Let me clarify...

Okay, I called my nephew a dork on my wordful wednesday picture. Now, this is not for his musical talents. That, and I have told him this, are going to be a bonus when he starts dating. I called him a dork, lovingly called him a dork, because he is a Star Trek Geek. Yep, has watched EVERY episode from EVERY Star Trek show ever created. For his 13th birthday, he went to the Star Trek convention in San Diego. Now, I'm not knocking any Star Trek fans out there. But when the 13 year old kids alarm clock on his phone is the theme from "Star Trek Voyager"... come on. That just calls to be teased. I love him to death and support him in every way. And I know that when I do something dorky, he'll call me on it.

My first blog award!

!llegally blonde over at Could've been Blonde has just bestowed upon me my first blog award! How cool is that for a new years even morning?! Nope, no coffee. Just working my way through my second glass of sweet tea.

So now it is my turn to bestow this wonderful Truly Beautiful award to some of the bloggers that I follow. Now, if you check my profile, you'll notice I follow ALOT of blogs. Seriously, I dont watch that much tv and I dont sleep much. This is my down time. And I love it. So out of that gynormous list I am going to pick 7. Here ya go girls. Thanks so much for bringing a little bit of sunshine to each day.

All you need is love

Diamonds, Fur, and Laundry

Experiments in a Galley Kitchen

Kimbers Space

Navigating the Quarter Life

Make the Most of Yourself

My Chihuahua Bites

Wordful Wednesday #1

Okay, I'm a little new to this concept. I got the idea from Angie at Seven Clown Circus . If I understand it right, we're supposed to post a picture and then tell about it?? If i'm having a major blonde moment and not understanding the concept please let me know.

This is my nephew Michael. He has always been the smallest in his grade, being born premie at 3.7 lbs. He is 13 now and just amazing. Full of smarts, laughs, and attitude, he is definately his mothers child. I love his smile in this picture, it's so genuine and so him. He loves playing the violin and guitar, anything and everything Star Trek, and wants to be a pilot when he gets older. That has been his dream since he was 3. I teasingly told my sister that her kid was a dork and her reply was that at least he was a happy dork and she knew where he was. Cant ask for more than that.

Bath Time!

My water heater is fixed! Yay!!! Okay, I know overuse of exclamation marks, but I am just soooo glad to have hot water!

Manic Monday

Yesterday was....well, interesting. I'm just hoping it wasnt a precurser to the what the week is going to be like.

I woke up early, 6 am. Which is early for me. I'm usually doing good if i'm out of bed before 8. (one of the downfalls of working for yourself). But i've noticed that by the time the evening comes around, i'm so exhausted, both mentally and physically, I dont get much accomplished around the house. So I decided to wake up earlier and get some stuff done before I 'start my day'. Odd how the first day I decide to do this the water heater goes out and I couldnt take a shower. I dont do the whole coffee thing, so I depend on my hot shower to wake me up and start the day. (And I HAVE to take a shower EVERY day. I produce enough oil in my skin and hair to make Oil of Olay jealous. )Well, that didnt happen. A few phone calls later and one of my maitenence men came by to inform me that it was the thermocouple.

Now, as I learned yesterday, it's the thermocouple that is like the safety valve on the water heater. It's what keeps the gas from escaping when the pilot goes out. So no big deal right? Just run down to the local hardwear store and get a new one, right? Nope. I have a left handed thermocouple. (no idea what that means). And I guess they're pretty rare. So they had to overnight one from the east coast. It's supposed to be in sometime today. So last night, after an intense day of year end financial crap at work (that has to be turned in by today), I went home, took the girls for a walk, and headed up to Kens to take a shower.

He was sweet enough to make fajitas for dinner, knowing how exhausted and frustrated I was.

I know it's not THAT traumatic, but it just totally threw off my whole day. I mean, thank goodness I had taken a bath the night before or i'd really have had a bad day.

So i'm sitting here in the office, killing time, waiting for the part to come in so I can rush home, let them in to fix the water heater, and then a lllooong hot shower. Maybe after that I can focus and get some work done today.

The curious case of Benjamin Button

(some spoilers - nothing specific, more of a synopsis)

Wow. Amazing. Terrific. Awe struck. Incredible.

Yep, I think that about sums it up. We went to the Sante Fe to see this amazing movie. And for a saturday afternoon, I was amazed that the theater wasnt full. Maybe half filled, but I expected crowds, especially after everything I've heard about this movie. My brother had seen it the night before and had warned me that I was going to cry, so I went in expecting a bit of a tearjerker. Honestly, I teared up but I didnt cry. I think I was in too much of awe. It was absoultely beautifu. The story - amazing. How they aged the chraracters - incredible. It was totally believable. I kept waiting for the make up or cgi to give away a hint of fakeness, but it was sooo realistic. I definately think tho that when I see it for the second time I will cry then. The love story, and yes it is definately a love story, was wonderful. Everything - everything about this movie was wonderful. The only bad point, and even then it wasnt a down point, was that it was 3 hours long. And to be honest, it didnt FEEL like a three hour movie. You know how sometimes half way into a long movie that hasnt completely captured your attention your body will start to ache or your bladder goes uh hello? remember me? Yeah, that didnt happen here. We walked out of the theater, after Ken and Carl gave it a standing ovation (both die hard Fincher fans), started discussing dinner plans and were shocked to find it was already 9 oclock. Ok so technically it was 2 and 47 minutes hours, but who gets to the movies right as they start? (and the trailer for Watchmen just keeps getting better and better).

Several points brought up after the movie on the way home (after stopping by the food court for a delicious dinner of Panda Express, Fatburger, and Quiznos):

The story just made you stop and think. Carl said it was more of a slap in the back of the head. Nothing lasts. If you wanna do something, then just do it. Nothing is impossible. He said it really made him reflect the last year of his life.

I was enthrawled at the simplicity of it all. To be able to just get up and go and do whatever you want, with no concern for the material. Something i've strived to be but somehow cant seem to achieve with absoluteness.

The love story also spoke to me. There's a time for everything. Just because you meet your soul mate doesnt mean that NOW is the right time. There will be a time and it will be perfect.

Ken, of course, was captivated by the filmmaking and story telling. He couldnt believe how well done it was either. Being a Fincher fan tho, he went in know it was going to be a great movie.

There were several funny sceens too. Watch for the guy who gets hit by lightening. Hilarious.

And the beat goes on..

Well, Christmas is officially over, but like most vacations, i'm suffering from jet lag. Too much stress and not enough sleep resulted in me coming down with a sinus infection last night. Not that I can blame it entirely on christmas. Work, my car dying, and just life in general probably had alot to do with it. So now along with an eye tick so bad i'm wearing my glasses today, my ear hurts and i have a headache. Not to sound like i'm whining, which i'm sure that does. Just kind of the after christmas let down of emotions i guess. It always seems like such a build up that afterwards your'e just totally drained.

But I had a wonderful Christmas. Wednesday, after washing the pin curls from my hair, Carl and I went out for sushi for lunch. I looove sushi. I want to learn how to make it myself altho i'm a bit hesitant. Im just now grasping the basking concepts of cooking, not sure if i'm ready to start messing with raw fish. So for christmas I bought Carl a sushi making kit. I figured he could do the experimenting.

Ken came over around 7 and the 3 of us had the Christmas dinner that I had prepared: ham, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, wild rice, peas and green beans, rolls and a salad. And of course wine. Ken had bought himself a video camera for his present to himself so was following us around the house. I figured out how to keep the camera off of me tho, just start making obscene jokes and comments. He'd turn it off and be like 'this is a christmas video, i'm going to show this to my parents!"

He gave me a pink blue tooth to go with my pink blackberry phone. I just love it! Carl gave me the 'Tales of Beedle Bard" book, the one from Harry Potter. I think they both liked what I gave them, and we had a nice dinner. It's funny how that was the only real family dinner both Carl and I had. My family celebrates christmas on christmas morning around 9 am and we have a huge breakfast then everyone goes their seperate ways. We used to do it at 4 in the morning when there were more little kids. Everyone would spend the night at my parents and the adults would stay up in the living room, playing games until time to wake the little ones up. Personally, I like the 9 am one better. I'm all for sleeping in.

Christmas morning was spent with my family, which was nice. No one had alot of money this year, but it seemed that that inspired everyone to give more thoughtful, meaningful gifts. Usually I get alot of non personal gifts, like candles and bath products. Stuff thats nice but doesnt take alot of thought. But this year, everyone seemed to really search for that perfect gift. I got 4 mudpie piggy banks, which I totally love and collect. I'm up to 40 piggy banks total now and 25 of them are mudpie. I also got all four Twilight books, which I started again last night. I loved the books. Not so crazy about the movie. But owell. Hopefully the second one will be better.

Over all it was a wonderful, peaceful christmas. No drama, no illness, no tantrums. Just good food, good times, good friends. Wonderful.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday also.

Blonde moment #1

It may not look like it now, but yes I was born a blonde. And even though the color has darkened over the years (no one say dishwater blonde please), the spirit remains. Every now and then I do something so ... so.... well, blonde that it even dumbfounds me. So in the spirit of laughing with myself instead of at myself (wait, is that right?) I'm going to share my moments.

Insert blonde moment #1.

I usually curl my hair everymorning with a large barrel curling iron. For some reason last night I decided that I wanted to try pin curls. Now, there was no alcohol in this decision. It was right after a long hot bubble bath and I was watching The Muppets Christmas Carol. Not sure what they had to do with the decision, but setting up the scenario. So I went to town. Now my hair is probably about 2 inches below my bra strap to give you and idea of the length. I've done pin curls before, but never ever when it was this long. So I wound them all up, pinned them tightly, and went to sleep. I also toss and turn quite a bit in my sleep (an important side note).

I should also mention that the carpet people were coming at 9 am to shampoo the carpets. I, in my non-inebriated state, forgot to set the alarm. Fortunately, Bella woke me up at 8:45. I hade time to have a mini heart attack at what my hair turned into and wrap a bandana around it just before they got here. I dont know if it was the length, the tossing and turning, or simply just a why you shouldnt try a new hair technique the eve of christmas eve lesson.

Notice the likeness to dreadlocks. (sorry for the crappy pictures. During the night Bella decided that my camera cord was made of liquorish.)

Carl got home just as the carpet guys were finishing up. Perfect timing as usual. I immediately hopped into the shower where it took 3 apps of conditioner to get all of the knots out of my hair. Maybe I should have left it and just started a new look for a new year.

How much is that doggy in the window?

Apparently $49.95, without tax of course.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

All of my shopping is done.

All of my cards are out in the mail.

The carpet people are coming tomorrow at 9 am to shampoo the house.

I still have to go to the store to get the ham for tomorrow nights dinner.

And can you believe I havent gotten anything for Sunshine or Bella's stockings yet? I'm such a bad mommy.

reflections...

I've been thinking alot of what I want my goals for next year to be. So much in my life has changed in the past year. Last december 17th was my last day in my home with V. After 5 years it was over. I moved in with my best friend emily, who graciously let me stay in her guest bedroom until I could get back on my feet. That took me until March. Then I moved in with my boss/friend Nicole's daughter, Beth and her 2 year old daughter. The day before we were supposed to move in, John, Nicoles' husband and my boss for 5 years, died of cancer. We knew it was coming but it still hit suddenly. Topped with the move I think it took me until just recently to get back on my feet. In August Beth announce she was getting married and I would have to move again. I found a great townhome in an older part of town that was just what I could afford. I was a little nervous about being totally on my own for the first time in 6 years (and that was only for about 8 mnths) but I was excited. I painted the entire house different colors, any color I wanted to. I have always love mismatched furniture anyways so my dumpster diving lifestyle fit right in with the odd color walls. In October Carl asked me if I was still interested in a roommate. Carl and I had lived together for 2 years back in 2001-02. He was at the time my boyfriends best friend (Ken). But we had known each other since we were 18. When I found out that I was moving out of Beths house I had asked him if he was interested in getting a place together but at the time he was settled where he was. I think I just needed that time to adjust to being truly alone. And honestly I loved it. No one to tell me what time to do anything or be anywhere, I could come and go at any hour, eat what I wanted and do what I wanted. Total exhilarating freedom. When he asked if I was interested in rooming again tho I jumped at it. Altho giving up the solitude was a bit hard, I love having a friend here. And he truly is my friend. I've always called him my brother. And now that Ken and I are trying to rekindle our relationship, it's the three of us hanging out again. I just love it, and they have both said how they love it too. It actually feels like home here. For the first time in a long time. I have a home. And that's what struck me as odd. For the 5 years I was with V, I strived to be the best wife I could be. To make our house a home. And try as hard as I did, it just never got there. The old cliche of it wasnt meant to be guess rings true I guess.

So looking back at moving 3 times in 8 months, loosing my boss and trying to find my footing in the business, starting my own used online bookstore, trying to raise my two dogs and keep them from eating the house, straightening out my finances, learning to eat better and smarter, it's been a hell of a year. I dont know if I really want to have any goals for next year. Maybe just continue down the path i'm going. It's been going pretty good so far.

5 pillows

I've been trying to leave Sunshine and Bella in my bedroom when I leave. I have a doggy door on my patio door so that they can go outside, but arent cooped up either outside or in a kennel. I figured if I lock them in my bedroom then the destruction is at least limited to one room. Well, I went home for lunch and found that she had ripped and shredded 5 pillows. There was stuffing everywhere. And there was nothing of the pillow cases or pillow sack left either, all ripped to shreds. Why she feels the need to do this to pillows is beyond me. Altho her frustratation (or glee) wasnt just limited to the pillows. She also ate the cover to The Simpsons movie and a picture frame that i carelessly left on the headboard of the bead. What was I thinking? So for this afternoon they are back in their kennel. I wish I could find an alternative to locking them up but at this rate i'm not going to have a house left.

Bellas score: 2 couches, 7 pillows, 4 pairs of shoes, countless move boxes, 8 books, 3 chair rungs, and 3 inches of pine off of a bookshelf.

And the beat goes on...

The weekend ended up much better than the week was. Friday nite Ken made homemade pizza using the pizza dough from Fresh and Easy. It turned out so good. We are all hooked on those stores here. It's pretty much the only place I shop anymore. I used to be all into the coupone and price comping thing, spending hours going over all of the ads and seeing what I had coupons to match, and then taking the whole mess to Walmart since they will match all comps. I supose since money is still a little tight I probably should, but i've started eating better. Not really better, just more conscious. I couldnt believe the amount of sodium and carbs I was consuming. Shopping at fresh and easy has made my diet healthier, plus they have amazing deals. Today I bought a package of 7 chicken thighs with the skin and bone for only $2.10. I seperated it into 3 packages, doused them with different marindades, stuck them in the food saver and straight into the freezer. Gotta love that.

We watched PS I Love You saturday while Ken cooked breakfast. It was really good, better than I expected. I'm not a big Hilary Swank fan, she could stand to put a little more weight on in my opinion, but it was a really sweet love story. And yes, I cried. I did think that James Marsters (forever known as Spike) could have been in it a little more. That might have helped it some.

Today is the winter solstice. This site has some cool history and ideas for celebrating today.

I cant' believe thursday is Christmas. I finished my shopping up today, thank goodness. But the next two days are going to be just insane at work. I have 4 houses to clean, we have to do the year end and month end accounting, plus we have 7 evictions pending before wednesday. Why i'm still wide awake typing I dont know. I'm sure it doesnt have anything to do with the 5 glasses of sweet tea I consumed today.

But overall it wa sa nice relaxing weekend. I spent friday nite at Ken's but he spent Saturday night here. I know he's not comfortable here (I only have a queen bed) but he said he'd start coming over here on the weekends until Bella gets older and I can leave her unattended. Right now i'm working on just leaving her in a room by herself for an extended amount of time. Carl and I went out for lunch today and just in an hour she ate a book off the bookshelf and destroyed a pillow. In her defense the book was a copy of the Kama Sutra and the pillows was Ken's, so maybe she was just telling me she was pissed he spent the night and she had to sleep on the floor.

TGIF

Sunday: The heater in the freezer stopped working so the entire fridge thawed out and everything got ruined. Not able to fix it until thursday.

Monday: Snowed.

Tuesday: My car wouldnt start. Ended up Borrowing my parents 1999 Huyundai Elantra, which sqeels horribly when you start it.

Wednesday: More snow. Emotional roller coaster of a day.

Thursday: Bingo with my dad and grandmother. Actually had fun. Went to a wine tasting dinner with Ken. Had 6 glasses of wine and made new friends.

Friday (today): Found out that my Realtor dues are due by January 12, which is $510. My cell phone that I got a week ago stopped recieving calls or texts. I can call out and send but for some reason cant recieve. On the phone with tech support for 59 minutes and 43 seconds only to ascertain that it is the device that is having the error and I need to take it to one of the local At&T shops to exchange for a new one. Got home (to pick up all of the accessories to take to AT&T) to find out that Sunshine had gotten sick in the kennel and there was poop everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. Two feet outside of the kennel, the entire kennel and both dogs were covered. Washing ensued, blankets and dogs and carpet. My back is killing me now, i'm wet and hungry. And then after her bath Sunshine decided she was mad at me for giving her a bath and she walks over to Carls bedroom door and pees.

Tomorrow? I dont want to know.

Where in the world...

New species found in Thailand and Vietnam. Holy cow! A rabbit that looks like a tiger, a rat that looks like a squirrel and a bright pink millipeid (ew...). It just still amazes me that they are still finding new speices of animals. With all the exploration and invading of land that man has done of the last umpteen years, there are still new beings out there to find. I wonder what's next.....

One foot of snow predicted by tomorrow morning!!!

It is insane out there at the moment. I only went into the office for a few hours today, but after it started snowing I got the hell out of there. I had to stop at Wal-mart on the way home (Carl needed the ingredients to make salsa for a christmas party tonight) and right as I pulled into the parking lot it hit hard. Seriously, for a desert girl, it was what I would imagine a blizzard would be like. (keep in mind I was born and raised here). I had had a pretty emotionally crappy morning tho, just felt like crying over everything. But walking into Walmart everyone was laughing and enjoying the snow, and I felt better. Kind of wierd that Walmart made me feel better, but I think it was the atmosphere. Everyone was in a cheerful mood, laughing and enjoying the snow, and it actually began to feel like christmas.

Hell froze over

Yes, it is true. We had snow in las vegas. If my frickin camera was working i'd take some pictures of the mountains. They are absolutely gorgeous. Every year we get maybe an hour or two of snow, and of course everyone freaks out. This year tho, it was actually forecasted. Yep. Everyone planned for this. Including me. Once I woke up and saw how gloomy and eyeore the sky was, snow or rain or hail was not going to get me out of the house. Not that i'm afraid of getting wet. It's the insane drivers here. We get 20 minutes of light rain and the auto accident rate jumps up 20%. So with snow, nope, no way I was leaving the house. Fortunately, I have a boss who shares this sentiment and after a 30 minute phone conference on what we could do by phone from our perspective homes, and watching a pigeon slip on the ice in the street, I planned my day. So what did I do with a whole monday home? Did I work on my blogs like I should have? Nope. Did I work on my Alibris account? Nope. I decided to be adventurous. See, this weekend I acquired a freezer. A stand up big as a fridge freezer just for me. Well, and for Carl since he lives here too, but seeing as how I do the majority of the cooking and shopping, it's for me. So I broke out all 3 of my crockpots and set to cooking. My goal - 3 different soups/stews, seperate them all into individual servings and freeze them. I dont feel right unless I have a months supply of everything. And I do mean everything. I have enough clothes to last me a month without doing laundry. I have enough toiletries (shampoo, toothpaste, etc) to last me a 3 months without going to the store. I have 40 piggy banks set around the house just for those emergencies. So now my goal is to have at least 30 frozen meals in the fridge. You know, just incase. All in all it was about an hour prep time, 2 hours watching "The Mummy" (ahhh Brendan Fraser), a 2 hour nap, and 2 hours on the phone and I had 11 meals for the freezer. The last recipe only made 3 servings, altho the recipe said it would make 4. I try to fill the rubbermaid dish tho when i'm freezing them so my servings tend to be a bit large. All in all I think they came out rather well. I was proud of them anyways. The recipes are on my other blog.

9 days of christmas

It actually felt like christmas today. Windy, chilly, and the smell of snow in the air. Not that we're likely to get any here in the valley, but hey stranger things have happened. They are saying tho that there is a chance, albeit small, that we might get some snow over the weekend. Only above 5000 feet tho, which means my folks house might get some. If it does i'm gonna have to take the girls up there. Sunshine was born in Texas and moved here when i think she was 7 months old and of course Bella was born here in the valley. (Sunshine is a Boston Terrier and Bella my 5 month old Rottweiler). I always said I would never be one of those people who put clothes on my dogs, but poor Sunshine is just shivering all the time. Freezing her non furry butt off while Bella is just as warm as a bug in a rug. So I broke down and got her 3 sweaters. She actually seems to enjoy wearing them, and doesnt fight me at all when I go to put them on her, which I expected her to do. And Bella seems a tad bit jealous that she doesnt have any clothes to wear, altho she's growing so fast i'm sure if I put one of my shirts on her it'd fit.

8 days of December

Well, that worked out well, huh? I said I was gonna post every day for the 24 days of december and then I never got around to posting again. It has just been crazy so far this month. But then december always is. So far all i've done is put up the decorations. No lights yet. I was going to tonight but it is super windy outside, actually feels like winter, so I thought me up on a ladder in 30 mph winds wasnt a good idea. I still cant' find my christmas tree though. Moving 3 times in the last 8 months has definately been good at helping me declutter and purge some of the crap i've been hauling around the last 33 years, but I didnt intend on loosing my tree. I've had that tree for 10 years now. Yeah it was getting a little frayed and worn, but it was still pretty. Plus I have enough decorations to fill 2 trees and now I have no where to put them. It's taking alot of will power to not rush out and buy a new one. But i'm determined that one will pop up somewhere. Most things that I truly need do.

1 day of December countdown

For the next 24 day's i'm going to journal different ideas, crafts, activities and gift ideas for the holidays. Alot of these can also be used throughout the year.

The night you put the christmas tree up, have a family slumber party. Set up sleeping bags around the tree, make sure you have lots of snacks and hot cocoa. Watch a favorite family holiday movie or tell christmas stories and share memories of holidays past.

Let the kids decorate their bedrooms too. Dont forget the bathrooms!

Everyone puts out disposable cameras for wedding receptions, so why not christmas? Place them all around the house to make sure you dont miss any holiday moments.

In my family we always made a countdown chain for christmas. On the first of the december, my mother would let us all pick a color ribbon. She would then weave these together and we all got to take turns cutting 'our' ribbon, counting down to christmas. It was always a big deal on our day.

Put green food coloring in hot oatmeal and top with cinnamon for a festive touch.

Hot glue bright glass ornaments to a styrafoam cone to create a festive ornament tree.

Use old christmas cards to create a holiday house. Use double sided tape to adhere to a box.