Sniglets

I'm sure my mom did a happy dance as soon as she saw the title of this entry.  When I was little, we loved sniglets (words that should be in the dictionary but aren't - check it out on Wikipedia if you don't believe me).  The one I still use most often is sloopage - the stuff that falls out the back of a thick sandwich or burger.

Anyway, I came up with a sniglet of my own tonight: Socksex - what my big toe has been doing all day with that new hole in my sock.  I don't think it's really good enough to be a sniglet, but at least it should get points for sounding like a real word.

Anyone else out there have a favorite sniglet, or one you have made up?
(yes, this is a blatant ploy for comments… please don't let me down!)

blah blah Headache blah blah blah

The headache seems to have gone away. Notice that I said seems. I still think it's going to come back for day #4.

Work last night was interesting. The Boss and The Chef are leaving for their European "benchmarking" trip this weekend, and last night was The Boss's last night of work. So he spent 1/2 hour going over all of the things I'm supposed to keep up with in his absence. Yep, I'm the go-to girl for all things random, including his voicemail and his e-mail. Usually it's just voicemail. Apparently now I am to be trusted with his LAN ID and password. Anyone want to send hate mail to the CEO?

Just kidding. I'm really not in the mood to search for a new job!

And by the way, in case anyone was wondering what digital cable has brought to our lives, Ren and Stimpy is on late at night. I hated that show when I was a kid, and getting older hasn't made it any funnier. Scott, keeper of the remote, disagrees. However, Pants Off Dance Off - it's like a train wreck. We just can't force ourselves to change the channel! It's ok if you think less of us now. I certainly do!

Cure for Headaches

I'm pretty sure I've had a low-grade migraine for the past 2 days. I'm also pretty sure it's still there. It's not so bad I can't function, but I don't appreciate taking copious amounts of Motrin to no effect. Dammit, I want relief!

Finally last night before bed I dipped into my stash of prescription painkillers from the tooth ache days. I figured I was about to fall asleep, so being high wouldn't be much of an issue. And I woke up this morning feeling more refreshed than I have in the past few days.

Yes, I am planning on taking a few pills to work with me, just in case the headache comes back. And considering I do still have some spots dancing in front of my eyes, I think it's likely I'll need them.

Still Progressing

The cable guyS were here yesterday to hook up the digital cable. Now we have hundreds of channels and nothing on. And even The Daily Show is in repeats, so there's no point in trying out the DVR.



On the bright side, Milo certainly enjoyed the visit from strangers yesterday. Especially since one of the strangers came with a box full of tiny plastic and metal things to bat around. I spent the entire time the guys were here trying to a) keep Milo out of the box of cable bits, b) trying to keep Milo out of the bedroom (since the guys were unfamiliar with the concept of keeping closed doors closed), c) checking to make sure Kilo was still alive and hadn't died in the corner from fright, d) keeping Milo out of the box of cable bits AGAIN!





Now that the cable is hooked up, we got the bookshelves and the TV where we want them. Of course, now we have to fit all of the books, photos, tapes, etc. back on the shelves. And I'm going to move the brown chair to the other wall to open up the entry a bit.

For now though, I have a headache. Again. Blah!

Work in Progress

We tore apart the living room. Now it looks an awful lot like one of those "find the ____" pictures. Find 2 cats. Find the Nittany Lion statuette. Find the belt. Find 2 places where Milo has clawed the crap out of our furniture. Find Dumb & Dumber. Find the vacuum. Find the pineapple candle.

Isn't this fun???

Actually, we had to move the white bookshelf from its position in the corner because it was blocking the cable jack. Yep, the cable guy comes tomorrow! Since we had to move that one out of the way, we decided it would be a good time to rearrange. The white shelf is in its new home. Everything else, however, is in flux until after the cable guy leaves. We think we're going to angle the TV in the corner where the white bookshelf used to be, and put the bookshelves on either side of it. If we decide against that, the TV and the one shelf are going to stay where they are, and the other shelf is going to move in on the other side of the TV. That would certainly be easier, but Scott doesn't like the view from the man chair.

More on this story as it develops. For now, we're off to straighten the living room a bit, and then to tackle the clutter in the bedroom.

Happy Birthday Scott!

I hope you enjoy the new sunglasses I bought me!

OK, so I didn't buy my husband big pink shades for his birthday (but aren't they fabulous???). I also didn't buy him a lime green purse on clearance or a new blue dress shirt.

I bought him digital cable, which won't be installed until Tuesday afternoon. I also bought him a Pirates beach towel (which he doesn't like... c'est la vie) and a Pirates flag that hangs from a sword.

The sunglasses and the purse came from our afternoon of shopping at Target and Sears. Scott got a new video game, and we got 7 boxes of risotto (the Target brand mushroom risotto is amazing... 5 boxes of that was a compromise. Scott wanted to buy all 11 they had on the shelf. we also got 2 boxes of the tomato-herb), roach baits (trust me... this was NOT an impulse buy) and a bunch of other random crap.

We're heading out for dinner at Raglan Road in a little bit. Bangers and mash anyone?

Time to Cut Back? Probably.

 Will I? Probably Not!

I printed out the ABC fall primetime line-up to see when my old favorite shows will be premiering, and which new ones I'm going to watch.  It's a good thing I don't have a social life, because all this TV watching is certainly going to get in the way!

Sunday (2 hours): Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters
Weds (2 hours): Pushing Daisies (new) and Private Practice (new - Grey's Anatomy spin-off)
Thurs (2 hours): Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy

That's 6 hours of TV per week, not counting The Daily Show or any show on other networks I might be interested in.  Though I think the only other show I watch is Heroes. 

It looks like I'll be spending many late nights watching my taped TV.  And maybe my primetime obsession will lead me to finally break down and get digital cable (for Scott) with a DVR (for me).

Seriously… I need another hobby!

4 Years Ago???

After all of yesterday's excitement (and yes, I finally did get some sleep - from 8 pm to 8 am), I was quite glad to see that the Monday Photo Shoot for the week wouldn't require much effort.

You may or may not know that today marks the fourth anniversary of By The Way, which was started on this date in 2003 (here's the first entry). To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to have a historical-themed Photo Shoot:

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Find a picture from 2003 and post it. Any picture is fine; it just has to be from the now-oh-so-distant year of two
thousand aught-three. Surely you have pictures from then? Yes?

Gee... 2003... what happened that year that I might have some pictures of?

Actually, 2003 was a big year for "big deals" in my life. Besides getting married, we also got engaged, my dad got married, I got my first job promotion when I went to the Comm Center, etc. However, I was without home internet access for much of the year and therefore many of the big deals were never actually put into the computer. I started blogging the year after, so many of my activities since then have been better documented.

Big Deal!

I've witnessed a lot in the past 24 hours. I watched a baby being born, held her when she was just minutes old, and I even saw a placenta (which they don't show you on A Baby Story!).

Mike and Reyna were nice enough to invite me along for the birth of their fourth baby. We went in last night and they induced her around 10 p.m. After some scary moments when they thought she might have to be born by c-section, she stuck it out and was born at 7:19 this morning. She's 7 pounds, 9 ounces and absolutely beautiful. She didn't even have that squished-face thing going on. And I was the third non-medical person to hold her.

I still haven't slept, and am pretty much delirious at this point, so I'm not even going to attempt to describe what it was like watching her go from a blip-blip-blip on the monitor to a live human being in just a moment. It's crazy to even think that I watched another human being start. I saw her first breath, heard her cry for the first time, and watched her make her first mischief - getting the black footprint ink all over herself and the baby nurse from kicking and squirming on the table.

Welcome to the world, Cadence Katherine (I am so calling you Catie Kate forever!)! Thank you for coming out the natural way. And thank your mommy and daddy for letting me tag along and be a part of your birth day. I hope you've stopped crying by now...

Confession

I hate Crocs. I really think that they are the ugliest, most ridiculous fad of the past decade. Whoever came up with giant multi-colored rubber shoes - and whoever popularized it - should be severely punished.

But yesterday Scott and I were talking online (which is what we do when we're not together) and I ended up on the Crocs website trying to prove a point about how ugly they are. That's when I found these and these and these and even these, and thought they were actually pretty nice.

I'll be off now to dress for the inevitable arrival of the fashion police. I suspect they will take me away for some time to detox my brain.

Pick a Day, Any Day

Scalzi's Weekend Assignment: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: of all the days of the work week, which is your favorite? Yes, I know a lot of people will default toward Friday, because it's an easy one, but I hope you will actually put some thought into your response and give each day its due. If you finally settle on Friday, fair enough. But even Monday has its good points, you know?

Well John, I've got you on a technicality here. I work a goofy shift - four 10-hour days with Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday off. So of the days you mentioned, Monday is definitely my favorite. Because it's my day off without Mr. ParkHopper, I get to sit at home and just vegetate all day. I even get to control the TV remote (which never happens otherwise)! Occasionally I'll do a load of laundry or wash dishes, but for the most part I just watch DVDs and play on the computer.

Of my own work days, Sundays are my favorite. But not because it's "my Friday." Friday and Saturday nights are quite busy at The Restaurant, and most of my energy is focused on making sure the tiny details of the day are taken care of. Sundays are my get-things-done day. I catch up on my paperwork, order supplies, and generally leave feeling like I've accomplished quite a bit. In fact, this Sunday promises to be quite exciting. A crew is coming in to yank some pre-existing countertops off the wall on Wednesday, so Boss #2 and I have to clean all the stuff from under and on top of the counters so that the office is ready to go on Wednesday.

Extra Credit: Name a song you like with a day of the week in it (you can include Saturdays and Sundays for consideration here).

In high school, our concert choir was at a choral festival and heard another group performing some weird song where they were basically singing the days of the week. The really weird part is that they started with Tuesday! However, I pick Friday I'm in Love by The Cure, which also lists all the days of the week. But at least they started with Monday!

Bullseye!

I packed the world's worst eat-at-your-desk dinner tonight: 2 pieces of fried chicken and 2 ears of corn.  And I somehow managed to get through all of it without so much as a greasy smudge on the keyboard.

Of course, that doesn't make the quarter-sized yogurt stain on my sweater any less embarrassing!  I guess the stain was to be expected - I just got it from an unexpected source.  Thank God for Tide-to-Go!!

Big Day

I had a follow-up doctor appointment today (got to see my "beautiful" empty uterus live on a TV screen...that was thrilling!), so Scott and I took the opportunity to hit some of our favorite spots that are a ways down I-4:

* Sweet Tomatoes for lunch: Tomorrow ends their two weeks of Italian specials. Lucky for us, we went today and had pesto pasta salad and caprese pasta salad. Both were superb. And of course, sweet potatoes, cooked to a tasty mush and topped with honey butter. mmmm

* Then we went to Books a Million to pick up some books. I picked up Sammy's House for only 10% off the list price. Would've been cheaper at ANY other bookstore. But that's ok because Scott got some true crime book, and I picked up two old library books (actual library books with the stickers from their actual libraries inside) for $3 each. I could've spent $100 on those $3 books, but exercised restraint.

* Then we went to Bass Pro Shop because Scott wanted bullets and a holster for the gun that I pretend isn't in our apartment. That whole trip was quite traumatic for me. The whole giant store smells like pipe tobacco, there are giant dead animal carcases around every turn, the employees demonstrate laser sights when you're not expecting to see a red dot appear, there is a "Shootin' Arcade" where Dad can teach his son to kill without the noise, recoil, or blood, they sell living room furniture with tacky "woodsman" patterns, and there is an entire section full of camouflage tops, bottoms, boots, hats, and ghille suits. (with serial killers possibly hidden among them) And don't bother looking for the country-fried bathrooms - they're camouflaged too! Oh - and of course there's all sorts of guns and gun-related equipment. The worst part? I only went along because there's a Cold Stone Creamery in the attached mall. Which has recently closed. No ice cream? Talk about traumatic! I practically had to be sedated in the car on the way home.

Tomorrow should be a little more subdued. Scott has a meeting, and we have to grocery shop. And last I checked, there were no furry dead animals at the grocery store!

Blink and You Missed Me!

Have I mentioned that I got into Candlelight this year? Well that was last week's exciting news from the home front. This morning I got up just in time to sign up for rehearsals online.

The last time I did Candlelight, the rehearsals were Mon/Weds/Fri over a 10-week period. You were expected to make 10 rehearsals. It worked out well, even for people who work nights, because you could do rehearsal on your night off. This year, the rehearsals are allll over the calendar. And since I'm skipping the first week (it's all organizational "welcome to the show" crap and not a lot of actual singing) and the third week (because I'll sort of be out of town), two of my weeks have 2 rehearsals scheduled. I have mostly Monday nights, with some Tuesdays and Wednesdays sprinkled in where there was no Monday (or where a double-up was required) (or both).

I can't wait for the time when we get to pick up our music. I'm going to get my hands on the rehearsal CD and immerse myself in the soprano part of all those great Christmas songs.

Yippee! I'm so excited!

Post Secret Video

I love PostSecret. It's my Sunday morning must-read. And Frank has put up a video and asked us to share it with others. So I am.



Ironically, the video points to the website, which has no new secrets this week because it has the video instead.

Ring Tones

I was on the Sprint website this morning trying to upgrade Scott's text message plan (who knew 300 per month wouldn't be enough??) and instead came across an ad for a "free ringtone… just use this code." So I went browsing for ring tones.

This process is quite overwhelming to me. In general, I think that phones should RING. They shouldn't talk. They shouldn't sing. And they shouldn't play the Mexican Hat Dance. AND I can't believe there are about 4 zillion different ring tones out there to choose from.

In the end, I chose this one. Why the lame obscure song from The Wizard of Oz? I don't know! I guess because it made me laugh! And because they didn't have the guards singing "OREO COOKIES."

I still need to find a good call tone, but that will wait until another day. For now, I will just have to settle for being embarrassed every time my phone starts singing, "the wind began to switch… the house, to pitch… and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch… just then a witch, to satisfy an itch… went flying on her broomstick thumbing for a hitch." And I'm guessing my friends from Encore! would appreciate the humor as well.

Stupi-Demic

I was originally going to draw a diagram and go into great detail about the REALLY STUPID act I saw today. Instead, you're getting the abridged nearly-midnight version.

I was waiting to turn out of my apartment complex this morning (to go South), and a guy driving northbound turned right halfway into the Wal Mart road and came to a complete stop - diagonal - blocking anyone else from turning right (a particular problem since there is no right turn lane due to the road construction). I thought he had broken down right there.

A minute later, the sliding door on the van slides open and a woman pops out the door. With a camera. She proceeds to take a picture of the Shamu Mobile, which is waiting at the light to turn into the apartment complex. Once the picture is taken, she slides the door closed and the van drives off.

You know, at least when people pull over to take a picture of the Disney World welcome sign, they usually leave the roadway! I'm just not used to seeing that kind of touron behavior so close to home. The worst part: this was an older shabby-looking minivan. Definitely not a rental. Which means either that was a judgement-impaired local, or a really cheap tourist! Dufus!

Brain Fart

So here's me confirming a reservation for someone with the last name Van Huren:

"that's 2 words, V as in victor - A - N, H as in... umm... H... U - R - E - N"

I barely made it through the rest of the voicemail without laughing.

A Big Blob of Nothing!

I had all three of my days off this week. And you know what I did? I did minimal laundry, minimal other chores, and barely left the house. It was great!

Don't think too little of me though. Next week Scott and I each have doctor appointments scheduled (on two different days). The week after that, we each have functions to go to (more on that another time). And the week after that is Scott's birthday.

It's quite a busy month, though not as busy as July! Pardon me while enjoy my last glorious day of R & R (and help Scott with the laundry...).

The Outhouse in the Cemetery

Scalzi's Monday Photo Shoot: Take a picture of, or in, a cemetery. Your local cemetery is good, but if you've been to, say, Paris, to see Jim Morrison's grave, or took some arty shots of an ornate headstone elsewhere, something like that works, too.







Yes, that's me, standing in front of an outhouse in a cemetery.



WHAT?!?!?



This picture was taken during a trip to Alabama when Scott and I were dating. Being a closed-minded Yankee, I declared that I wanted to have my picture taken by an outhouse during the trip. You know - because it was my impression that there would be lots of outhouse photo-ops during the trip. You know - because it's "The South." (please don't hate me - I don't really believe all the crap that comes out of my mouth)



Anyway, it turned out that this outhouse was the only one I saw up-close during the trip. It happened to be inside the cemetery you can see on the left side of the photo. No, the outhouse was not the purpose of the visit. There are some lengths to which even I won't go for a photo.



I'm pretty sad that I don't have possession of the album of my family's trip to the UK when I was little. We spent a lot of time in cemeteries, and in some of the churches, where people are buried right in the floor. But my favorite gravestone picture was the grave of Gelert - a dog - around whom the town of Beddgelert is named. (sure, the story is a legend. but so are Robin Hood and King Arthur)

I'm a Winner (again)

This time, unlike last time when I won the Desperate Housewives PC game, I didn't win a contest. This time I won an award.

It's just a quarterly award from work - basically awarded to whomever the managers want to nominate. But still, it's nice to be recognized. I pointed out last night to one of my bosses that my company record card has NO notations for the past 13 months. There's no call-ins, no reprimands, no guest compliments... Nothing!

Hopefully my little quarterly award shows up!

Also, is it a good sign that someone was thinking good things about me during PIE nomination month, or is this a consolation prize? Well, notifications are this month. I guess we'll know soon.

time for lunch!

Note to Self:

You know your nails are too long when the nails on your ring and pinkie fingers stab the palm of your hand when you write.

…or maybe that just means you should type everything!

Maybe Meth Would Help?

Sudafed used to be my go-to head cold relief medicine. I would pop two of those tiny red pills and very shortly would again be able to breathe normally.

Then came the bad bad people making methamphetamine in their own homes, out of the very pills that gave me such comfort. And what did the drug makers do? They punished me. They changed active ingredients. And now Sudafed doesn't help me one bit. Apparently, you can still buy original Sudafed from behind the pharmacist's counter, but who has time for that? Perhaps I should make time for that...

Anyway, I am feeling a little better today. I got over 9 hours of sleep last night. Glorious Nyquil-induced sleep! The Boss didn't come in yesterday. He says he has bronchitis. Pardon my lack of sympathy. Let's get a doctor to listen to my chest right now and see if I have bronchitis too. I guess it's to be expected. Men have a lower threshold for discomfort than women.

August? Since When?

Well, July seems to have come and gone before I had a chance to wallow in the 100% humidity! And I only managed 22 posts in July. I promise to try harder this month.

Currently I'm sick with a sinus issue (left sinus and both ears - figure that one out!) that I'm sure everyone who came to hug and kiss me after a performance will probably be suffering from before long (what can I say? I'm a giver!). Don't blame me though. Scott is sick. And my boss (whom I hadn't seen in over a week until last night) is even sicker than Scott. I'm still pretty sure I got this from Scott though. I don't kiss my boss nearly as much. (tee hee)

But I have a ton to talk about, and obviously have some pictures to share. The pictures are from our work party last night. As you may have noticed, there was wine. A random assortment of reds and whites, and instead of a proper champagne, Rosa Regale (my favorite - and I had a lot of it!). When all was said and done, I think I had a glass of red, a glass of white, and 2-3 glasses of the sparkling during the four-course meal. I managed to keep myself from dancing on the table, but I was awfully giggly. And the food was pretty spectacular. The highlights were our entree: 2 lamb chops, a small filet, and lobster risotto - and dessert: a trio of tiramisu, chocolate mousse, and lemon cheesecake. And as you can tell, there was also a lovely chocolate scroll on the plate that said Congratulations.

Then there was the unofficial after party upstairs at the lounge. My plan: drink Coke to sober up to drive home. Of course, you know what they say about the best laid plans! One of our servers ordered a margarita that somehow went into the computer twice. So I, being the kind soul that I am, drank the one that he didn't want. And then the manager of the lounge sent out champagne for everyone in our group. So I had a little glass of champagne. And three glasses of Coke. Fear not though, I ended up there BSing with other people until around 12:30. By the time I got in my car, I was perfectly safe to drive.

In other non-alcoholic news, my visit with Jackie was way too short and over before it really began. And I didn't get one damn picture. But we sure kept ourselves busy! She and I spent Monday and Tuesday park hopping. We did all the rides that she can't do with her small children - Mission: Space, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Dinosaur, Rock n Rollercoaster, and Tower of Terror. Everest was closed when we were at Animal Kingdom. That's the only one we missed that I'm really sorry about.

We also ate lots of junk food during her stay, but I believe we walked it off in the parks. Don't believe me? I'll post a picture of the blister on the bottom of one of my toes!

Today I'm back to work. I feel sick enough that I really should call in. But considering that everyone I work with saw me all happy and smiling last night, that might not be such a good idea. I will probably leave early though. I think I deserve that much!