If I ever had any doubts,

They are gone now.  Egg Roll is definitely part Corgi.  She's part Chihuahua, part Corgi.  The hubster calls her a smoggy chi-coggy.

What was I thinking?

I seriously wonder that a lot.  For example, today I tried a new flavor of Greek yogurt.  I went to the grocery store last week and saw that yogurt was on sale.  They didn't have my usual flavor, peach, but I saw that they had strawberry banana, so I decided to try it.  I don't even know why.  Well, I guess I do.  I like strawberry banana in normal yogurt form.

So I had it today with my lunch.  Did not like, and I know exactly why.  I don't like the regular strawberry flavor, so why would I like it with the addition of banana.  I think the strawberry tastes funny and chemically.  It's the base of strawberry banana yogurt.  So why would I buy it knowing I don't like the strawberry version?

Beats me.  Now I have 2 more cups of it in the fridge at home.  Maybe I'll give it away to a coworker.

Happy Birthday Piper

My niece turned 1 years old yesterday. She's getting so big!

Here she is making out with her birthday present: a fat round Tigger.





Got to keep an eye on this one when she gets older!

Dog picture of the day

A Red blur soon to be followed by an Egg Roll blur

I'm a winner!

I participated in my work's chili cook-off today.  I made my white chicken chili which is a modified version of what I found online.  I add ground turkey, corn, and extra chicken broth to mine.  Anyway, I placed 4th our of 7, and you might be saying, that doesn't make you a winner.  In fact, it makes me quite mediocre.

Well, I won the unconventional chili category which consisted of two entries, mine and someone else!  *sigh*  It's like winning at intramural soccer where everyone gets a medal at the end.  I did get a $25 gift card to City BBQ, so that's a plus.

Go me!

It's coming, it's coming

The hubster finally nagged me enough to bite the bullet and buy a Tagg, pet tracker for Red.  Haha, I can't believe I wrote that sentence.  The hubster nagging me?  What a role reversal!  He does worry about the dogs a little more than I do.

Anyway, I was hesitant to buy one even though I really wanted one.  It's $200!  I think they started selling them in late September and there were no reviews of the item to be found online.  What if it sucked?  That's an expensive paperweight or accessory for my dog.

I went back to the site for the first time since finding the neato gizmo and to my surprise, two things caught my eye.  They were now offering a 30 day money back guarantee.  That piqued my interest.  I then proceeded to purchase my master tracker kit.  What's this?  A $14.95 trial pack.  So for $15, I get a 30 day trial and if I don't like it, I can return it and only lose $15.  I think it's worth it.  If I do like it, I can keep it and pay the remaining balance.  Perfect for someone like me who was on the fence.

The only thing I can think of is that sales have not been good and this is a way to get people to try the product.  Well, it worked!  I can't wait for it to get here and I can try it out.

Now should I get one for the little fatty?  She's too smart to run away and risk not having a constant food supply and warm bed/laundry to sleep on.  I also have an urge to buy a pretty new collar for Red even though she got a new one compliments of my aunt last year.

More Disappointment

*sigh*

I went to get dressed this morning and noticed that my tank top had a small hole in it.  (Note: It's cold out and I wore a sweater over my tank top).  I think this is the third hole in a piece of J.Crew clothing that I own.  WTF. Are these pieces meant to disintegrate after a year of wear?!?!

Even though there are holes, I still wear them.  They are tiny and I don't care that much.  I figure people wear clothes with holes in them all the time.  For example, I saw a mother wearing a green shirt with a giant hole in her armpit and she seemed not to care.  She was also trying to clean up her little boy who was vomiting all over the seat in the gate area.

Anyway, I'm disappointed that my not cheap clothes are falling apart on me.  Come on!  Even though I only spent $10 on this tank top, but what about the people who paid full price?  I don't think I'll be buying anything from J.Crew at full price any time soon.  Well, anything that is a knit.  I do have a winter coat from them that I love that the hubster got for me for Christmas.  It'll be a year old this Christmas, so maybe I should get ready for it to fall apart...

Dog picture of the day

Laundry draws Egg Roll like a moth to fire

Disappointment

I filled out one of those ABC's of "insert name here" a while ago and one of the prompts was about underwear.  I used to be one of those girls who wanted matching bra and panties.  Then I got real - it's too expensive and I wear my bras a few times before washing which you CANNOT do for underwear.

So my underwear rotation for the past year has been filled with free undies from Victoria's Secret.  Lately, they've been sending out these coupons like hot cakes.  I know it's a cheap way to get people in store to buy the $75 bra, but whatever, free stuff is a great motivator.

Anyway, last night I noticed I had a hole in my newest pair of free undies.  A HOLE!  I've worn them maybe 3-4 times.  It looks like it started as a run and then turned into a hole.  Can cotton even run like pantyhose do? I'm a little upset because they were purple and I liked them.  They were free so I can't really get that upset, but what about those people who buy them for $5-$7.50 a pop?  I'd be pissed.

I'll still keep collecting my free undies, but if I ever decide to start paying for underwear, where should I go now knowing that Victoria's Secret's quality is complete shit?

A state of perpetual fullness

I truly believe that I will have gained 10 lbs by the time I get home on Wednesday. I love to visit family but it's killer in my weight. I haven't even lost the weight from my trip from San Diego. Ugh.

Only two more days then in back to eating normally for like 2 weeks and then back to San Diego. It's a vicious, delicious cycle.

Wheeeee

I think I exceeded the weight limitations of Donald's airplane.

Mario Kart champion 2011

Way to bring it home little brother.

Red, I need you to avenge me

This what happens when a mean grumpy old dog meets me.

My cousin has a devil of a dog named Milo and he bit me yesterday. :( It's karma because Red bit Milo last time we were there when my great grandmom had passed away. Milo ended up having to go the emergency vet.

Well Red, I need you to bite his ugly nose off the next time we are out in PA. Mommy will give you a treat. And Egg Roll if you want to participate too, I'll give you a great too.

Dog pictures of the day

Do they look like sad dogs about to be boarded?

I feel like a genius

So I'm sitting at the airport in Chicago and am eavesdropping on this guys cell phone conversation. He's asking one of his staff or co-worker to scan and copy some papers for him. He is giving out step by step instructions on how to scan and copy double sided papers. Wtf! Really? It makes whoever is on the other end of the call sound like an idiot. You can't figure out that if it's double sided, you should just scan one side and flip it over to do the other?

I feel like a stellar employer now!

Dog picture of the day

Her nose looks like an eye.

Old People

We have touchless paper towel dispensers here in the new building at work.  There are generally two kinds of dispenser.  One where you wave your hand in front of the machine or one where you wave your hand underneath the machine.  We have an underneath machine.

I saw a woman I work with stick her hand into the machine (where the paper towel dispenses from) to activate the dispensing mechanism.  Not once, but twice.  I wonder if she thinks that's really how you do it.  I bet you she doesn't and wonders what stupid engineer and designer came up with this design.

There is a very clear and self explanatory picture on the machine...

I hope I don't get like this.  I hope I am able to stay up on technology.

No Will Power

I think the universe hates me.  (again with the dramatics).

This morning I was back to my pre-Chicago weight which I think was all water retention or something from all the alcohol I had which was great.  Just in time for the food filled wedding weekend, but no, not meant to be.

Someone at work brought in a variety of dip/chips/snacks for everyone.  Currently, I am eating my regular lunch and 3 kinds of dip with bread, chips, and flipz (pretzel/ritz cracker thingies)

Ugh...

Laundry

The hubster and I had a fight about laundry last night.  It all started out so innocently and then it just exploded in our faces.  I think our tiff last night is definitely a tribute to how differently men and women think or maybe it's more like how differently I think than others.

So I needed to do what I thought was two loads of laundry yesterday.  I was already pushing it because I'm working longer hours this week and was supposed to meet a friend at 6:30 which really meant go to the bar directly after work.  That didn't quite work out.

Anyway, I get the great idea to have the hubster do one load of laundry for me and then I could do the rest after I got home from going out.  I call him up and he is amenable.

Me: Can you run a load of laundry for me?
Him: Sure
Me: Can you wash the dog stuff and then throw in some clothes and towels, but not anything white, to fill up the machine?
Him: *blink blink*  Ewww I don't want to wash clothes with the dog stuff.  There's poop! (Red's been sick lately - poor puppy)
Me: Why not?
Him: Because
Me: Fine just do the dog stuff

Note: The reason I didn't want anything white in the wash was because I was specifically doing whites to clean his shirt for the wedding and there were not a lot of whites in the first place.  I don't like doing a load of laundry with one freaking shirt.

Lo and behold, I rush home and what do I find?  WHITE towels in the dryer... *blink blink*

*insert fight here over the phone*

*insert fight here at home after the hubster gets back from class*

Turns out the hubster really thought he was doing the laundry correctly because towels are not clothes and white towels don't fall under the white category.  It did end up being a fight over a miscommunication and his wrong system of washing and separating clothes.  You should have seen the look on my face when he tried to tell me that you separate towels and clothes and that that is how he does laundry.  BULLSHIT, he is the captain of cold/cold washing.  He's never separated laundry in his life and he knows I know.

In a vengeful rage, I proceeded to do the rest of the laundry, but only my stuff because I can be petty like that.  I still have laundry to do and all the packing to do tonight.  UGH.  Today is going to be long and I have to get up asshole early tomorrow morning.

Rage

I'm so flipping mad right now.

Must contain.  Must calm down.

Weekend Preparation

My cousin is getting married this weekend and I am flying out to PA for the wedding.  I'm working longer hours this week so I don't burn all my vacation time and I find that I'm feeling super rushed and ill prepared for this wedding.  I feel like there is a list a mile long of things to do and I don't have the time to make a dent in it.  It doesn't help that I'm supposed to go out with some friends tonight even though I should be staying at home and doing laundry and preparing my stuff to pack.

I've got to buy a card and run some errands that got pushed back due to Chicago.  On top of that, Red is sick and has some digestion issues.  This means I have to go home and cook some ground beef and make some rice for her to eat while she's boarded up over the weekend.

I just don't know how to get it all done without staying up until 3 am tonight.  I still have tomorrow, but it just makes me uncomfortable if everything is not done a day in advance.  Maybe I need to loosen up a bit.

Chi-Town Classic

This past weekend, I traveled to Chicago to play in the Chi-town Classic hosted by Lakeshore Lacrosse.  We left Friday afternoon and it was a pretty uneventful trip except the small detour to K-Mart to drop off one of our passengers off.  We hopped back onto the freeway and continued on to our hotel.  Once we had checked in, we went to dinner at RAM brewery.

I had the garlic swiss burger with fries with a wheat beer, and it was exactly what I needed.  It hit the spot and I was ready to go back to the room and pass out which is exactly what we did.  We woke up rejuvenated in the morning, ready for a wonderful day of lacrosse.  Thanks to a free breakfast provided by the hotel, we were well fueled for the day.  We also had a variety of snack from Trader Joe's to supplement the breakfast.

The weather was great - cool and sunny.  We started off with a win over University of Chicago Club, 7-5.  We lost our second game to Lakeshore, 8-5.  We started off terribly, but was able to have a respectable second half to close the lead.  We finished off the day tying to University of Illinois club.  A 1-1-1 record is an improvement over last year, so I guess we couldn't ask for more.

I played decently the first game, horrendously in the second, and was pretty good for the last game.  So good in fact, that I earned the MVP award!  I think it had to to do with the beer that I had for lunch during our 3 hour break.  I have to admit that I am worse at defense than I had originally thought. I couldn't do anything against the fast break against Lakeshore.  So out of my element.

After the games were finished, we headed back to the hotel where we grabbed some food and prepared to go out for the evening.  Once we were clean and dolled up, we went to Blokes and Birds for the Lakeshore after party.  It was definitely not what we were expecting, but it was one way to start the evening.  After finishing our one beer, we headed to Sluggers to dance the night away.  Fun times were had by all and overall, a very successful and good weekend.

Can't wait until next year.

Halloween

Not nearly as cool as the original, but it'll do:






Memories!

Frustration

I have a slight tendency to be over dramatic about certain things.  The hubster thinks I've led quite the charmed life.  Well, his opinion doesn't matter.  So a series of bad luck has fallen upon me (in my opinion) and I'm just in a pissy mood to bitch about it.

First, I got pulled over.  I didn't get a ticket, but I was still pulled over.  These things don't happen to me.  It took 28 years to get pulled over!

Second, I cracked my wheel rim.  So now I have to either buy a new one or get it fixed.  Buying a new one is slightly more than fixing and would be much more reliable I would think.

Third, my iphone won't upgrade to the new iOS5.  I tried all night last night and it kept getting an error.  I hate it when things don't work like they are supposed to and it's completely out of my control.

I know it's not the end of the world and these three things don't even rank very high in the list of life changing shitty events, but they are causing enough disturbance in my life that I was mopey all last night and when the hubster kneed me in the head getting into bed, waking me up completely, I sighed and huffed and puffed for another 15 minutes before falling back asleep.

Now I feel like all this bad stuff is going to happen to me because I've opened a doorway to bad stuff land.

*sigh*

This does not help my mood for going to Chicago.

Highlights

I've been thinking a lot about getting rid of my highlights.  I've had them for a while now and I'm a little tired of how they look and the cost and maintenance of them.  I admit I do minimal maintenance as in I go in every 5-6 months to re-do them.  It costs about $300 a year for highlights.  I guess it's not too much, but when I blowdry my hair and I see the dark brown/black hair underneath, it makes me a little sad.  I miss it.  Highlights do remind me to get my haircut on a semi-routine basis.  If I had monochrome hair color, I would never remember.  It was just grow and grow and just be there.  I don't do much with my hair.  I wash it, condition it, dry/blowdry it, brush it, and on special occasions flat iron it.  I don't even use product.

I know the hubster loves my highlights, but I think it might be time to give them a break.

Great way to start the morning

by getting pulled over....

*sigh*

I admit I had this coming.  I'm a speedy driver.  Apparently, I'm quite notorious in my work complex for being speedy.   I drive the infamous black Audi.

So imagine my un-surprise when I got pulled over this morning IN my work parking lot!  Ok, first off, I've never been pulled over before and I've asked the hubster this question a few times: "What do I do?  Where do I go?"  I mean there was no obvious place to pull over.  Do I park my car in a spot?  That just seems obnoxious.  So I finally find a place.  This is only after I ask myself after I saw him in my rearview mirros - "Is he pulling ME over?"

I turn off my car, roll down my window, and wait for the inevitable.

"License, insurance, and registration please"
*hands over insurance and license* "I have registration, but I can't find it"
"Is it registered under your name?"
"Yes"
*officer walks away*
*reach for phone to text the hubster* - not enough time, he's coming back

I get a warning (Thank God) that I need to use my turn signals and to slow down.  You're damn right I'm going to be slowing down.

This happened at 7:30 and I'm still trying to calm down.  I mean I'm over it, but every time I think about it, I get butterflies in my stomach and relive the whole thing.  I'm traumatized from a warning!

26 minutes

That's how long it takes to get something resolved with AT&T.  I signed up for autopay for my cell phone bill.  With so many bills to take care of, I've found that autobill is my best friend.  It can also be your worst enemy.  For constant bills like mortgages and condo association fees that don't change, it's great.  But for other bills, not so much.  Because by looking at the amount billed doesn't tell you much.  It just so happened that the hubster and I were going to AT&T to combine our phone lines into one family line hoping it would save us some money since I get a discount through work.  To determine how much the hubster was going to pay me, we looked through our past month's bills.  I noticed that I had an unusual amount due this month and a portion of the payment was past due!  There was also a late fee.  What?

How can an autopayment not be paid?  I first thought was maybe my card had expired.  I went online and checked, nope.  So I call up the customer service line and am met with an outsourced customer service representative.  I relay my issue to him and am put on hold.  He checks in on me a few times and finally comes back to tell me that I had insufficient funds and that's why the payment never happened.  I not so calmly told him that the credit card I use has a $20K+ credit limit and that I go nowhere near that on a monthly basis, and that insufficient funds was definitely not the problem. The hubster got a good chuckle from that.

He puts me on hold yet again, and comes back to tell me that I should check with my financial institution. There was no offer to to take the late fee off as the problem was not even my fault..  My 12 other autopayments managed to go through just fine.  I finally got fed up and asked to talk to a supervisor.  I get put on hold and get checked in on like 5 times.  Is this new SOP for call centers?  I'd rather not have them check in on me every two minutes.  Anyway, I get on the line with the supervisor.  He puts me on hold for 5 more minutes to call someone to get the information.  The resolution that is agreed upon is that he will give me a $5 credit to cover the late fee and that he would take my credit card information again to fix whatever problem was had before.  Maybe autopayment is only good for one year.  I don't know.

While he's taking care of this is where it gets weird.  All of sudden, he's chit-chatting with me and making small talk.  The nature of his questions almost become flirtatious.  I'm just grossed out.  I was really mad when I got on the phone and just didn't know how to respond.  I guess I did ok because then  I was offered a $20 credit! Yay for me, boo for creepy CSR guy.

Moral of the story:  it takes too long to deal with this shit.  I wonder if that is their plan, to annoy the crap out of their customers before they even talk to them in hopes that they just give up.

Before and after

Before


After


Not a drastic change, but it dis force us to clean up the clutter. We are also limited to one coat/jacket out at a time which will he difficult because we both own a lot of coats.

I'm looking to add either a storage bench or ottoman underneath. I'm keeping an eye out on craigslist for something I can reupholster or modify. That'll be my next project.

Pretty

I need a new case for my phone.  It's broken in a few places and I can definitely see one of the breaks catching on something in my purse or clothes and completely ripping off.  It's faded and worn in a few places.  I got it last June when I got my phone, so I guess that the $30 investment was worth it.  This one is pretty.  I like the color, but I fear that it will get dirty real quick since I don't treat my phone very well.

Brrrrr

I think I'm getting sick.  I went out to run an errand on my lunch and I've had this chill ever since.  Having chills is my sign for impending sickness.  Please go away, I'm going to Chicago this weekend.  Better load up on vitamin C and echinacea.  *sigh*

I'm an idiot

With all my degrees, I could not inflate my tire yesterday afternoon.  I've done it before at the gas station, but yesterday at work, I was beaten by free compressed air.

Over the weekend, I noticed that my front passenger tire was low on air.  I had the hubster re-inflate it with his air compressor in the garage.  I noticed yesterday leaving work that it was low again.  I remembered the last time I had a flat tire at work that they had free compressed air by the main building.  I drove my car over there with the intentions of using it.  I sat there for 5 minutes thinking I was putting air in my tire.  Haha, yeah right.

A good thing a co-worker came walking by to help me because he pointed out that I had not opened the line for the air to run through the hose.  WTF.  I'm an idiot.  So the whole time I thought I was putting air into my tire, I was letting it OUT!  I also found out that I use my tire pressure gauge incorrectly as well.  FML.

Now I learned two valuables lessons yesterday.  1.) Turn on the air, 2.) Press harder with the gauge.

I think that they should teach this rudimentary shit in school.  I think both my dad and the hubster dropped the ball on that one.

This!

I could not agree more, but I would never sue anyone over it.  Still funny and true.

Success...maybe

A while back, I wrote about how an opportunity to save some money slipped through my fingers because I decided to wait.  Well, I learned my lesson.  Last time, the belt I wanted to get my mom sold out overnight.  I won't let something silly like stop me.  I kept checking the site daily and even using the chat feature of the website to see if they had an extra belt floating around the Nordstrom universe.

It all paid off.  Because it came back in stock, and I swooped it up.  I won't tell my mom to return the other one until this one has arrived at my door.  This is perfect.  The wedding is next weekend.  I'll probably have my mom bring it out to me and I'll return it.  I'll lose my sales tax, but that's ok.  The 50% discount more than makes up for it.

Yay, I love a happy ending.

Bagels and Peanut Butter

I have rediscovered my love for toasted bagels and peanut butter.  There was a month long period where that was all I ate for breakfast at work.  I got burned out and switched to protein bars.  Now after a long absence, I'm back to bagels!  I must say I enjoy my Jif Natural creamy peanut butter more than I thought I would.  Much better than the Kroger brand.  I also found out this weekend that I may be in the minority with my peanut butter preference.  I prefer creamy and it seems like almost everyone I know prefers crunchy.  What has the world come to?!?!

Eureka!!

That random calendar event - I finally figured it out and yes it had to do with the hubster. It was a reminder to record the walking DEAD on AMC. Autocorrect, where were you on that one?

Random Calendar Event...

I was looking at my calendar over the weekend and saw this entry:

I have no idea what it means.  I must have put it in there because it's way too specific to be random.  A 10 pm event that would require an alert two days prior to the event.  It's been bugging me for a while.  I have an inkling that it's really a reminder for the hubster to do something.

I just got attacked by a ladybug

I went for a walk on my break at work today with a coworker and I got attacked by a ladybug.  It hit my chest and fell/flew down my shirt.  I didn't quit realize it, but I felt something cool touching my stomach.  I hit my stomach a few times and pulled up my shirt and there it was, just chilling by my belly button.  I flicked it away and am now traumatized at how shitty my day has been going.  I should have stayed in bed.

Ugh

I'm having a miserable day so far.

I woke up at 11:39 am today.  How the hell did I sleep in so late?  I got up had lunch with the fam and headed to Home Depot (yet again) to pick up some more supplies.  When I got back, I finished sanding.  I got so fed up with sanding, I just quit.  Good thing the hubster was there and he helped me finish up.  I got the first coat of primer on and it looked like shit.  I hate this project so much right now.  That probably has to do with this fucking headache that I have right now. It's been going non-stop since I started sanding.  I think it has to do with the sanding I did yesterday and the terrible pain my neck and shoulders.  I just want to take a nap, but I have to finish this project because if I don't get it done this weekend, it will sit unfinished for another month since I don't have a lot of free weekends coming up.

UGH...

Apple picking

We went to Lynd's today to pick apples and pumpkins. Here are some iPhone pictures I took.



On the way to Lynd's



In the orchard



Lots of apples



Crouching tiger, hidden hubster

Dog picture of the day

How is this even comfortable?

Pumpkinpalooza

It was a beautiful day today and I'm so glad we got to spend it outside picking apples and pumpkins at Lynd's.  We were lucky to have the stepson with us.  We had a lot of fun even if the girls were being a little rowdy in the pumpkin patch.

We got a butt load of apples which will be turned into apple crisp, apple pie, and apple butter in the coming weeks and a good variety of pumpkins.  We'll be carving them in two weeks when we have the stepson again.  This year we only got two carvable pumpkins so that means the hubster and I will have to collaborate and agree on a design!!!  I smell trouble in the future.

Another fun-filled, busy weekend

Plans:

1. Apple picking and PUMPKINPALOOZA at Lynd's.  I have no idea what pumpkinpalooza will be, but that's what the website said and it sure sounds fun.
2. Cap City Lacrosse potluck
3. Furniture refinishing project
4. Hanging up my new items from Crate and Barrel.  Of course, the two items I bought did not come with any hanging hardware.  I went to Home Depot twice last night to get supplies for 3 and 4, and I'm sure I'll be dropping in a third time this weekend.
5. Plus all the other normal weekend activities (laundry, vacuuming, general housekeeping stuff).

Yay!

:) or (: ?

This would fall under the completely random category:

Which direction do you make your smileys?

I noticed that my youngest cousin does it this way: (:

Which I find odd because I do it the other way: :)

I like my way better... obviously.

Pho

I was watching the Rachel Zoe Project last night and at the end of the episode, Rachel wanted to order pho for dinner to watch the Oscars.  I was hit with three thoughts:

1. She was saying it wrong.
2. Why does she get to order pho for delivery?!?!?  Delivery wasn't available, so they sent someone to pick it up.  It was down the street (so close!), but who knows what down the street means in LA. Which brings me to my third thought.
3. Why would you want pho delivered?  I mean whenever I eat Vietnamese I always get pho, sometimes the occasional spring roll.  I want that pho steaming hot so the rare beef can cook and your nose runs.  It'll just cool off in transit.

I miss California sometimes... usually when I'm hungry.

1.9 miles to go

I almost died tonight. Confidence is wavering. :(

What the what?!?

So in the past week, I've had two people violate my personal space without my consent.  Seriously people, you don't touch someone who 1.) doesn't know you're about to touch them and 2.) if you do not have an established relationship with them (co-workers who are acquaintances fall under the "no established relationship category because I think touching anyone at work is a big no no if you are not good friends with them and even then work friends are not friend friends.)

I won't even go into the event that happened at work, but my reaction was similar.  So last night, the hubster, my friend, Caroline, and I met up at Brazenhead Tavern for $3 burgers (which were amazing - I had two) and beers (for me).  We were having a great time chatting and eating when it was all ruined by the creepers next to us.  Maybe it was just me and because I think so highly of myself, but I'm pretty sure they kinda lit up when we sat down next to them (only out of desperation as Caroline had to wait and find us a table).  Anyway, at some point in time, I had gotten hot and decided to take my cardigan off.  Big mistake!

If it matters, I was wearing a gray print dress with white background, brown belt, a gray cardigan, and cowboy boots.  As I was taking my cardigan off, I felt a tug on it.  Apparently, this fucker felt it necessary to help me out of my cardigan.  I whip around and stare at him in disbelief and turn right back around and give the hubster and Caroline a face of disgust and disbelief.  Our whole conversation just stopped, and we were silent for a bit just wondering what the hell just happened.  I mean seriously, WTF.  To make it even better was that my husband was sitting right there across from me and watched the whole thing.  Maybe he didn't think he was my husband since Caroline and I were sitting next to each other. I don't know.  To top it off, when the creeper got up to leave, he also leaned in way too close to me when getting up.  GROSS!

After they left, we discussed the creepiness of the guys with our waitress who said they have come in a lot over the past week and are always creepy.  Further discussion warranted that this was blogworthy and here it is!

Burgers were great and well worth the two week wait.  I had the garlic burger and a burger with grilled onions, mushrooms, and mozzarella.  We'll have to do it again soon sans the creepers.

Asian F

I was watching Glee last night and it had a particularly chuckle worthy line in it: "An A minus is an Asian F"

So true!

The hubster even liked it because he knows how hard my parents were on us kids when we were younger.  A's all the way!  Until high school that is when I started taking AP classes and got to explain that B's AP classes were just like A's because they were weighted differently.  I think that saved me from a lot of disappointing talks.

Dang It

I'm so mad right now.  I hate it when this stuff happens.

So when I was out in San Diego, I went shopping for my mom to buy accessories for her outfit for my cousin's wedding in October.  I ended up buying her a belt from Nordstrom, earrings from Macy's, and a necklace from Banana Republic.

As I was perusing the sale section of Nordstrom.com yesterday, I saw that the belt I bought was on sale for 50% off.  Sweet.  Nordstrom's return policy is great so I'll just have mommy return the belt and I'll buy the new one at the lower price.  Save myself some money.

But alas, it was not meant to be.  I called my mom and left her a voicemail.  She returned my call last night and I told her to return the belt.  I just checked the site this morning and of course, it was sold out!  I should have just bought it yesterday morning.  I don't know why I waited...  Yes, I do.  I bought the hubster some sunglasses with some Nordstrom Notes and I didn't like how they looked on his face.  So I wanted to return them yesterday, get my store credit back, and use that to buy the belt.

The shitty thing is that I didn't even return the sunglasses yesterday.  I ended up reading The Hunger Games instead of doing anything else.  Oh well, another opportunity lost.

Maybe it'll turn up on the site over the next few days.  Here's to hoping.

Readers!

It always surprises me when people tell me they read my blog.  I write these posts just to entertain myself.  I force the hubster to read it.  At the beginning, I would call him from work every morning and ask "Have you read my blog?" because I would rather have him read it for himself than to have an actual conversation with him. So sad.

Anyway, I've had a few friends tell me they read it and it feels great and embarrassing at the same time.  So last time I visited San Diego, I showed my mom my blog because it had some pictures on there I wanted to show her.  She seemed interested enough, so when I got home, I emailed her the link.

Lo and behold, I get a call from her last week asking if the hubster was ok.  I was like, "hes fine" and thinking this is a random call.  Turns out my mom actually reads my blog (HI MOMMY!) and saw the crazy picture of the hubster from the sleep study.  She was concerned.  She doled out the Chinese motherly advice and got off the phone.

I love that my mom and others read my blog even thought it's about nothing and all the nothingness that goes on in my life.

Sew Easy

I think the hubster and his terrible puns are rubbing off on me.  So tonight after spin class, a shower, and dinner, I set out to finish the semi-DIY dog bed.  Haha, "Semi"-DIY dog bed.  That reminds me of the Food Network show, Semi-homemade with Sandra Lee or whoever.  I just know she was a blonde Barbie type whose show was based around taking short cuts for entertaining.  This is definitely like that show.

Today at work, I borrowed my friend's sewing machine.  He had bought it about a year ago to hem his pants that he bought at the thrift store.  This is the first time the machine has been used.  Incidentally, I forgot to load up my car with my recyclables to give to him (My community does not offer recycling, so I let mine build up to about 3-4 bags and then tote them in to work for him to recycle for me.  I feel like I offset any recycling because I need to use new garbage bags to hold my recycling).  Anyway, here is the sewing machine.  It's a tiny little thing meant for hems and repairs.  This brought me back to home ec at Log College Middle School where giant pillows and bean bags were the assignments for sewing.

First, I had to re-pin my cut up duvet cover.  I had already pinned it 3 times last night and was not satisfied with any of them.  After talking to the hubster before bed last night, I agreed with him that I was making it too complicated for my own good.  With the new approach, I spent about 15 minutes re-pinning the pillow cover.




I read the instruction manual and started winding my bobbin and threading my machine.  When both were complete, I did a test run on a sample piece of fabric that came with the machine.  My needle kept getting stuck!  I decided that I had threaded the bobbin wrong, so I tried sewing with the pre-wound bobbin and it worked fine.  I unwound my bobbin (which made me mad because I wasted all that thread!) and re-wound it.  I set the machine up and it worked!  I was in business.




Here's a snapshot of my side work station: pins, water, thread, sewing kit, and iPad for tunes.

So the reason that this was "sew" easy was because it was sewing 1 line that had a 90 degree turn in it!  I remembered some tricks from home ec that made the turn super easy.  The little sewing machine worked like a charm.  The only thing that it was a bit unsatisfactory was that the guide/fabric mover was not strong enough to pull the fabric so sometimes it would stitch over the same area a few times until I helped it along.  So overall, the project took about an hour: 55 minutes to figure out the bobbin and 5 minutes to actually the sew the thing.

Here is the finished product:

You can definitely tell that its 3 pillows in this picture.

Another view.  I really like the fabric.

It just works with everything else in the room.

Red giving it a test run.

I really need to get rid of the Rock Band drums.

And it's final resting places with the girls.  That's right, that's where you guys are going to live when I'm crafting.  They seem to enjoy it though when they go on the bed by themselves, they don't understand that they are supposed to share it because Egg Roll will sit on the center pillow and Red will stretch out over all 3 pillows.

So a breakdown of my semi-DIY dog pillows:

Duvet Cover - $13.32
Pillows - $13.42
Thread - already had
Sewing machine - borrowed

Total - $26.74

Not to shabby.  $7 more than what was at Marshalls which were not as firm and comfy AND didn't have the right colors.  I"m quite pleased with myself.  I don't think this means I'm taking up sewing, but it's good to know that 7th grade home ec paid off!

Narc

On Saturday, we attened the hubster's best friend's daughter's birthday party.  She turned 5.  On the way over to his house, we were following a Cadillac that was going incredibly slow.  He made a pretty weird right turn where he veered way left and then turned right.  It was such an emphasized move that I commented on it.  At the next light, we pulled up to the car in the left turn lane and what do we see?  This guy is taking a drink from a can of Bud Light!  WTF, really?  Not even wrapped up in a paper bag.  I guess he must think he is above the law and can drink openly in his vehicle.

We were so taken aback by this.  I took a picture of his car when he drove by and then called 911 on his ass.  That is just dangerous and stupid.  I wonder if the cops found him.  I have my doubts.  He could have gone anywhere in the time it takes to make the call and for someone to respond.

I did feel kind of bad afterwards though.  I don't like to meddle in other people's lives if it causes a negative impact.  I waffled back and forth from thinking I did the right thing and telling myself I should have kept my nose out of it.  The hubster is supportive of my call, but I can't shake the feel of bad karma.  If it saved someone from being in an accident, I guess that would be good karma...

My new chair

I forgot to post pictures of my new chair since I didn't like the Ikea one.




Not bad for $37.45. I like it and I like how it sits high enough for the tallest setting of the desk c

Craft project!

Since my she-den has most of the furniture in it, I decided it needed a dog bed for the girls for when I'm working on projects. I looked around the Internet looking for something that will match the color scheme. Right now, it's white, lime green, and gray. Nothing really piqued my interest. Nothing in the right size, shape, color, or price range. So my next project: a dog bed.

I googled for a diy guide for dog beds and found one using pillows as the stuffing. Perfect! Usually I would hit up Home Goods for some pillows, but since I had a 30% off coupon at Kohls, i stopped by to look at their selection of pillows. Their house brand of pillows were on sale for $6. I picked up three and with my coupon, they were $12 and change. Next stop, JoAnn's.

I went to JoAnn's to find some fabric. I found a few good options, but in the end picked this one:



I liked the quilty pattern and how it picked up the green of my fabric bins. Since my room is lacking in other colors, I thought it'd be pretty festive. However, it was $8 a yard. I would need about 3.5 yards. That's $28! A little bit too much for me. I decided I'd either wait for a sale or find a coupon. At least I knew what I wanted.

I went to Target next to return my excess boxes. I figure while I was there, I would look in the clearance sections at sheets since the size would be right. I found this xl duvet cover for $12.48 (50% off)!



It has all my colors in it and as a bonus, it already has buttons and the majority of it sewn. Id just need to fit it to my pillows. Perfect! I bought it, but wasn't sure which print I liked the best. When I got home, I showed the hubster and he liked the duvet print better. So that's what I went with.

I started to measure out how much I'd need to shorten it when the dogs jumped me.




Looks like the girls approve if their new bed.




I'll be borrowing my coworker's sewing machine tomorrow. I hope it turns out. I'm pretty excited about it.

Fall Ball

I'm at Wittenburg University today for a handful of games for a playday. It'll be nice to get back into the swing of things. All these new rule changes will be tough especially switching between us lacrosse and NCAA. I hope today goes well. Will report back later, but for now, time to hit the road.

Brrrrr

It's cold this weekend. The hubster talked me into turning the heat on. Boooo, I was hoping to keep it off until November. Just put more clothes on. Too cold in the winter, too hot in the winter. Never just right. I'm enjoying the warmth, but won't enjoy the bill next month. :(