night out (that didn’t include therapists or case workers) and forget about all the challenges for an evening. We had a great dinner, a few drinks, and finally got home at almost midnight (Steve did not come home with us).

It’s making for a difficult day today, but it was well worth it.

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One of my customers needs to order a dongle, but I’m having a hard time locating a vendor so I’m saying the word “dongle” a lot. Which makes me chuckle. Which is keeping happy.

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I also had to order a Protease Inhibitor Cocktail Set when I first started.

I have no idea what it actually is, but I would have no problem coming up with all kinds of good stories about it.

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I have not ordered shoes yet.
But I wore my red Anne Klein babies to the show last night.

So pretty…..

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Rumor has it, it's sunny outside. I wouldn't know. Cube and all.
But I bought a poster of a beach scene and put it up on my wall, so that's helping.

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Well, would you look at the time?
I'm outta here.

Overdue Update

As you may or may not have noticed, TBFE and I have been a bit incommunicado lately. Our deepest apologies.

Last weekend brought about a major conflict with Tyler, so this situation has been eating up most of our spare time and brain power. Though we don’t feel it appropriate to go into detail, just know that Todd, Kayleigh and I are fine, and Tyler is getting the help he’s been needing for a while. We have a wonderful, supportive team of friends and family, both near and far, as well as Tyler’s therapists, who are all devoting enormous amounts of energy and time to ensure Tyler is well taken care of.

Ironically, this was how I spent my very first Mother’s Day. Trial by fire, I say. And I am happy to report that I have escaped unharmed! Well, except for maybe a singed hair or two. But we all know I have too much hair as it is, so it’s no big loss.

Actually, aside from the challenges, it was a lovely weekend. Todd and I attended the Collider CD release show at the Showbox on Friday night and, boy howdy, it was rockin’. We hung out in the back, since Todd was filming the show, and gabbed with a couple of friends while speculating about a “couple” seated near us. She was youngish, carried a stuffed teddy bear and openly flirted with other men. He was extremely obese and tracked her every move, as if watching a TV show. Voyeur, perhaps? Who knows. I love downtown. Not really.

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. It’s that kind of weather that keeps us here, even through the six months of winter. Just beautiful. Todd and I made a Costco run for his film shoot that was supposed to take place on Sunday and picked up his German chocolate birthday cake from Morfey’s.

Then, Saturday evening, we had an intimate, little birthday dinner at Duke’s. And some of the party moved back to the house afterwards to gab a little more.

And, due to said conflict, the shoot on Sunday was cancelled, so we spent the day in an exhaustive state. Trish and Dan came over to keep us company, and give us hugs. We watched The Onion movie and some Saturday Night Live Best Ofs. And Kayleigh walked down to the store and brought me back a Mother’s Day card. One of those that sings a song when you open it. There were cowboy boots on the front and a Tim McGraw song inside. The girl knows me, doesn’t she?

We’re trying to get back in the swing of normalcy, but it’s not easy. There are a lot of calls to make, papers to sign, red tape and hoops to jump through.

We know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
But that tunnel is so long it’s quite daunting.

Send good juju.
And wine.

Happy Freakin' Friday

I am having one fantastic Friday. I just can’t tell ya.

The stars are aligning, things are falling into place, life is good. TBFE and I are going out tonight to the Collider show and party it up like a couple of 20 year olds. We may pay for it tomorrow, but so be it.

So, to get my party on, I’m listening to my Bitchin’ playlist. Songs that get my booty shaking and make me feel all superior.

Get This Party Started by Pink
Ah, my Friday night song. The work week is over, let’s get this party started. I’m cool, all my friends wanna party with me. Yeah….you know it…..

Walk Away by Kelly Clarkson
Whatchoo want, baby? Make up your mind. Grow a pair. Don’t wanna be with me? Well, then just walk away.

Single Ladies by Beyonce
You had your chance, mister. Suck it up.
"If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it."

Check On It by Beyonce
Yeah, you know you want me.

You Know That I’m No Good by Amy Winehouse
I’m horrible. I’m wretched. I suck. But you love me. It’s your own fault, sugar.

Irreplaceable by Beyonce
This one actually slows me down. But it makes feel pretty.

The Tiger and the Lamb by Bob Schneider
If you really pay attention to the lyrics, it’s nasty. I like it. But I can’t find it anywhere on the interwebs. Sorry.

New Warrior by Bob Schneider
He’s wrappin’, he’s partyin’, he’s the new warrior. Yo!

Should’ve Said No by Taylor Swift
My token twangy song. First, apparently there is no official video for this song. And apparently, it is a huge karaoke hit. Every video you find on YouTube has lyrics. Complete weirdness.

I’ve never had a man cheat on me. Let me rephrase that - I’ve never confronted a man who has cheated on me. Because I’ve never found out that a man cheated on me. But I’ve known women who have had their husbands cheat on them, and they should have kicked their ass to the curb. But they didn’t. So I belt this out for them.

The only drawback to rockin’ out with my earbuds is that, if I’m chewing gum, my earbuds work their way out. So I have constantly adjust them. And I like chewin’ my gum when I’m rockin’ out. Makes me feel tough and cocky. I like to chew gum when I’m driving, too. Probably best to be tough and cocky when I’m driving.

But I digress.

Happy Freakin' Friday!

Best Misspelling Yet

My name gets butchered. A lot. But I'm used to it. People also pronounce it Michelle, Rachel, Raquel or Rochelle. They spell it even worse. Richelle, Rochelle, Rayshell, Raychel. I once say To get people to understand, I've sometimes written it out like this:

R'shell.

No emphasis on the Rae (sounds like Ray) part. Just R'shell.

I call orders in all day long and I am always asked my name. Sometimes the customer service rep is merely looking it up, because I've called before, but sometimes they actually type it as I'm saying it. If I hear them typing, I'll usually say, "That's spelled R-A-E-C-H-E-L-L-E." And they appreciate it because they were undoubtedly spelling it incorrectly.

Yesterday, I placed an order, I said my name and I listened for the typing. I didn't hear any, so I figured she was looking me up. But apparently, she was a very quiet typer.

When I got the confirmation, I saw my name in the Order Placed By area.

Reshell.

Very nice.
Just like it sounds.

Work No-No #48

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to clip your nails at work.

NO REASON.

And we're in cubes, for gawd's sake!

Why not just go ahead and pick out your toe jam, too? Make it a complete little grooming session?

Okay, yes, maybe I'm a smidge irritable because I was up most of the night with a stuffed up nose and cramps and a noisy gut because, even though I know better, I had steak for dinner.

And maybe I'm a little cranky because I went upstairs to sleep on the couch so my tossing/turning/churning/sniffing/cramping wouldn't disturb TBFE, but Elvis got excited that there some some to to cuddle with so he laid on my chest, purring louder than a jackhammer and nuzzling my neck. Which was not helping the stuffiness, but goodness he's so adorable!

And then lets throw the 30 mph wind and rain and hail on top of everything, and for love of puppies, why can't you just let me sleep?!

I am so tired. There is no amount of coffee that will wake me up.
I think I will spend my lunch napping in my car.

Weekend…er….Week Long Update

My apologies for being non-existent recently. Life has kind of gotten the best of us recently, but I think we’re on the upswing. Just in time for Mercury to begin it’s retrograde on Wednesday. Fantastic. Guess I should enjoy today and tomorrow.

Last Monday, Stephanie and Isabella came over for dinner and I made my veggie enchiladas. The gals were quite impressed. Well, Stephanie was. Isabella just ate some pasta and then an entire bowl of black beans with her fingers. There were black beans on her, on Steph’s pants, on the chair. If she wasn’t so cute, my head would have exploded.

I finally got to hang out with Darragh Tuesday evening. It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a chance to sit and catch up on each other’s life, and so much has happened in the last few months. We ordered some Pagliacci’s, opened some wine, and curled up on his futon for a few hours. It was a nice evening.

Wednesday, TBFE and I got a last minute invite to dinner from Dan and Trish. Yummy Thai food up on Queen Anne. It’s been a while since we’ve seen them one on one (or, two on two) so there was much catching up on this night, too.

Wednesday night was a long, eventful night, which led to working from home on Thursday. Really, not so bad. It was a beautiful day, so Todd, Kayleigh and I had lunch at the Celtic Swell and played on the beach for a bit. We were rejuvenated and Thursday night was much more restful.

And Friday night came none too soon. We watched The Longest Yard (the remake with Adam Sandler) for our Friday night movie and retired early. It was a rough night, for a myriad of reasons, so were up much early than I prefer on Saturday. We were productive from the get go, then the kids were off to game at the uncle’s, so Todd and I took advantage of the quiet house to lounge, snooze and watch TV. Until we got hungry and headed to Café Revo for dinner.

And we would highly recommend it to everyone. It’s a new Italian place down on Avalon that we’ve been wanting to try for a while. The food was fantastic, the waiter was attentive, the wine was lovely, the atmosphere was cozy but spacious and the prices were not too shabby.

Afterward, we attended the annual Cinco de Mayo party at Brittany & Erik's, who, coincidently, is making our wedding invitations. It’s good to know creative and talented people. While we didn’t partake in the yummy Mexican food at the party, we were all up in the Rock Band. I played bass (yay!), guitar (eh..), drums (oh, shoot me) and sang a few songs. I think the bass was my favorite, in addition to singing. Because, ya know, I’m like a rock star and stuff.

Home early from the party to curl up in bed and watch TV until the kids to got home from game. And then, thank goodness, a quiet and peaceful Saturday night.

I say, right on.

And Sunday was simply a beautiful day. You know those days when the stars align and everything just falls into place and you can’t help but smile?

Todd went off to coffee with his friend and I slept in, until Kayleigh knocked on the bedroom door. She had been invited to a friend’s house and needed permission. I said that sounded fine, and she said, “Okay, thanks. Sleep in some more.” She’s a good daughter.

But Tyler was up too, and there was no food in the house, so I was a good mommy and got up to scrounge up some breakfast. By bribing the children to walk down to the store and get syrup. We had everything else for pancakes. Just no syrup. And they were more than willing.

So, I made breakfast, then Kayleigh got picked up to go to her friend’s house and Tyler rode my bike to the park to meet up with his friend. Todd and I made a huge grocery shopping trip, then a huge Target trip. Then there was a little cleaning and organizing, then we each went off to pick up a child, then back together again to make a lovely dinner of hotdogs and pasta salad. And since we had been talking about Die Hard at dinner, we curled up for a Sunday night movie. Nothing like Bruce Willis killing German terrorists to wrap up a beautiful weekend.

Whew. I think you’re all caught up.
Now we can get back to posts about shoes and stuff.

Weekend Update

Let me just say that last week was absolutely insane at work. Cra.Zy. So Friday night movie night was very welcomed.

But before the festivities, Todd and I walked to the little produce stand a few blocks away. It was a lovely evening and I got to explore a little bit of my new ‘hood. It made me really crave summer when we can go for long walks and look at all the pretty houses.

Around 6pm, a bonafide Scottish friend, complete with accent, and her husband came over for Braveheart, one of the many movies I've never seen. And apparently, it’s a requirement to marry a Scottish man. Who knew?

Oddly enough, I really, really liked it. Even though it was Mel Gibson. This was before he went batshit. It was brutal, but not gory at all. There was just implied goriness.

So, movie, then bed.

Saturday, Todd and I were up and out early to take Ruby and Sportacus for servicing. (Hee….servicing.) Ruby got her oil changed (and a free car wash, which CarPros has stopped doing, but Helen, the gal in the Service Department likes me) and Sportacus got his 25,000 mile service. Todd and I had (a very crappy) breakfast at Shari’s then shopped at JoAnne’s and The PaperZone.

I love the PaperZone. I have no idea what to do with half the stuff in there, but I love it (and want it) all. I did pick up some bags for the wedding. It was very exciting.

That afternoon, Kayleigh went to a sleepover and Tyler got a wild hair to mow the lawn and clean his room. Huh. We don’t question these things. He had plans to bike over to his friend’s later, so Todd and I took off and had dinner at Ama Ama at the Junction to celebrate our 11 month anniversary (a day late). We had plans to attend the grand opening of the Feedback Lounge, but after driving by there and seeing people literally spill out of the place, we continued on home. That wouldn’t have been fun for anyone.

Once home, we got into our jammies and watched an Australian, modern day version of Macbeth.

I actually enjoyed this one as well. Go Todd!

It didn’t hurt that all of the actors were just hotter than hot. So, give them machine guns and have them speakin’ the Shakespeare stuff, and boy howdy, that's a good movie. And, in one scene, Macbeth wears a leather kilt with combat boots. I think I know what I’ll be gettin' TBFE for his birthday this year.

Sunday, Todd took me and Kayleigh to Starbucks for breakfast, then the whole fam (and Tyler’s friend) went to see Monsters vs Aliens. My first 3D movie. It was awesome. And, in a couple of scenes, nauseating.

After the movie, we grabbed some dinner, the retired for the evening. Because Rae-rae had had her feel of people and driving and obnoxious asswipes who blare their gangster rap and dogs and bugs and sunshine and I just wanted to hole up. And color my hair. Which I did. It’s red. And it stinks. But it’s pretty.

And here we are at yet another week. It’s just a continuous loop, isn’t it? Busy busy week, fun weekend when I get to sleep in, busy busy week, fun weekend when I get to sleep in…..sigh.

Looking at snazzy hotels and sandy beaches for our honeymoon isn’t helping any. I want November to come right now. RIGHT NOW.

Please?

How Tired Am I Today?

I just bought 40,000 gallons of alcohol (200 proof) from my vendor, totaling $2,483,898. I meant to buy four gallons. Just four. (And yes, it’s for a lab. Not for me.)

Luckily, I have a have a very fun relationship with this particular vendor, so he called and asked if I could make that check out to him, rather than the company. I didn’t know what he was talking about. Then I looked at my purchase order.

Ah, crap. I don’t know how a two million dollar PO even got through the system.

I need to go back to bed.

My, What A Year Can Bring

It was one year ago today, that I met TBFE.

I had driven to this stranger’s house on my lunch hour to sing for him. I remember exactly what I was wearing. Black top, black pants, black patent leather ballet slippers (which just made me even shorter, and him, even bigger). And I had my big, puffy coat with me, along with cds and I was discombobulated when I was trying to set my stuff down and Wiley was oh, so excited that there was a new person in the house to smell and Todd went to get me water and I looked around the house and though, “Damn, he’s cute. This may be a problem.”

And look where we are today.

We’re engaged.
Man, what a year.

We celebrated last night, spontaneously. Dan and Trish gave us tickets to Spinal Tap, Unwigged and Unplugged, since they’re sick and didn’t feel up to going. And since we were going to go out to dinner tonight, we just turned it into a big evening, with dinner at Il Fornaio. It was a great evening.

But the best commemoration of this day is the article that came out in the PI this morning. It could not have been timed more perfectly.

To quote Kyle Stevens, love wins.

RAWK STARS

My rawk star birthday party was last night.

I got a tat just for the occasion.

(Oh, calm down, ma. It's fake.)

Luckily, things went pretty smoothly and we didn't have any incidents. The staff did a good job. Even though Doug the Doorman passed out on the job.

How ya like them shirts? TBFE goes all out for these theme parties. There were badges and buttons, too. And you had to get your hand stamped at the door.

Kayleigh was on duty, as well. She's become our staff photographer. She had the video camera last night.

We haven't had a chance to watch the video footage yet. I'm scared. If the camera adds 10 pounds, how much does a videocamera add?

Johnnie Cross and his woman showed up.

(My co-worker, and girlfriend, who really didn't have to "dress up" for the party. They're just that cool all the time.)

Kayleigh eventually skipped out on her duties to belt some songs on Rock Band.

Her voice is trashed today.

She also helped me learn how to play the guitar, while Ms. Johnnie Cross sang and Todd hammed it up for the photographers.

I finally got the hang of it.

All in all, it was a small, but lively party and the last guests left around 1:30am. Cause we are CRAZY PARTIERS like that.

Johnnie says, "Thank you, and GOOD NIGHT!"

More photos here.

Random Thoughts

Foot season is upon us. People are starting to wear flip flops and sandals to work.

And I am not at all happy about this.

I do not like feet. They’re right up there with birds. Once I get to know the feet and if the feet are clean (no wirey hair or toe jam), then I can accept the feet and maybe even touch the feet. Maybe.

I have a pedicure tomorrow. So my feet look pretty. I don’t much like my feet either. Maybe it’s just the toes. I don’t know. But it takes a lot of gumption to get a pedicure. Don’t like people touching my feet.

So there.

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We had a beautiful couple of days this week, but now we’re back to 50 degrees and rain. Rumor has it, this weekend will be sunny and warm. Which is nice because…..

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I’m sleeping in tomorrow, then going to get a little breakfast on Alki, then have a mani and a pedi, then a few cocktails at happy hour with Jamie, then it’s time for my birthday party. I couldn’t take my actual birthday off (see: -2 hours vacation time in the bank) so I’ll do my dip in lake me on Saturday.

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We’re back to looking at houses again. A few have popped up on the market that have gotten us excited, but then after looking at them, I just get depressed. One house was unacceptable because the beams in the ceiling we low enough that Todd would smack his head on them. Fantastic.

Our real estate agent has now added 7 foot ceiling requirements to her search for us.

Speaking of giants, did we tell you that Tyler is 5’9”? And I’m 5’2”?
Yeah, how intimidating can I possibly be, as I’m pointing my finger up at him?

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Astrological Forecasts for 04/14/2009

Aries (March 21-April 19): Today is a 7 -- One thing after another doesn't go as you expected. There are detours and other complications at every turn. In this situation, it's OK to procrastinate. Wait until tomorrow.

Oh, okay. This is why we didn’t get to go to the aquarium (DMV took two and a half hours), didn’t get to ride the water taxi (the sign said they don’t accept FlexPasses, even though their website says they do, and the times were confusing because we forgot there was a Mariner’s game) and therefore, didn’t get to eat dinner on the waterfront (no way in hell are we driving downtown at 5pm to look for a parking spot under Aurora).

We ended up having dinner at the Bamboo Bar & Grill on Alki. Which was fine. Just not anywhere near the original plan.

I did get a very hot bath later and was asleep by 9:30pm. So, the day ended on a high note.

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And now my day is almost done. We’ve got some last minute food and drink shopping for the party this evening, then movie/pizza night. I think Bolt is on tap. I don’t have very high hopes for the entire movie, but the preview of the little hamster in his plastic ball, saying “I have a ball” is just freakin’ hysterical. I’ll watch the whole movie just for that line.

Okay, time to finish up and get out of here.

Happy, happy weekend!

Reason # 36 Why I Love My Co-Workers

I just heard Metabulor leave a message for one of our customers.
All he said was:

“I want my two dollars.”

Then he hung up.

I laughed out loud and said, “Nicely done.”

Sweetie Pie didn’t get it. He just kept say “What? What?!” as Metabulor and I cracked up even more. Sweetie Pie isn’t so hip on the movies.

Sigh.
Yes, sometimes I love my job.

Happy Birthday To Me

Can I just say how awesome my co-workers are? Even though they're trying to make me fat?

I arrived at work at 7:00am this morning (I know!) to find Mr. Cranky Non-Decorating Co-Worker with three boxes of cookies, a card and a handful of chocolate for me. So his new nickname is Sweetie Pie.

Sweetie Pie and my other co-worker, Metabulor (he’s 6’4” and skinny, skinny, skinny) invited me to coffee with them so they could buy me a birthday treat. Who am I to say to no to a birthday treat? So they bought me to a spinach feta croissant. Yummy poo.

Upon returning from our coffee break, we noticed a large collection of balloons rising up from my cube. CB, my yoga buddy (ha! We don’t do yoga anymore), and another co-worker had decorated my cube all up!

And she brought a box of ooey gooey donuts and a lovely beautiful smelling plant that, after buying it, she realized it was an Easter plant – a Star of Bethlehem. Very funny. Let’s see if I can keep it alive.

And while my co-workers are awesome, let me tell you how awesome TBFE is. After arriving home last night, I found a hollow chocolate Easter bunny on the bed, with a sappy birthday card that brought tears to my eyes. He’s taking us to the aquarium tonight, then to dinner afterwards. And then this weekend will be my birthday party. That I didn’t even know I was having until I saw it on the calendar.

I love my Scotsman.
Thanks, babe.

Doesn't it look like I'm covered with gray hair? That's kind of how I feel today....sigh.

It's actually a bittersweet day today. Last night, I started a downhill slide into ick. But I think I've finally pulled myself up out of it. I have a habit of remembering back to where I was a year ago, at any given day, and sometimes that makes me sad. Not because I'm not happy now, but because things are so very different and, in some ways, unfamiliar. There were a few other contributing factors, including the thought of Steve's dad, who passed away in February and with whom I share a birthday. I'm still close with Steve and his family, so I can't help but think of them and how sad they must be today.

Anywho, we're on the up and up now. I'm leaving at 2pm today, I've had lots of sugar, I have a beautiful plant, I have lots of sweet cards, I got a Habitude gift certificate from a couple of fantastic people and my fantabulous honey is going above and beyond by throwing me a big ass Rock Star party this weekend.

What on earth do I have to be sad about?

Bring on year 34!

Northwest Profiles

I’ve always wanted to tell you guys about the Northwest Profiles that Pemco insurance does, but I’ve never gotten around to it. Until today. Because I’m bored and I have nothing else to blog about right now.

So, Pemco has these commercials on TV and the radio. The announcer starts to describe a specific type of Pacific Northwestern, and at the end, the tag line is: “We’re a lot like you. A little different.”

I absolutely love these commercials. The profiles are right on and the announcer has such a great, sarcastic voice when describing them. He also does commercials for the Northwest Ballet, and I get so excited when I hear the beginning of those – I think it’s a Pemco commercial. But no. Just the stupid ballet.

Anyway, you have to check out the profiles. And when you click on some of them, there is an option to hear the radio ad or see the TV ad. They are well worth the time and energy it takes to watch/listen to them.

If I had to choose one to describe myself, it would probably be # 64 – Green Lake Power Walkers. That’s where Val, Rachelle and I walk most of the time. We don’t wear the spandex or the baseball caps, but we gab just like the announcer describes in the commercial. It’s one of my favorites.

That one and profile # 4 - 4 Way Stop, You Go. No, You Go. No, You Go. Guy.

Sigh.

So true.....

Allergy Update....and then some

For the last week, you would have thought I was in an allergy commercial. Except there were no bees or flowers around. But I have been sneezing my head off (20 sneezes at a time which is just maddening) and rubbing my itchy eyes (ooh, “iiiiitchyyy eyyes….”) and making odd sounds to try and ease the scratching at the back of my throat and in my ears.

Then, I broke down and bought Claritin.

Holy crap, that’s good stuff! I didn’t sneeze once yesterday!

And I was rifling through my purse yesterday to scrounge for change for the vending machine, I found seven generic loratadine tablets. I may have cursed a little. They were there the whole time I had been suffering.

Whatever. I have Claritin now.
Except I forgot to take it this morning. Still doing okay though.

And I have two, big cystic pimples on my face. I look like I'm in high school. Damn PMS.

I love my uterus!