The Roads that Shouldn't Be Taken

I got lost last night on my way home from work. Nope, not my proudest moment. And because it was so absurd, I thought I'd share it with you:

The green line on the above map shows the most direct route from work to my house (well, toward my house - I needed to zoom in and the route is too long). There are scheduled times when the road on the green line is closed, in which case I take the orange route home. There are also scheduled times - maybe 2 or 3 per month that I have to deal with - when the orange route is also shut down. In these cases, I take the red route, which joins up with the other two just off the top of the image.

Last night, the green route was scheduled to be open, but due to some situation was closed. I made it about 1/2 mile before I had to turn around and head back. I called Scott to tell him I'd be a little bit late, and while I was talking to him, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and took the red route instead of the orange. And then 10 minutes later I must have REALLY not been paying attention because I made a wrong turn and couldn't make a U-turn for a mile after that! (demonstrated above my the blue squiggle)

I finally made it home, though I'm not sure how late I was. Probably 15-20 minutes. That's pretty significant considering the normal trip home only takes 25-30.

Tonight? I'll drive home with my phone in its holster.

Theater Outing

Scott and my Encore buddy Katie and I went out to Winter Park last night to see Jekyll & Hyde at G.O.A.T. Two of my other Encore friends were in the show, plus it's one that I love the music and had never seen performed.

The performers were great. They were better than any community theater show I'd ever been a part of. They reminded me of beautiful exotic animals trapped in a zoo though. Professional-caliber performances (for the most part) trapped in a splatter-painted plywood cage. The venue is really small - maybe 50 seats - and really relies on the audience wanting to believe and being willing to absolutely suspend disbelief. Oh yeah - and canned music! That was a surprise.

We also had a great time people-watching before the show. Katie ended up next to a girl whose friends were in the row in front of us. Wearing sky-high heels and a pink dress that made her look like Club Hop Barbie, she leaned over to her friends and whispered - not quietly enough - "I'm not wearing any panties! tee hee" Katie told me in the car on the way home that she had a conversation with Barbie, who told her she never gets a chance to dress up, and what better time to do so than when going to the theater? I wonder what she wears to church.

It was a great night. Today before work (like now-ish) I'm off to the apartment to get a load of clothes into my trunk. Mom is coming up tomorrow morning and taking them and the giant ice cream maker off my hands.

Morning? I'll Take Your Word For It!

I think we can all agree by now that I'm not so much a morning person. I work nights for a reason - mostly so that I can have three hours between the alarm and walking out the door to gradually wake up. My mom was the same way when I was a kid. I could still tell you her morning routine, but I'm sure she'd prefer that I not!

Anyway, I'm in at 9 today. My alarm was set for 7 and I have to leave at 8:15. Not enough wake up time! Also not enough time for a juicy blog post. But really, nothing has happened since last night except Kilo crying at the bedroom door at 5 am. And since I haven't killed or maimed him, I guess it's not really news.

Big Weekend Gets Bigger

The open house was, to me, a wonderful success. Most of the people we really hoped would come made the trip out to "the development that doesn't exist on my GPS!" We had random overlaps and plenty of downtime. It was great. It really feels like home now.

And I think I started telling people we're having a Christmas party.

We'll see about that!

Tomorrow after work, Katie is coming over and we're all going to see Jekyll & Hyde in Winter Park. Two of my friends are in the show and I can't wait to see them. Right now though, I really want to just sleep! It's been a long couple of days. Maybe Sunday I can sleep in?

(Oh, and when you have a housewarming, people buy gifts in three categories: the traditional bread & salt, the bottle of booze, or the candle. We now have lots of those things. No ugly towels though...I guess that's more of a wedding gift!)

Open House

We're ready for the open house...except for the fact that Scott is currently vacuuming outside the office and hasn't showered yet. Luckily we have an hour to go. And to be honest, I'm expecting a very modest turnout.

Please let someone show up...

Photus Interruptus

I realized sitting here this morning that the office window has a great view. Well, if you look straight out the office window, you just see the building next door, in all its orange stucco glory. But if you look between the buildings, there's a lovely view of the "lake." I wanted to take a picture to show off the view, but Milo had other ideas.

Nature Photography with Jamie (and Milo)

Step 1: grab camera

Step 2: focus on beautiful view

Step 3: recoil in shock as your viewfinder is suddenly full of orange fur...Step 4: Go back to what you were doing on the computer. There's no sense getting the cat all pissed off by shoving him out of your way.

Step 5: Realize the cat has left the windowsill and it's safe to try again

Step 6: Grab camera

Step 7: Focus on beautiful view

Step 8: Get frustrated thinking the only 'beautiful view' you'll be photographing today is the cat (who this time managed to obstruct the view so fully that the auto-flash came on)...

Step 9: When the cat finally leaves the room and you have the opportunity to take the damn picture, you realize that the screen in the window really messes with the auto-focus. Oh well... I guess you'll have to take my word that it's a beautiful view! Here's what I got...

Daily Show Moment

The Daily Show last night reminded me why I don't even bother trying to watch news networks anymore. Too much ridiculous spin!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Indecision 2009 - Reindecision 2008 And Beyond
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

(the mockery starts around 5:15 if you don't have time for the full clip)

While we're at it, I'm not going to embed the video, but it's worth a look at the "Clash of the Cretins," where they debate whether Philly or New York has the 'douchiest' fans. Having grown up there, all I can say is, "yep...that's about right!"

Busy Morning

I had a date at 9:30 this morning with a guy I've spoken to on the phone a few times, but never met. I tried to set him up with Scott, but Scott is working crazy overtime this week, so the date ended up being all mine. Some of the shelves on our b.f. tub had developed cracks, and since water damage terrifies me, and since the house is under warranty, we called it in. So after multiple rounds of phone-tag (as it turns out, I'm a hard gal to get a hold of), we set up a time for this morning.

And so I awoke at 8, showered in the other bathroom (Suave body wash? it sucks as much as their conditioner. I smell pink, and was still sticky after rinsing off), started a load of laundry, and started a batch of cookies. He called at 9:30 to say he was running late, but I didn't care. West Wing was on Bravo, and I was in full-on cookie mode.

When he got here, he said hi to Milo, who declined to politely return the greeting, and I showed him the damage. He assured me that there's no possibility of water damage. There's a full plastic cover behind the surround. And he went to work doing whatever it is he did. I think tape and epoxy were involved. And I went back to my cookies.

Now the bedroom smells like the inside of a bottle of nail polish. Luckily, it's cool, so I turned off the a/c and opened the windows wide. The bathroom window is wide open, the fan is on, and the door is closed. Hopefully by the time Scott comes home, the smell will have gone away.

As for the cookies, there will be no baking today. I made a batch of Toll House dough, split it in half, and made a half batch of orange-chocolate chip and a half batch of chocolate-toffee chip. I rolled them into slice & bake logs and stowed them in the fridge. This way I can make a dozen at a time and the house will smell like cookies during the open house. And of course, then people can eat the cookies. After all, it's one of the few things I make well!

I have a fine coating of flour, sugar, eggs, etc. on my hands and arms, and I'm convinced there's still dough under my nails, but that's the joy of baking, right? Yet another reason it's good to get that step out of the way today.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I seem to have forgotten the clothes in the dryer. I think they're going to need a fluff!