Who Wants Pictures???

Maybe once I get a day or two off I'll be able to form coherent paragraphs. Until then, here's some pictures:

Yep, that's her head (complete with tongue!) in my water glass. I don't think I've had a water to myself in the past 2 weeks. Yep, I let her do it. The other cats drink my water when I'm not looking - what's the difference?

And for my next trick, I'm going to show you two photos taken just about a year apart. You've all seen the first one before - it was taken at last year's work party. The second one just goes to show that you're never to old to drink 2 glasses of champagne at once!

(and no, Mom, I was never in any danger of getting myself fired or mortally embarassed.)

And Now for Something Completely Serious

I read this article in Reader's Digest yesterday and literally broke out in a cold sweat. Why? I think this paragraph sums it up (emphasis mine):

Maura Gillison, MD, a researcher and professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, was among the first to study the link between the growth of head and
neck cancers among younger nonsmokers and certain types of the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV). It's the same virus that causes the majority of cervical cancers and warts. The risks are scary because the virus is really common, even in teenagers. Twenty million people in the United States have some form of HPV, and over six million more get it every year. It can be transmitted through oral sex, and both men and women can be infected. Of the more than 35,000 people who will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year, 25 percent of us will connect our diagnosis to HPV infection. As my treatment continues, I'm struck by how nobody seems to know about any of this.

OK, I know it now! So... is there a test? Can I get a PAP stick stuck down my throat? Sadly, according to their online extra, the only test is a biopsy on existing cancer can tell whether it is related to HPV. It looks like a test is in the works.

I sure hope so... I can't fathom losing part of my tongue, losing my ability to speak, to sing, to swallow... To me, that could be worse than losing my sight or my hearing.

Peacefully Coexisting

Doesn't that image just warm your heart? Two cats, enemies a mere week ago, now having a turf war over the Kitten Chow. Actually, this whole little encounter cracked me up. I managed to get her eating out of her bowl and both boys eating Cat Chow out of their bowl at the same time. Of course, then Kilo got bored and decided to bug the baby. But for one brief shining moment, I was the "cat whisperer." A golden spotlight shined down upon my head (the glare was a bit much for Scott) and a chorus of angels sang my praises.

...and then after their dinner, Elphie brought me back down to earth with a little reminder:

I'm still your evil monkey kitten, and you can't resist taking pictures when you should be using the squirt bottle.

It's true. I'm weak. But could you resist her?

Also? She spent the night in the living room. I am so well rested today!

Shopping, Dining and More!

What's a girl to do when she has a work party to attend and nothing sparkly or cleavage-revealing to wear?

Go shopping!

And what did I find?

Yeah, something sparkly and cleavage-revealing! OK, you can't really tell from the picture, but the entire neckline of the pink top is lined with tacky pink rhinestones and little fake pearls. That shirt is actually a halter, thus the conservative-a-fying black cardigan. I tried on the ensemble in the store, and told the sales girl that I love it, but that I don't really have great fashion sense and maybe they shouldn't go together at all. She made SUCH a face. And she actually said she thought the jeweled neckline didn't go with the sweater at all. But my concern was about doing the "layered" thing with the pink hanging out the bottom. She said that was fine. So I bought it.

I also got a pair of black dress pants and an orange silk tank with a cute pleated-ish neck line. For the party, I wore the tops above with a black skirt and then casual-ized it with my standard black sparkly flip flops.

I actually got a lot of compliments on the look, and my stock response was always something in the neighborhood of, "I got drunk and bedazzled the hell out of it this afternoon." I am really sad that the sparkle didn't show up in any of the pictures. However, I do get points for having on more color than most people.

I'm not going to talk about the cast party, except to say that I had too much champagne. I did stay clothed, didn't dance on any tables, and only made a moderate ass out of myself in front of my bosses (but didn't really say much I wouldn't have said sober... just not all at one time). And that guy who interviewed me for that job that I'm 99% sure I didn't get? I smiled and said HELLO! a little too loud, and he possibly scurried away after that.

The reservations girls (a.k.a. me and my minions) with the Chef. This photo was obviously taken after I decided that I would not pose for a picture without my champagne in-hand!

The after-party was at Jelly Rolls, and when we got there (around 10), the place was still mostly empty and there was no one singing along. Hello? Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" needs me to yell "WANTED... DEAD OR ALIVE" at the top of my lungs. Most of the tables turned around to look at me and I just smiled and waved. My audience! Finally! And at the end of the song, the piano guy thanked me. :-)

After that, some of my co-workers were dancing and the security guys came up multiple times to ask them to sit down. Perhaps because they were right in front of the stage? Well, whatever! That was the closest I've ever come to being kicked out of anywhere. But all told, there were probably 20-30 of us there, and maybe 20 others who weren't us. And they (for the most part) weren't behaving too badly.

For the record, I switched to water once we got to Jelly Rolls. All the bubbles had given me wicked heart burn, and I was really worried about puking. Scott bailed out of work early to drive me and Harp Girl home. Good thing, because my throat hurts from all the "singing" I did, and I can't imagine what I would feel like today if I had stayed.

One thing I noticed last night is that the two guys who didn't have anything at all to drink probably had the most fun. Sure, they weren't dancing or "singing" - but they had a front-row seat to some pretty spectacular shenanigans... AND they'll remember more than the rest of us. On the other end of the spectrum, I behaved myself so that I didn't wake up this morning ashamed of myself. That's more than I can say for some of my other co-workers!

Happiness Is...

Last night was the first time since Monday that I got 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep. Elphie, for all her adorable quirks, is not a big fan of sleeping that long. She discovered the monsters under the covers (a.k.a. feet) on Tuesday, and it's pretty much been downhill from there. She's gotten a lot more rambunctious now that she knows her way around the house and is starting to relax around the big boys. So now she'll attack anything that moves, or that she thinks might move if she attacks it. This includes fingers, toes, furniture, walls, my beautiful shower curtain (thank God IKEA is so cheap!), and the occasional cat 10x her size!

So like I said, sleep has been fitful. We sleep when she sleeps.

Scott decided to take last night for the team, and managed to keep her occupied during her early-morning romp. The result? I had the best day I've had in years (ok, at least in the past 6 days!):

* After one snooze, I realized that Elphie was sleeping back-to-back with me. I rolled over and pet her and she purred that super-loud kitten purr that makes me forgive her for the scratches all over my hands and arms.

* Scott made scrapple and eggs for breakfast.

* God told me that he loves me**.

* Work was interesting and fairly busy, and I got to knock out a couple of very random projects and laugh at a cluster of really stupid people on my voicemail. (seriously - it was like someone hacked in and changed our outgoing message to something like "Thank you for calling The Restaurant. This is 'wildest dreams' week, so please leave your unrealistic request and we will definitely honor it." ha!)

* The Chef gave me a chicken sandwich,

* which I used to bribe Scott to come over and visit during my lunch break. He couldn't stay very long, but it's nice to spend a little time together awake.

** So yeah, about that one. As I was driving out of the apartment complex this morning, I saw two guys in bright green t-shirts talking to cars at the red light. So I locked my door. Generally, there's people who solicit donations for one charity or another (and sometimes a homeless person or two) on the other side of the street trying to get people coming out of Wal Mart and the gas station, but I've never seen them on our side of the street before and I was NOT happy.

Once I got to the light, I made a distinct effort to not make eye contact with either of the guys, who by this point I noticed had CHURCH in bright orange letters on their bright green t-shirts. I don't carry any cash, and I figured it would be better to just pretend I didn't know they were there than to turn down any donation request. One came around and knocked on my window and when I turned, I noticed a piece of paper in his hand. The words "FREE" and "ICE CREAM" stuck out to me. So I rolled down my window a crack and the guy (who, by the way, couldn't have been older than 16) handed it to me and said something along the lines of, "we're here giving away ice cream to remind you that God loves you. have a nice day." And he walked away. "Wow. Thank you!"

These guys were out handing out coupons for a free soft serve cone at the neighborhood ice cream place. Attached was a "business card" for their church that says "this is our simple way of saying that God loves you..." And you know what I did with my coupon? I brought it to work with me and told everyone that God loves me, and that I know it's true because he gave me free ice cream.

Ben Franklin may have believed "beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy," but I think it's ice cream!

Wasp Mafia

A few days back, Scott took on the ultimate opponent: a nest of wasps that had set up shop in the top corner of our stairwell. He used the super long-range insta-kill bug spray, and knocked out the whole family (well, what was there at the time). And yes, he did wash his hands. I made sure of it!

Thanks to the stellar efforts of our local maintenance and pest control staff, there is still a scattering of dead wasps (hornets? killer bees? your guess is as good as mine!) on the stairwell. No biggie - unlike dead roaches, dead wasps don't skeeve me out the same way.

Correction: didn't skeeve me out.

This morning, when I left for work, there was a dead wasp on the roof of my car. It was obviously not road kill - the position was off, and the body was pristine. The wasp either died on top of my car while my car was parked, or was placed there after it died. Instantly, my mind went to that scene in whichever Godfather movie that had the horse head in the guy's bed.

Are the wasps sending us a message? "Stop killing us, or we'll kill you?"

That's it - it's time to move!

That's Not Milo!

I don't know what it is with our cats and boxes... but somehow I feel that I was more surprised by this image than I should have been.

Mischief Managed

Elphie discovered the kitchen yesterday, in all its glory. She helped Scott load the dishwasher...

She inspected the pots and pans in the cabinet...

And then we had dinner.

Boy oh boy, is it tough to eat a meal with her around! Turn your head for just a second, and she's chowing down. She loves people food. Of course, she has also discovered the "forbidden fruit" of regular Cat Chow (in the big cats' bowl), so I think it's safe to say she loves everything. Except crab legs. We got some from Publix and cooked them up last night as an appetizer. I expected to have to set up a perimeter to eat in peace, but she wasn't interested at all. She wanted to play with the shells, but didn't really get a food vibe. Maybe that's because we were eating with our hands straight out of the pot and there were no plates or forks.

She does like ice cream, oatmeal (strawberries & cream), pork, and everything else we had last night - tilapia, coconut rice, and asparagus.

No, I don't let her eat off my plate. She just gets a bite before I know she's there. Besides, with a face like that, how can anyone say no?

And one more food find? Banana Split Cream Oreos. OMG are they tasty! I don't usually like that fake banana flavoring, and the yellow cream is a little gross to look at, but they are my new favorite store-bought cookie!

Cat House

Things here at Casa ParkHopper are progressing slowly but surely. As I type this, Milo is on my lap purring. I'm glad because this is the first time he's let me pet him in 2 days and I missed him. When he first jumped up, he smelled Elphie on me and started to hiss, so I pushed him down (how much bloodshed is enough?) and he came back a little while later and has been there ever since.

I finally got around to reading some "introducing a new cat" articles online last night, and they basically say "Jamie and Scott are stupid." Apparently you're supposed to introduce the cats one sense at a time - separate rooms connected by a door so that they can smell each other, and then you're supposed to conjure a baby gate (though I haven't met a cat who can't jump one of those) so that they can see each other. And then after a period determined by the cats - 2 days to a month - you can introduce them to each other.

Whatever!

Right now, Elphie is in our room with Scott. We have errands to run today, so we're going to keep everyone in their separate corners until we get home. I'm hoping that Milo's calm isn't temporary. I know that he's still going to growl and hiss, but I'd prefer that his anti-social period be over. I haven't needed to refill their food bowl for the last two days either, so I'm happy to see him eating again too.

Elphie and Kilo are going to be fine. He scares the crap out of her, and occasionally takes swats at her, but they were in the same room making eye contact for most of last night. She's already established herself as the #2 cat, hissing at Kilo until he backs off. That's fun to watch! Poor Kilo - he just wants a little love from someone!

Y'all are just going to be stuck looking at kitten pictures for a while. Enjoy them or skip over them, but I make no apologies. How can I help but snap all these pictures???

Elphie's "sweet and innocent" face.

She may look sweet and innocent, but check out those claws! Coming soon: pictures of Scott and Jamie's various war wounds.

I included this picture just to illustrate her very weird partial long hair. I've never seen a cat with hair like hers before - mostly short, but with an assortment of long (including some white). We're wondering if the long hairs will go away, or whether more will grow in, or if she's going to go around forever looking like someone got to her with a bottle of Nair!

In This Corner...

In this corner, the "Orange Fireball," the "Devil's Cat," the reigning heavyweight champ of Casa ParkHopper, MILO!

In the opposite corner, the "tiny furball," "Daddy's little girl," the newcomer with a lot to prove, ELPHIE!

Guess what! It's a girl! Scott and I batted around names all afternoon, and after my feeble attempts at Disney Princess names (Mulan, Megara), his attempts at Morpheus and Hymen, and some random names like Jack (in Captain Barbosa's voice, "we named the kitten Jack"), Violet, Veruca, Sweeney, Sparrow, and some more I can't remember, we finally found a name that all three of us could agree on. Her name is Elphaba, after a certain green witch in Wicked, but you can call her Elphie. She even perked up as soon as I said it.

The name, which took us about 3 hours to settle on, has been the easy part. We got home around 5:00 and Milo hasn't left his post under the desk since, except for one epic fight with Kilo. He has been hissing and growling, and Scott's attempt to talk some sense into him ended with one of them pulling back a bloody stump. (ok, I exaggerate, but there was blood) He hasn't come out to eat or drink, and he still hisses when one of us comes up to the desk. (once we're here for a minute, he stops)

Amazingly enough, Kilo wins the cool cucumber of the day award. He has been all poofed up a few times, but he came up while Elphie was sleeping on my lap and sniffed at her a little bit. I think he likes her because she brings the new and exotic Kitten Chow into the house, and her food is conveniently located (for the moment) in the living room. She's afraid of him, but I think they'll adjust to each other pretty quickly.

I hope.

I'm really upset about Milo. I've been making "hydro-phobie" jokes all evening because his behavior reminds me of the end of Old Yeller (and no, I will not shoot my own cat). I'm hoping that keeping her in the bedroom/bathroom side of the house overnight will allow them all to adjust to the idea of their new situation. Otherwise, I think Milo will get really bored sitting under the desk forever!

Tomorrow, more pictures of the baby. Hopefully with one of the other cats for scale. She's so tiny! And cute! And fuzzy!

Idina!

Last night was the Idina Menzel concert at House of Blues.

I can't make my mind break down the night into anything coherent, because it was just one big blur of fabulous. She did (I think) every song off of her new album, plus 2 songs from RENT and 2 songs from Wicked. Oh, and Roxanne. Hey - every concert needs a random cover, right?

Idina is fabulous beyond words, and her set was about 2 hours long. Sweet! I love the stuff off the new album (note to self: check BMG before buying anywhere else), but the most thrilling to me were the Broadway songs that she made famous in the first place. "No Day But Today" was totally surreal for me because I was on another stage singing a much less fabulous version just the day before. And I can't even describe what it was like to hear her do "Defying Gravity."

Hearing her do "For Good" is probably something I'll never forget. That song is really special to me for reasons that I'm not going to talk about here. But I had tears rolling down my cheeks hearing her sing it live. Wow. So of course, I went on YouTube to find a video from another concert date, and the one I found has crappy video and crappy audio. She was better last night. But here you go. The song starts around 3:11.



If she came back next week, I'd go again. For now, I guess I'll just have to buy the album and occasionally watch blurry, shaky, illegal YouTube videos to relive the memory.

A Comedy of Errors

The planets aligned Friday night. Had I read my horoscope that day, I imagine the text would have included the words "stay home."

Seriously.

I woke up to find my right eye once again totally red. It didn't hurt, there were no green eye boogies, and it wasn't quite as bad as the last time. Of course, that meant no contacts and no eye make up (not good for any activity under bright lights).

After taking 2 pictures backstage, I got a "card full" error message on the camera. So I spent the next half hour deleting old pictures while warming up, getting notes, etc.

Around 7:40, I turned my camera over to Scott and took the long walk to the UK pavilion to go to the bathroom. The sky looked dark, but not dark enough to imply imminent rain. Wrong! By the time I finished in the bathroom, there may as well have been a waterfall to run through. It was bad! So I borrowed a plastic garbage bag from the custodial woman, and decided the most important thing was my hair. So I wrapped up my head and made a run for it. And I was soaked by the time I made it back. Luckily, the shirt was a light enough fabric that getting wet didn't make it look any different. And no one saw my soaking wet skirt anyway - the back row has its benefits.

I also got foot powder all over my brown shoes, and some other little things happened that I can't even remember.

Of course, the show was fine. My feet are still swollen, but I'm hoping a week of sitting on my butt will cure that. And now, yet another video. Enjoy!

Better Luck Next Time

Scott took pictures for me last night. Unfortunately, most of them looked like a variation of this:

part choir, part giant head.

He said this woman would move every time he was about to take the picture, so even if her head wasn't in the picture, her hair messed with the auto focus. I told him he didn't have to come back tonight, but then this happened.

I am cranky and my feet are swollen and sore. The shows are going just fine, and part of me will be sad to see it end. But my body is really looking forward to getting back to my sitting job!

Have You Seen My Car?

I've taken to wandering around the employee parking lot after Encore rehearsals and yelling, "has anyone seen my car*?" No one answers me. But that's ok. I have a general sense of which quadrant the car is in, and it's pretty easy to spot.

After standing for 3 hours in dress shoes, the last thing I want to do is take one more step than absolutely necessary. I've managed to take it easy on my voice this week, and still plan to not push too hard during the shows (which start tonight!!). There's lots of strong voices around me - I'm just there for the applause!

I am already completely exhausted. I can't complain too loudly though because a lot of my fellow performers are working their day jobs this week, and surviving (if you can call it that) on 4 hours of sleep. Of course, I had the sense to burn a week of vacation...

In other news, no news yet on the interview front. It turns out I really really like the guy that I'd be working for. My interview went pretty well, I guess. He's interviewing a total of 5 people for the job, and I was #2 to be interviewed. I think the rest were yesterday, but maybe not. At any rate, I imagine if I get the job I'll hear by the end of the week. If not, I'll be disappointed but not heart-broken.

...and for now, I have other pressing things on my mind.


* An idea I paraphrased from a story about my mom's wild youth.

On Vacation!

(sort of)

I don't have to be back at work until next Sunday. That doesn't really mean I get to spend the week lounging by the pool with not a care in the world.

If only!

Encore: rehearsals today, tomorrow and Tuesday; performances Wednesday, Thursday and Friday! That's an evening commitment that'll probably end up being about 6 hours a day.

Interview: tomorrow at 11 (yikes!)

Work: Yeah, work! My bosses decided, in their collective wisdom, on FRIDAY that they wanted invitations to our cast party. (bitter Jamie would like to point out that when I asked the Chef last week whether he wanted me to start on invitations, he said they would be relying on word of mouth this year. word of mouth, my butt!) So The Boss and I came up with a design in about an hour on Friday night.

Unfortunately, we only had 25 sheets of card stock left (and a guest list of around 65). So, long story short, I printed what I could, but offered to come in on Monday after my interview and finish up. Hopefully that won't take me very long, because when I'm done Scott and I are going to see...

Batman!!!

I can't wait!

And now here's today's unrelated-to-the-post YouTube video:

"It Tastes Funny, and There's No Cream Filling"

After the success of introducing scrapple to Scott, I thought I'd try out a Philly treat that's sure to please: the Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpet.

It turns out he liked the scrapple better.

He came around in the end, and ended up eating almost his whole half of the carton. What? He was obviously craving less processed cake product than I was! Don't judge!

I'm pretty sure Publix carries at least one variety of cream-filled cupcake. Maybe I'll try my luck with one of those. For me though, the butterscotch krimpet is a cellophane-wrapped passport to my youth!

Dateline: Orlando

Headline: Girl Annoyed by Interview Situation Suddenly Changes Tune

It's funny how being scheduled for a 2nd round interview before leaving the 1st round will do wonders for one's mood!

Also? I'm so happy that now I get to wear my nice suit for that interview!

And now, a little video that has nothing to do with work:

What the Eff?

So you know that interview I had on Monday? The one that I wore my brand new super coordinated suit and painful heeled shoes that even now my feet feel as if they were crushed? The one that I woke up early for? The one with someone other than the person that I was supposed to interview with?

It turns out that interview didn't count for anything.

Yeah.

That face you're making? I've been making it for the past 12 hours.

I woke up today to multiple calendar requests on my work e-mail and a voicemail. When I spoke to the secretary to reschedule and asked if it was a do-over from the first interview, she said yes and then got kind of snippy and said "*I'm* the one doing the interviews, and I discussed it with [the guy I interviewed with] and I need to bring you all in again."

If I were interviewing for a position within that immediate work unit, I would have said "no thank you" and moved on. If this was going to be the case, then they should have called us all that day and rescheduled us. I really feel like there's either some sort of power struggle going on, or there's some other untold story, but I'm really not as enthusiastic this time around. And I have yet to hear anything that sounds like an apology for the inconvenience and the emotional roller coaster.

And since the interview is in the same place, and the same major players work there, I decided I needed to get another suit. I got the brown one with the teal shirt that I tried on before. No time to screw around and try on a bunch of stuff, and luckily I had tried on 3/4 of the mall in my last excursion. This time we were in, out, and to Pay Less for a pair of brown shoes in about 40 minutes. I'm not in love with the outfit, but whatever. At this point, I'm just ready for it to be over.

(this time, I will print out a resume though...)

In Other News...

I had rehearsal tonight, rehearsal tomorrow, work Friday and Saturday, and then rehearsals Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and shows Weds, Thurs, and Friday. My throat still hurts. And I have PMS now, which doesn't bode well for next week.

My eyes are just fine. I still wore my glasses on Monday for my "just kidding" interview, but was back in contacts on Tuesday when we went to see WALL-E. I'm still taking them out at night, but I'm fine. The redness is gone. Even Scott has stopped worrying about them!

Speaking of WALL-E, I loved it. The only thing that stopped me from instantly proclaiming it my new Pixar favorite was the fact that that WALL-E had a pet cockroach on Earth. That ate Twinkies. Every time the thing skittered up a wall, I shuddered. Oh - and it got smashed twice and came back to life. See? Pixar understands how roaches just... never... die! Otherwise, I totally loved it. It's definitely in my top 3 with Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. I'll have to re-evaluate after I've seen it 100 times.

Well, It Didn't Totally Suck...

So...I guess I should start by correcting a mistake I made in this post. My interview was scheduled not with the boss I thought it was, but with her executive assistant. Well that makes sense!

And when I arrived yesterday for my interview, I found out that the assistant had called in and the interviews were now being done by the guy who is the hiring manager for all of the restaurant managers. OK, curve ball, but no big deal.

"Do you have a resume on you?" Umm... no. Shit. I have never been to an interview within the company when my resume wasn't already there on the table before I arrived. And I imagine the girl who was supposed to be doing the interviews probably had the resumes locked in her desk. So I, total professional that I am, ask if I can log onto his computer and print one off my virtual drive.

Of course, the one on the drive wasn't the most current incarnation, but it wasn't too bad. At least it was up-to-date on my work experience.

I'm choosing to not re-live the interview, because I don't want to get bogged down with all those "coulda shoulda woulda's." I did leave with the feeling that I didn't blow it. I also feel like I'm probably not going to get the job, but that I'm not completely out of the running yet.

Two direct-ish quotes:

"With your current job and your background, I definitely feel that you're a candidate..."

"...there are some existing Secretary 1's (that's the title of the position I applied for) who applied." (which means I'm not the most qualified)

I decided to fight for myself though, and wrapped up telling him that I'm not inexperienced completely, that a lot of what I do for my bosses is secretary work, and that I bring knowledge of systems that most secretaries don't know, or at least don't use as frequently as I do, and that I'm a fast learner. It was sort of the equivalent of "I'm not disabled - I'm differently abled."

So we'll see what happens. It'll probably be a week or two before I hear anything... if I hear anything. If this wasn't my time, that's ok. I'm going to force my bosses to give me some more applicable experience. And eventually I'll get out of there.

Rhetorical Question

You have red irritated eyes.

You have a job interview.

Do you explain why you have red eyes right off the bat? Wait until asked? Wait until that "do you have anything to add?" question at the end of the interview?

I found some eye wash last night in the linen closet (yes, Scott does stock up on random things!) and used it last night and this morning. The good news is that my eye boogies are fewer and no longer green. The bad news is that the red is still there. Everyone at work today asked if I had been crying. I guess that means it's not any better.

Of course, "have you been crying?" is a better question than "are you high?" or "have you met my wife, Satan??"

Small miracles, I guess!

Red Eye Reduction

Who doesn't love a good eyeball picture? Oh, most people? Well, if that applies to you, just go ahead and skip over this entry!

So... it turns out Hot Shot to the eyes really is rather problematic!

This is one of those days when I can't adequately express just how stupid I feel. Or how cranky.

It isn't bad enough that my eyes are bright red and occasionally are also itchy/ burning/ watery.

It's not bad enough that I've removed a measurable amount of bright green eye boogies today.

But let's also remember that my eye glasses are a prescription older than my contacts and that the frames never really fit over my ears properly. So I'm walking around in a blurry world feeling slightly sea sick. Wearing the glasses two days in a row is going to give me a headache. It always does.

Also? I still have a sore throat and cough, and have taken so many medications recently that my stomach is pretty much queasy around the clock.

Scott thinks I need to seek medical attention. I just think I need to ride it out. Actually, I'll ride it out until around 11:00 on Monday. THEN I'll go to the doctor if necessary. But I guess then I'll have to decide whether to go to the eye doctor (since I actually have one of those that I'm established with) or back to the walk-in clinic. I don't want to be put back in antibiotics. Hell, I'm about to give up on all medicine!

I just need to take some time off to heal. Sadly, that's not an option.

Yes, I'm done whining now. Thank you for not judging me!

Dead Roach Walking

WHY do they do that?? I empty 3/4 of a can of bug spray in its general direction, it falls from 8 feet up the wall with a satisfying splat into the bathtub below, and then when Scott gets home, it has disappeared.

Why won't someone invent a bug spray that paralyzes roaches until the poison does its job? Then there would be no post-mortem leg twitching AND they would certainly hold the hell still and wait patiently for disposal!

And now, a special feature:

Jamie's eye safety tip of the day: Wash your hands immediately after handling the industrial-size aerosol death-in-a-can. Also, don't stay in the bathroom to do your normal nighttime routine after spraying death-in-a-can. I'm not sure which, but I'm pretty sure one or both of these errors in judgement lead to me waking up this morning with my eyes practically welded shut with green goo. On the bright side, having red eyes really makes the blue stand out!

DAVE!

Last night was our trip to Tampa to see Dave Matthews Band ("DAVE!") in concert.


Allow me to start with a disclaimer or ten:

• I'm still sick. At this point, I may as well be on a continuous IV drip of ibuprofen to keep the swelling in my left tonsil down.
  
• DAVE! is Scott's favorite band, not mine. I like them just fine, and even own a CD or two (purchased in college, and let's not discuss just how many years ago that was!).
  
• I don't like loud noises. When we saw The Lion King at Bob Carr, we were on the right side of the auditorium and I literally had to hold my hand over my right ear during the songs because the sound level was painful.
  
• I don't like crowds, and lawn seating doesn't do much to protect my personal space bubble.
  
• I don't do drugs or drink beer.

I was prepared to go into last night and grin and bear it for the sake of Scott. I was going to be on my best behavior, since we were going with his friends. And I was going to get just as wild and crazy as he did.


We got rooms at the hotel across the street from the fairgrounds. We got to the hotel around 2:30, and our room was oppressively smoky. We knew they were sold out, and the odds of getting another king room were slim to none, and we figured we were going to come back with lungs full of a variety of second-hand smoke anyway and probably wouldn't notice.

We hung out for a little while, and then drove across the street to tailgate in the parking lot. We got there early enough to claim a spot in the shade of a big tree that even had a picnic table. We were front-row for drunken football and frisbee antics, a dramatic vomit incident and I was happy to see volunteers walking around collecting recyclables and registering people to vote (the latter, no surprise, were all Obama volunteers). After our "linner" of grilled stuff and cookies and watermelon, we headed up towards the amphitheater and spread our blankets out in a pretty decent spot. I stretched out on my back and listened to the warm-up band and watched the clouds go by overhead and marveled at the overall pleasantness of the evening.


And then the rain started.


We knew it was coming. There was pretty spectacular lightning in the distance that was most definitely getting closer. The temperature was no longer sweltering, and there was a lovely breeze. The clouds I had been watching were darkening shades of gray. And then we started to hear the thunder.


About the time the opening act left the stage, the sprinkling rain turned into a deluge. This was your typical Florida 3:00 thunderstorm... 4 hours late. All of a sudden, my jeans and white t-shirt were a horrible error in judgement (not my first of the day - see smoky hotel room above). I wrapped my fleece blanket around my shoulders, more for modesty than to actually keep me dry, and hunkered down into the grass. The drunken morons sitting in their metal lawn chairs cheered every time a lightning bolt hit close by.

The worst of the storm let up about the time DAVE! took the stage. So we all got up and stood for the show. I have to say, I was impressed. There wasn't one person up on stage that I wasn't really blown away by. Of course, I knew a total of 4 songs played, including a cover of Sledge Hammer. That was a bit of a bummer for me. But I s'pose I could have done some homework in advance of the show. I got the impression that Scott didn't know much of the new stuff either, but he was in his zen-like DAVE! state. They could have played Happy Birthday for 2 hours straight and he would have probably been thrilled.

I never did dry out, and my jeans added a ton of weight to my bottom half. Standing on a hill proved to be incredibly uncomfortable for my feet, knees, hips and lower back, so I sat down for a while. Unfortunately, sitting compressed my bladder. I could see the bathrooms from where we were sitting, but I knew if I got up and left my group that I would never find my way back. At one point, I started having these crazy "I could just sit down and pee in my pants and no one would even notice" thoughts. But I talked myself out of that!

The full bladder definitely detracted from the show. During one song, I turned around and asked Scott if they had to have every single band member do their own little jam session in every single song. OMG - I honestly don't think they played more than 10 songs total. The songs. lasted. forever.

(sort of like this entry! yes, I'm aware)

That's really my only complaint about the show itself. It was great. And I probably would have even enjoyed the jamming if not for my intense desire for the show to be over. Of course, I would have been happier had I not been sick and wet, and had I not been surrounded by a whole lot of pot-smoking drunk people more concerned with taking funny pictures of each other than with the actual show. But you can't control the people.

All told, I had a better time at the concert than I expected to. In fact, I had fun. Scott did too. Though I think the rain dampened his spirits more than he would admit to me.

And I think it took less than an hour to get from our seats back to the hotel (with stops at the bathroom - yeah, I caved - and merchandise area so Scott could get a hat). Our room was still stinky, but we were so grateful to get out of our wet clothes that we didn't care. We each took hot showers and then climbed into bed. I think I passed out around 12:30. Sadly, the smoke smell was worse than either of us wanted to admit and we were both awake by 6:30 this morning trying not to breathe.

We decided to just get up and hit the road. When the girl at the front desk asked about our stay, Scott mentioned the smoke and the roaches (two of them... but I only saw one) and she handed him a voucher for a free future night. Yay, La Quinta! Congratulations on your excellent customer service!

Of course, the second we got home, we threw everything we had with us (even the clean clothes) straight into the washer. I jumped in the shower to de-funk, and then went to bed. We got home around 9:30, and I was asleep by 10:30. I slept until 1:30, which almost catches me up for the day.

So DAVE! turned out to be a fun little day trip. I'm really glad that we went. Really really glad.

Up next on the Scott & Jamie Concert Tour: Idina Menzel at HOB on 7/26. That one is definitely my summer concert selection. Of course, I just love her. I don't know any of her music. I'm thinking I should probably start studying up now!

Available Now!

Tickets are available now!

There is also a printable parking permit and directions. If you're planning on attending, you'll need that to avoid paying the parking fee at Epcot. (by the way, parking this year is in the Epcot guest lot)

Another Day of Shopping

I'm too tired to go into a while song and dance about how much I hate to shop. We all know it. I doubly hate shopping when I only have one shot to find something that I have to have. Example? A suit for an interview I have on Monday. If I didn't find something today, I probably would have had to fall back on my old black suit. That one is technically fine, but it's about 4 years old. And it's black. You're not supposed to wear black for an interview.

Of course, I'm not sure what the interview fashion police would say about the outfit I ended up with, but I'm happy. I think that's what counts most.

After an unsuccessful run to Dress Barn, then 2 hours of babysitting (cookies in exchange for quiet? it worked for a little while!), Scott and I set off for the Florida Mall. Macy's? Nope. Nordstrom? Nada. Dillards? Zilch. Sak's? They at least had suits, but nothing I loved enough to spend more than $150 on! We hit the "fancy" department stores ahead of our normal stand-by's because Sears and Penny's usually carry a much more casual set of clothes.

As it turns out, Penny's was my lucky store today. The first thing I found wasn't a suit. It was a cute cocktail dress in a size too small that I grabbed and decided I needed to try on. Not only does it fit (there's a little back fat involved, and therefore a shawl/wrap is needed), but it was on clearance for $20. Sold!!

Scott didn't like it on the hanger, and I don't really like it in this picture, but you'll just have to trust me that it looks cute on.

As for suit shopping, I finally hit my stride. There were three that I tried on, and would have bought any of them, considering the complete lack of anything worthwhile anywhere else. One was a light green tweed-ish fabric that was a little too "Jackie O" for a job interview. One was dark brown with teal pinstripes and a matching tank. This one was ok, but didn't fit great, and the pants had a high waist and the zipper was in the back. And then, there was the one I ended up buying...

It's tan with very fine teal and brown pinstripes. Originally, I tried it on with the teal tank that came with the brown suit, and I seriously considered re-hanging the suit so that the tank came home with me. But you know me and that whole honesty thing!

So we circled the store until I happened upon this bright orange shirt. It's basically got a shallow

v-neck with three flat stones that look like a built-in necklace in the exact color of the buttons on the jacket.

oh! And the coolest thing? This suit is really high quality. It fits nicely already (the pants should be hemmed, but since I'm short on time, I'll just wear heels). And it was on clearance for 60% off! The original tag was $190 and I got it for $85. And the shirt was on sale for under $15.

At this point, I'm just glad the shopping is finally over!

Of course, I do have one more "fashion" picture to share. It seems that my cup runneth over with sweaters. Particularly cable-knits. Amazingly enough, I have a dark purple, a dark red, and a brown (all short sleeved) that are mid-laundry and therefore didn't make the picture. I'm thinking my slogan should be, "wear the rainbow!"

Could This Be Love?

Have I mentioned that Mike and Reyna's cat Kevin had kittens? Yeah, Kevin is a girl. She was found when she was not much bigger than this, and they thought she was a boy. By the time they learned differently, the name had stuck.

Anyway, Kevin had 5 kittens. Two are striped (black & beige) like her, two are black like the daddy, and one is black with striped ears.

And I love them!

And Scott loves them!

The one on the left is the one that I love the most. I just learned today that her name is Friend. (the others are DeeDee, Bubba, Shadow Jr., and Gizmo) When the kids were saying her name, I thought they were saying "Fred," so that's what I've been calling her. Besides, since her mom's name is Kevin, I think it's only fitting that she have a boy name, too.

Fred is definitely the most mellow of the bunch. She will let me hold her as long as I want and doesn't cry or jump. I half-wonder if she's sick or something, but her eyes are clear and she can run and jump and eat. She just isn't as into that stuff as the others. She's fascinated by fingers and toes, and she managed to give one of the boys a scratch from his ear to his chin while I was babysitting. (she's not very strong, so the consensus among the adults is that he was probably mis-handling her)

So...would someone please convince me and Scott that three cats are really two more than we actually need, and that someone else out there wants to love these babies to pieces? Tell me that Milo would eat a kitten, and that she's not just the cutest thing ever.

Plain Vanilla

The "costumes" for Encore this year are shades of white. We are all supposed to wear white, beige, ivory, or light khaki. Tops and bottoms can be a mix of pants, skirts, capris, short sleeve, long sleeve, etc.

Well last year I made a very poor costume choice. We were told the following: black dresses, below the knee, look formal. So bought ye olde black frock with sensible short sleeves and the only frill at the hem. And 90% of the women on the stage were wearing spaghetti strap short cocktail dresses.

See me in the top right corner, looking like I'm wearing a black t-shirt? See all those bare shoulders around me? I'd prefer to not look like the dowdy one again this year!

This year I am determined to look like I belong with everyone else. So I took Scott along on a little shopping excursion this morning. I was looking for a new suit, but ended up picking up three shirts for $30 at Lane Bryant (which has recently shifted its focus from making fat teenage girls look like hookers to actually supplying women with stylish size-appropriate clothing. what a pleasant surprise that was!). Two of the shirts were potentials for the Encore concert:

The first is basically two layers of ivory chiffon. Obviously needs a camisole under it (and there is one in the picture, honest!). It's a faux wrap with a really nice satin accent along the neck line, and a satin tie in the back. When I left the store, this was "the one." And I was thrilled to have found it. However, now that I'm home and have tried it on again with a cami underneath, I'm a little worried that I'll look like I have a big X across my chest that'll look even more accented under stage lights. (please disregard the sagging around the waist...the photos were taken without proper... umm... support)

The second one I adored on the hanger, and adored it on. But I had pretty much made up my mind that I wasn't going to wear white. This shirt has an interesting neck line, and really subtle pinstripes in silver and shiny white that probably wouldn't show up on stage. That's unfortunate, because they do add some visual interest. This one I'm going to add to my work shirt rotation, even though it, too, requires that something be worn under it.

The third top I bought was a $5 orange v-neck cable knit sweater. I love it and can't wait for the cooler months so that I'll have an excuse to wear it!

But I have this one other shirt already. I bought it online and totally hated it. It's nothing like the picture implied it would be. It's see-through, pleated all the way down so I feel like I'm in a cupcake liner, and the fabric reminds me of the blouses my great grandmother used to wear. However, I threw it on tonight (since I was already wearing the camisole) and I think it looks pretty decent. It's just about the same shade as the first shirt, but the visual interest is all in the crocheted collar/buttons.

So, disregarding the poor white balance and my funny faces, does anyone have an opinion on any of these? I really think it's between the first and last. The second just doesn't look special enough for the stage. And like I said, I'd like to wear it to work. It's doubtful that polyester (or whatever it is) will ever recover from that kind of industrial-strength sweating and still be wearable.

Poor Scott is back on the trail with me tomorrow (yes, tomorrow - I haven't gone to sleep yet!) for a new interview suit. We also have to babysit, and I was hoping to see WALL*E, but I think we may need to wait another week for that. My throat still hasn't completely healed, and we're going to a Dave Matthews Band concert in Tampa on Wednesday. So perhaps my best bet is to take it easy tomorrow afternoon while I still can.

Happy 4th

On this date, I ponder why we celebrate Independence Day on July 4. After all, the Declaration of Independence didn't make us a country. The subsequent war against our "oppressors" made us a country. The Constitution made us a country. We don't celebrate our birth day on the day of our conception, and I just think it's silly to celebrate the "birth of a nation" in that way.

But I digress.

Since "we the people" don't make a big deal about the Constitution, and don't celebrate Ratification Day with fireworks and gluttony, today I will celebrate my favorite historical document: the Bill of Rights.

Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III: No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII: In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Of course, my bread and butter is the First Amendment. Freedom of speech and freedom from religion in one place? What could be better? Of course, I came to the conclusion recently that if I want to preach the Bill of Rights that I needed to respect all of the rights, even the ones I might not necessarily agree with **cough**second**cough**. That's made the past few days here in Tourist Central quite interesting.

I don't have enough time to devote in this entry why I'm struggling with Disney's interpretation of the law (or how funny I find it that the state senators are all pulling fake shock and surprise at the loophole they built in), but I don't have freedom of speech when I'm at work. I can't just tell people on the phone all the reasons they shouldn't waste their money at The Restaurant, The Hotel, or the rest of The Company. So why should people get to bring their guns to work?

Anyway, Happy (Declaration of) Independence Day. May you not encounter a drunk driver.

C is for Colbert

Today's Smile:

Well...

I got an interview.

Woo Hoo!

Of course, don't pat me on the back too much. Poor Scott had about an hour this afternoon of absolutely not knowing what to do with me. When I got the voicemail, I leaned down with my head between my legs like I was going to pass out. When I hung up from the voicemail, I yelled "woo hooooo" long enough to spook the cats. And I alternated between happy dance and wide-eyed "oh shit, I am a crappy interviewer!" terror for the next half hour.

And then things got REALLY interesting. The girl who called me to set up a "preliminary interview" identified herself as being with Resort Food & Beverage. I assumed that meant someone in the HR area - a pee-on if you will - who was weeding through the initial stack of applicants who made it past the computer system.

(Can I get a hallelujah! that I made it past the computer system??)

When I called her back to actually schedule the interview, I got her voicemail (no shock - it was after 5:00). She's not a pee-on in HR. She's the assistant to the F&B director of all of the resorts.

This means my interview is with my boss's boss's boss.

Holy Shit!

Side Note: At this point, I actually started weeping. Why? Well, I wondered that too. On my way home from rehearsal tonight, I think I finally decided on the best analogy. On American Idol, they have those massive cattle call auditions where you sing for some producers, then you sing for some other people, THEN you sing for the judges (the part you see on TV) and they decide whether or not to send you into the actual competition. This is my "you're going to Hollywood" moment. Sure, there's still more steps to come, but I'm just so thrilled to at this point be potentially good enough to get the job.

Anyway, I guess since the new guy (boss's boss) is brand new to the company, they decided to have BBB do a first round of interviews and then maybe only send one or two who can actually do the job to interview with the actual person they'd be working for.

So for now, I'm trying to just remember to breathe. They are scheduling interviews beginning on the 14th, so I definitely have some time to kill. It's time for me to buy myself a new interview suit, and I'll have to do that on Monday or Tuesday next week.

I also know how close The Boss and BBB are. I'm sort of hoping he'll go to bat for me on this one and give me a helluva recommendation. It's a best-case scenario for him if I stay within The Hotel, because I'll still be available to train my replacement and help cover shifts on occasion. If I get a job elsewhere, he'll pretty much be kissing my butt goodbye.

So that's where things stand. I'm hoping that the butterflies in my stomach will go away soon. Also, it would be nice if my mind would stop racing 1,000 miles a minute. Please, brain? Slow down just a bit? Thanks!

Under the Wire

Phew! I'm glad that's over with!

I just applied for a job.

That's ironic, considering that I promised The Boss that I'd stay there another year if he would get me my own phone line and let me learn expense reports. He agreed to both and turned over the phone line to Number Two. It's been a month, and he hasn't done so much as call Telecomm Services to get the ball rolling. As for expense reports, The Boss just got back from a business trip and he's still having someone else do them. Needless to say, I don't really feel guilty about applying for this job.

Plus, this is *my* job - the one I've wanted since the last time it opened up. It's a secretary job, in The Hotel, reporting to The Boss's boss, and assisting the rest of the Food & Beverage team. Sadly, that boss has recently taken a position elsewhere in The Company, and the new guy (whom I haven't even met yet) is from "the outside." [insert ominous "ooh" here]

The last time this job was posted, I technically met all of the required qualifications. I didn't apply for it because I didn't really think I had enough experience, and at that time I wasn't even ready to contemplate leaving my current job. This time, a few new bullet points were added to the requirements, which may keep me from even getting an interview. My biggest concern? "Minimum 2 years professional administrative experience in The Company." See, I've been at The Restaurant just shy of 2 years, and even this is pushing "administrative" a little farther than I think they're willing to go.

My guess is that my resume won't even get past the HR computer system. However, I did mention to The Boss that I was thinking about applying. He thinks I'm totally qualified, as does his former boss, but I didn't see the job posting until Friday and he had his head so far up his own @$$ working on month-end inventory that he didn't even notice the jug of orange juice and the box of cough drops on my desk. I doubt he's inclined to make any calls on my behalf.

I had to have Scott log into my work account and send me my resume, because God Forbid it be where I need it when I need it! And I even wrote a cover letter explaining why I feel I am uniquely qualified for the position (despite the lack of actual experience!), hoping that might buy me a second look.

The application deadline is 11:59 tonight, and I submitted mine at 11:37. Like I said, I'm glad that's over with! And now, the waiting game!

Strep Mining

If you're looking for me today (or were looking yesterday), don't bother looking at work. In fact, don't really look for me anywhere. I'm most likely on the couch, and most likely catatonic (with an orange feline heating pad on my chest).

I'm sick.

And we all know that I whine fairly often about a stiff neck or a headache, but I drag myself to work and get the heck over it. That's what I did on Friday. I woke up and when Scott asked if I felt any better than the day before, I started to cry. But it was just a sore throat. No headache, no congestion, no fever. I muddled through the day, bolstered by the orange juice that Scott brought me along with a pack of throat lozenges (and not the kind that taste good...so you know they are working).

I left work 1/2 hour early, at 10 pm, and proceeded to get stuck in the worst 192 traffic ever. I got home at 11:25 and called Scott and had a complete melt down. It went something along the lines of "Iwenthomeearly... becauseIdidn'tfeelgood... andI'mhomelate... andIwanttogotosleep... andnotwakeupforaweek..." Also, my digital thermometer is on the fritz, but I managed to get a reading of 99.3.

Yesterday morning, I woke up and took my temperature again - 100.3. No work for me! Fevers apparently exhaust me more than I realized, given my mental state the day before. By the time we made it over to the walk-in clinic down the road, my BP was high, my pulse was high, my oxygen was low, and my temperature was now 101.7! The diagnosis? Strep throat. No surprise, given my (mostly) lack of other symptoms. It still hurt to swallow, but swallowing was easier when I was drinking something. The doctor told me to take a decongestant to get the crap out of my lungs and when I asked if I was contagious, he said yes, until 1 hour after I take my first Amoxicillin. Seriously??

So yesterday I watched movies and TV, ate soup and ice cream, took a nap, and drank a lot of orange juice and water. That's pretty much the plan for today as well.

Today, I didn't wake up until 11:30, and realized that I was seriously congested. Two tissues full of snot later, I decided to take a shot of alka seltzer and then get in the shower and try to knock the rest of it loose. "The rest of it" turned out to be a golf ball-sized wad of disgustingness that flew right out of my right nostril with the help of some shower steam. (aren't you glad I don't have a stomach flu?)

Anyway, my throat doesn't hurt as bad today. On a scale of 1-10, I'll give it a 4 or 5. However, both ears hurt, I'm all snotty, and I'm pretty sure the fever is still there. The thermometer finally died yesterday - there's another one around here, but I don't really care enough to tear the house apart looking for it.

So like I said, don't look for me. I'm quarantined until at least Tuesday.

Now go wash your hands!

Eating Well

Two quick photos for you:

The sashimi bento box at our favorite Japanese restaurant. I was a little skeeved out about eating raw fish without even any rice for back-up support, but enjoyed them all. I even liked the salmon better than I like cooked salmon! Also in the box: california rolls, dumplings and sticky rice.

Scrapple, currently cooking on the stove. Scott has never had scrapple, and he made the mistake of reading the label. ("It has tongue! Skin!") But I don't even have adequate words to describe the delicious smell coming from the kitchen. This is a meal worth being late to work for!

And yes, I had to put them both in the same entry because I'm thinking most people wouldn't be willing to eat either of these foods, and even those willing to try one would probably not enjoy the other. And amazingly enough, I'm guessing most Americans would be more willing to eat the sashimi!

Good News: We've Compromised Your Credit

So...when Scott and I sold our Disney stock last month, apparently we set off a chain of events we weren't expecting. About the time we were depositing checks into our bank account to rebuild our CD to its former glory, the company that provides "stock transfer" services was losing boxes of back-up tapes with information including our names, address, SSN and information on our stock ownership.

oops!

Apparently this kind of gross negligence comes at a cost to the company: we each now have 24 months of free daily monitoring of credit reports and $25,000 in identity theft insurance.

Sweet!

Really, I'm not that concerned. But I'm certainly going to take advantage of the credit monitoring. Works out well for us, I'd say.

Any Port in a Storm

Milo isn't fazed by the lack of empty boxes in the living room. He just makes due with whatever is handy. In this case, he looks like he's ready to go shopping... but I'm guessing he wouldn't actually enjoy being toted like a purse dog!

Happiness Factory

Good (belated) news!

I found the "documentary" from the World of Coke on YouTube. Scott and I can now re-live our favorite part of the tour without going back!

Sorry, I wanted to embed it here, but apparently Blogger and YouTube aren't communicating this morning. Go watch it anyway!

Cats-Ploitation

WARNING: if you fall asleep in a funny position on my living room floor, I reserve the right to post humiliating doctored photos of you on the internet.

Fun With Bananas

oh the google hits I'm going to get with that headline!

Rotten bananas got you down? Already made banana bread? Sounds like it's time for banana pancakes!

Looks like I'll be having a hot breakfast for the rest of the week.

It's banana-licious!

It's banana-tastic!

It's banana overkill, but I do love them so!

$41.01

Mark the date.

Today, I paid over $40 to fill up my gas tank.

"...and that's all I have to say about that."

Uniquely Florida?

Around 11:15 this morning, our apartment was shaken by the distant rumble of a rogue thunder clap, or maybe a giant explosion. Of course, my first thought was, "please tell me that explosion wasn't between here and work." Self-absorbed? Nah, not me!

Of course, the explosion was no more than the space shuttle returning to Cape Canaveral after its mission to the ISS. Scott changed the channel, and we watched the landing on CNN. Please tell me how that human-sized parachute can actually stop the shuttle...

Watching the shuttle coverage caused me to leave home a few minutes late... just on time to watch a 4-5 foot black snake crossing the sidewalk between me and my car. No worries. I stopped 3 steps from the bottom of the stairs, reached for my camera phone, and grabbed it just
as the snake slipped into the bushes. Bummer - that's the second snake that I've been that close to in the past month or two and I have YET to get a picture!

And in the car, I thought to myself that I must officially be a Floridian. Neither the snake nor the sonic boom ruffled my feathers. I know that 4 or 5 years ago, either would have shaken me to my core.

Funny how things change.

...and where else but Florida are you going to get shuttle landings and snakes in the same day?

Mail Call?

We got a letter in the mail earlier this week from the IRS. The envelope was the quintessential example of false advertising, proclaiming with bold logo, "STIMULUS PAYMENT."

The letter was simply a notice that our stimulus payment was scheduled to be issued on June 13. "If you don't receive your payment within 6 weeks of this notice..." contact us.

No check yesterday. And now I get to check my bank account 3 times a day "just in case" the payment drops in.

Here we go again!

On the bright side, I now know that we are scheduled to get the full $1,200. I guess that's a silver lining to my non-existent money cloud!

No Further Comment Required

Yeah. What he said!

So it’s basically fine for Fox News to use “Baby Mama” for Michelle Obama, slang that implies a married 44-year-old Princeton-educated lawyer is, to use an Urban Dictionary definition of the term, “some chick you knocked up on accident during a fling who you can’t stand but you have to tolerate cuz she got your baby now.”

There's lots more beyond that link that is worth reading... especially if you are one of those people out there claiming that Fox News is a reliable, responsible news outlet.

I Heart Ben Barnes

Who is Ben Barnes? None other than the title character in the second Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian. And also, I loved the movie.

I was really concerned that they turned a 70-page story into a movie that lasted 2 1/2 hours. In the book, the story includes flashbacks all over the place. To their credit, the filmmakers created a much more linear story. They added a battle scene (the first major good vs. evil battle) that at first I was annoyed with, but I found that it really added a depth to the main characters that wasn't in the book. I found myself surprisingly emotionally invested in the story.

I'm looking forward to the DVD, and am keeping my fingers crossed for a commentary with the stars of the movie.

This is the second movie in a row that Scott and I have seen where we end up sitting in a row all by ourselves. It's really starting to give me a complex! A couple will come up, sit in our row, wait a minute, and then go find seats elsewhere. I think it's because we sit where there's a lot of leg room but you have to sit up straight in order to see the very bottom of the screen over the seats in front of you. But maybe it's our aroma? Or they just sense that I sometimes have trouble keeping Scott quiet for the duration of a movie! Whatever it is, we enjoy not having anyone too near us.

Treading Carefully...

I have $13,000 worth of port in my office. In two medium-sized boxes.

One bottle is from 1900.

I'm afraid to walk around my desk, worried that I'm going to do some Dick Van Dyke face plant and be paying 10% of my wages back to The Restaurant until the end of time!

Food, Glorious Food!

Scott and I have started a new blogging adventure together:

Boiling Over: Cooking with Two Armchair Chefs

I'm already having fun with it, and I hope he does too. At the very least, blogging gives me an excuse to get in the kitchen and try scary things like cooking meat. And cooking gives Scott something to blog about!

There's three posts already, and I suggest you go to the bottom and start from the beginning. It might make things a little clearer.

We'll see you there!

Seeing Double

For adoption: one hardcover copy of John Scalzi's The Android's Dream. The novel, which I would describe as SciFi comedy, has been read twice and the dust jacket is creased. Other than that, it's in perfect condition.

I decided to give away my original copy just after I found myself in possession of a personalized signed copy. I met John's wife and daughter last month, did them a favor, and the book was a thank-you for that.

This book is one of very few science fiction books in our collection. Neither of us is really a fan of the genre. Frankly, I was a fan of Scalzi as a blogger first, and as a novelist second. That said, I've read all of his novels. I love them, and would recommend them to anyone.

...so if anyone wants to give him a chance, I have a fun book to start with.

(just not this copy!)

Hooray!

I was relieved last night after watching Hillary's non-concession speech that Barack went ahead and proclaimed himself the nominee. The last minute of this speech got a certain song stuck in my head (Janette, this performance is dedicated to you. ).








22 Weeks until the general election. What a ride it will be!

Excuse Me!

Good news: I've been excused from jury duty.

Even better news: I didn't even have to make the drive to the courthouse to weasel out of my civic duty. They never got to my group number.

Yay!

A Toast

I'd like to raise a toast to Mike and Reyna on their anniversary. Of course, I already consumed my glass of wine, and it's after midnight anyway. Happy belated anniversary, I guess!

The wine, by the way, was the end of a bottle I've had in the fridge for a while. I drank that last glass while soaking in a hot tub of bubbles... trying to ease my back pain and scrub any remaining baby vomit off my leg that may have soaked through my jeans!

Tonight I learned an important lesson: four kids is too many for me to handle by myself. The kids were good - even charming in brief shining moments - but at 8:30 when I talked to Scott on the phone it was all I could do to choke back tears!

Kids are hard work!

Here's what else I learned tonight:

* According to Conner, the dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets taste the best. They are also nice and juicy.

* Babies move fast when you're not watching.

* Babies move in perceived slow motion when you are 10 feet away and there's no way you're going to clear that distance before they tumble head-first off the sofa.

* Babies scream loudly when they are hurt... and also when they are freaked the hell out by falling off the couch.

* If she cries and rubs her eyes, a bottle and a crib is the easiest solution.

* Poopy diapers are exponentially harder to clean once the kid is mobile. I remembered this belatedly from my days sitting for the older ones. There came a time when I would literally sit at Conner's feet and straddle him, my feet up over his shoulders pinning him down. I should have tried that tonight... though it is amusing wiping a butt that's scooting away from you.

* The older kids have learned the virtues of "Mommy does [insert random crap here] before bed." I did not supply chocolate milk or brownies. They got water in sippy cups. All three wanted to sleep in the same room, which I allowed. I also let them fall asleep watching a movie. I have no clue whether Mommy really does any of those things, but it got me peace a mere 45 minutes after their normal bedtime. Victory is mine!

I still totally love those little monsters, but I feel like I'm taking the mature, responsible path here when I say I can't watch all four of them by myself... not unless I bring along blow-darts loaded with Benadryl!

800!

Happy 800th post to me!!

I am celebrating by changing my profile picture. In the words of Juno, "woah, dream big!"

And I also have a you're-not-going-to-believe-me-but-I'm-going-to-tell-you-anyway story for you.

I'm sure the vast majority of my readers (all 3 of you) are familiar with the main entrance to WDW property. There's a big arch with giant images of Mickey and friends on either side. It's the photo op from Hell. Why? Because it's over a road where the speed limit is 50 mph, there are always people who are late for work trying to go 70, and there are tourons who do one of two very stupid things. Either they:

* Slow down to around 30 while the wife snaps a picture that's sure to turn out blurry, or they
* Pull over on either side of the road or (my personal favorite) stop in the striped-off triangle merge point with traffic zooming on either side.

Dey peez mee off.

Today I saw a car pulled over on the right shoulder of World Drive, door wide open, man standing in front of the car facing the arch. I watched him bend over and grab what looked like a small white garbage bag.

Then I noticed he had multiple white garbage bags.

Then I realized those garbage bags were inflatable sheep!

I think there were 5-10 of them lined up. I'm not sure if the man had already taken the picture and was grabbing them to go back in the car, or whether he was just positioning them. Sadly, I was one of those people going the speed limit, and I lost sight of him after just a few seconds.

I just can't wrap my brain around it. I know what I saw, I just can't figure out why it was there!

Summer Vacation

I received an e-mail last week informing me that I am no longer accruing vacation hours because I have too much time stored in my bank. My options were to continue not accruing hours, buy some out at an outrageous tax rate (basically get a double paycheck), or take some darn time off.

Guess which I chose!

Yep - time off. Encore! rehearsals are Mon/Weds/Thurs, so I put in to take vacation every Thursday for 7 straight weeks. That means I'll only be working 3 days and still be making full time pay. I spent this afternoon considering the merits of part-time employment during that time some place I could walk to like Quizno's or the library, but I think I talked myself out of it. If I worked for $7/hour, I'd probably end up owing even more in taxes next year, and basically blow the cash on stupid stuff anyway.

I figure this gives me an excellent opportunity to learn to cook, spend time with Scott (since he's still working that "temporary" shift that doesn't start until 5 pm and has been waking up early to spend time with me before work), and get some stuff done around the apartment. How nice it would be to not have a mountain of laundry to spend a whole day on every week!

I feel more relaxed already...