Monday, April 27, 2009

Vegas Jazz Fest pics have been loaded

check out the photobucket link to the right. I added about 30 pictures from my trip. Enjoy!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Do you like pina coladas...and getting caught in the rain?

I'm baaaack! and yes, my dear Tre, I had a grand old time. So much to tell, so much to say, where to begin??? Vegas is like a big, city-wide party, but it's moreso a man's town than it is a woman's. The ground in Vegas is littered with naked women. Literally. You can’t walk a block without passing a line of Latino men and women in "girls, girls, girls" t-shirts, all snapping business card sized porn at you that feature naked women in every pose imaginable. They snap the little cards with their fingers and practically shove them in your face, so instinctually many people end up accepting them and then dropping them to the ground before they reach the end of the block. Vegas is a man’s town. I say this every time I visit, which is often, and it’s mainly because vagina is everywhere. From the scantily clad waitresses, cocktail girls, female bar dancers, 95% naked female slot machine pole dancers (they’re a fairly new phenomenon and they dance atop the slot machines while men watch and dump their money into the machines), peep show girls, club hopping female tourists, to the burlesque performers, strippers, and prostitutes, it's an abundantly sexually charged atmosphere. When I was younger, I had penis envy. I used to be jealous of boys because it seemed like they had more fun, could do practically whatever they wanted and nothing was taboo. They were physically stronger and nobody covered their eyes during the love scenes in movies when we were kids. It was so unfair. And now they have Las Vegas where they don't have to worry about being kidnapped and carted off to who knows where (women have been snatched right off Las Vegas Blvd. but the police seem to be more present these days), every billboard has a naked woman on it regardless of what's really being advertised (but what's really being advertised? methinks it's not just $2.99 steak and eggs but $2.99 steak, eggs and sex with a woman), and it's girls, girls, girls all the time, everywhere you look. However, now that I'm older I see that my jealousy was unwarranted simply because now that I am older and can do whatever I want...I really don't want to do any of those scandalous, risque, whorish things that men do in Vegas. I figure, even if I were a man, none of that stuff would fit my personality. I'd be one of those guys boo'd up with my honey and happily watching the water show at the Bellagio. I love that water show. No matter how often I watch it, it just warms me up and buttery inside. Especially when they play Luck be a Lady. What a great song! And watching the water dance to the music makes me want to dance, I feel so whimsical and romantic.

So anyway, the drunken men and women did serve as great entertainment for me. So many women in spandex freak-em dresses hitting just beneath their asses, so one false move and it was moon's-ville for all. Screaming and flashing abounded regardless, though and "whooo! Hooooo!" was the catch phrase. One guy had a pair of plastic breasts strung around his neck and kept yelling at other men "quit looking at my boobs!" It was funny. Karaoke was funny too. I was so preoccupied that I often forgot to pull out my camera so I didn't get enough pics :( Sorry yall. I did get some though, and one of them is of ME WITH MARION MEADOWS WHO JAMMED THE FUCK OUT OF THE JAZZ FEST! He's pretty short so even with me scooching down, he still looks miniscule in the photo. And it was hot out there with a nice breeze, however, I still ended up with my sweaty deodorized pits on his shoulder. I'm going to load the pictures tonight and post them soon but see me and Marion to the right.

Lots of caravaning and mobile homes seen on the road to Nevada and on the way I got the crew to sing the song in this posts title:

If you like Pina Coladas

And getting caught in the rain

If you're not into yoga

If you have half a brain

If you'd like making love at midnight

In the dunes on the Cape

Then I'm the love that you've looked for

Write to me and escape!

So at the jazz festival I had my very first real drink ever :) (Bartels and James and other wine coolers don't count). Actually, it was so good I decided to have two. I drank Malibu rum mixed with pineapple/orange juice and it was delicious. And I’m pretty sure I’ll have another one again the next time I’m out. Very tropical tasting, coconut and pineapple and o.j. and I felt grown as hell, lol. Marion Meadow's came out first and half way through his performance he hopped off stage and played his horn right there in the crowd, playing to children, dancing with women and dapping men. He had everyone on their feet after telling us to give our butts a rest.
We took a picnic in - shrimp, jello-shooters, chicken, chips, grapes, wine, strawberries, watermelon, cake, etc. - and while I was chilling in my beach chair a cute, super buff guy came over to talk to me. He came with a group of guys and I noticed them earlier but paid him no mind at all until he came over to me and asked me if I wanted a drink. They had a cooler full of alcohol but I'm no real drinker and I already had my malibu/pineapple drink so I told him thanks but no thanks, I don't drink. And then I felt like such a nerd. I'm thinking maybe I ought to stop telling people that because they either think I'm a recovering alcoholic, or they look at me like I'm Mother Theresa and they are frightened, lol. Anyway, so while we're chatting his cellphone rang (mm hmm) and he answered it (rude!) but stayed there next to me talking to his cousin (he told me who it was). He asked me to excuse him and otherwise, he was mannerable and pleasant. I continued to flip through my magazine, pretty much blocking him and his convo out but I did manage to hear him bigging himself up a bit and bragging about his cousin who is allegedly Floyd Mayweather's bodyguard. Big whoop. I knew then that he took me for an easily impressed blondie, which I most certainly am not, and he figured if he had "connects" I'd be beating his hotel room door down to get into his pants. NOT. He asked me to call him later on so that maybe we could hang out. I said "okay." Then Masa came on stage and I wanted to get pictures of her so I excused myself from his cellphone convo and got up to go walk around the ampitheater and snap shots. That's when I met "Candy Cane."

"Candy" (not his real name but one we gave him because of his red and white get-up) stopped me and asked me if I would take a picture of him. Sure, I said. So there's "Candy" right there to the right. I told him I was going to add this picture to my blog. In case you're wondering, Candy had on red shoes as well.

I head back to my campsite and I noticed the cute, buff, pimp playa himalaya was now grinning all up in some woman's face. And she was grinning hoard, yall, so I knew then that it was a "you can get it" grin and not just a friendly "hey, how you doin, bruh? Good to see ya" moment. He spots me and he tries to subdue his convo but she's touchy-feely and he's not stopping her. I turn back to my magazine and my aunt notices him putting the woman's number into his phone. I then mentally erase him from my rolodex. All that day I noticed him making his rounds, grinning and smiling and adding numbers to his phone. Ugh. And he had such great arms too, but oh well. Another one to add to the peace pile. The only reason not to delete his number from my phone is so that if/when he calls me his name will appear on my caller ID. But at that moment, I decide he will never hear from me again.

On my way back from the bathroom and taking my picture with Marion Meadows, Candy Cane spots me and asks for my blog address, wondering how he's going to get to see the picture that I took of him. We begin to talk and he's a sweet, cuddly, somewhat awkward bear, but it is truly endearing to me. So as I'm putting Candy's email address into my phone I see Pimp Playa Himalaya peeking up at me from down at the bottom of the hill. I pretend like I don't see him, then I tell Candy I gotta go because my party was standing there waiting for me (you know women usually go to the bathroom in pairs or groups, lol).

I'll be back with more later. I have a suntan and need to tend to slight sunburn on my ta-ta's from sitting in the sun with semi-cleavage.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Countdown!

On my drive home from work today I was so giddy I threw my head back and yelled out "I'm on vacation, bitchessssss!" Now my window's were rolled up so I had no qualms about doing this at all. Then I noticed an Asian man in the car beside me smiling at me a little too hard. Oops.
Anyway, I'm sure I overpacked. You can never be too prepared when traveling and with this wacky weather we're having, I'd best be ready. It was 100 degrees on Wednesday, 85 on Thursday and around 68 and windy today. So in my bag are both sandals and boots, short rompers and jeans, a wrap, a spaghetti-strapped sundress, a jacket and a sweater...among many, many other things :) And I'd bet the house that I am forgetting something. I always forget something.
We hit the road bright and early tomorrow and I've talked the driver into picking me up so I don't have to drive to their house in traffic to meet them. I am so delighted to be off work tomorrow I can hardly stand it. Yippee kye AYE.
I'll try to post pictures soon.

Men are a strange breed

One thing I can say for women is that if there’s anything on our dome, we generally want to talk about it . We don’t expect you to read our minds because we understand that most folks are not mind readers (yes, I'm generalizing but I can do that, it's my blog. I welcome all rebuttals though :) ). Throughout most of my relationship with my ex he fully expected me to be able to read his mind. When I was younger, I used to try, lol. I’d actually waste time trying to put the pieces together, pinpoint exactly when and where his tizzy began and what we were both doing at that time, like I was Columbo and shit. Eventually, I’d give up and go on about my business, actively not speaking to someone who wasn’t speaking to me. At which point he’d realize I had given up and was no longer going to suffer his foolishness. No attention was being paid to that nonsense. So then he’d either want to discuss the issue – weeks or months after the fact and if I didn’t write it down I damn sure wouldn’t remember. Yes, I believe he was/is crazy – or he'd pretend like nothing ever happened at all because he was either over it by then, or he wanted me to suffer more time in fruitless thought. Naturally, after years of this ridiculousness, I had become a pro at dealing with it and the wait time (or my “suffering” time) lessened greatly and what used to take a month, would take a week. So he’d try new tricks. Games, of course, like his trusty video game system or all the programs on ESPN, from golf to basketball to football and even tennis. I am a mother and haven’t the time to regularly entertain bullshit mind games. Enjoy at your leisure but don’t try to hijack my time. Let’s argue and get to the bottom of the issue because I’ve got shit to do.

So now he’s on another binge. We are no longer a couple and we don’t live together. This weekend I will be funning and suning in Las Vegas and our son will be in his full care. This has been the plan for over two months. Three weeks ago, my ex was woe-is-me’ing about two personal issues in his life, both dealing with money (mm hmm). I felt really bad and offered to help where I could but he wouldn’t tell me the specifics of his issues – just that they were awful. Okay, so not knowing what, exactly, is going on, I’m sort of limited in my assistance here. But I let him know that I’m here to help where possible, just say the word. Having known him forever I suspected he was playing some sort of game but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Shortly after that I caught him in a lie about something that pertained to us and an agreement we made. It was so obviously a lie, and while I was disappointed, I’m not one to make a huge deal of many things. My modus operandi is to quit dealing with a person in a specific capacity, rather than waste my time bitching and moaning. Wash my hands of it and keep it moving, unless waging a battle is absolutely imperative. Otherwise, if you show me you can’t be trusted, it’s quite simple – I just won’t trust your ass anymore. Period. However, before I lathered up and prepared to rinse, I had to ask him/confront him (in a nice way) just to make sure he knew that I knew and to rule out any uncertainties. He became defensive (of course. There's my confirmation!) and angry, and didn’t want to talk about it, his show was on. He never called me back. I washed my hands. Fast forward a week and he’s texting me about something routine with our son. I decide to ask him if everything was alright w/ his awful personal situation, told him I wished him the best and all that. He loses it and says he doesn’t want to deal with my bullshit. I remain calm (we’re texting), tell him that I was coming from a place of sincerity but I understand (basically, fuck you too! Asshole! I aint got time for this!) so I will leave him be from here on out. Then I dried my hands rather vigorously. Went on about my business. Why come the following day he’s being super duper nice to me? Cooking for me, asking me if I need this, that and the third, smiling and obviously crazy and/or up to something. I kept my cold composure and let it be what it be. He’s known me for years as well so he knows I have moved on and won’t be dealing with his bullshit. He starts to blow up my phone with niceties. I ignore 80% of them, leaving him alone, as promised. Then yesterday he texted me asking for a HUGE favor. I tell him, in so many words, “no problem. But what happened to you not wanting to deal with my bullshit?”
He flips and says “See!? That’s what I’m talking about. Forget it then!! FORGET IT!”
Dude is loco. I'm not going to feed the beast, but instead I will ignore him and go to Vegas worry free. If I bite, my entire weekend will be in jeopardy and I am NOT trying to have that happen. Loco-ono is on his own. VIVA LAS VEGAS, BABY!!!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Addendum

last weekend, i met a 50 cent wannabe driving around shirtless in a range rover, looking like he was swole off 'roids (or prison :/). i used to complain about not being approached by guys (still do) but now that i've somewhat gotten over that hump, i can only hope that the pursuers get better the louder i get WHERE ARE ALL THE QUALITY MEN?? lol <---to keep from crying and pulling my hair out. I'm not totally frustrated yet. But I'm surely getting there.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Eating strawberry shortcake and watching TV

I'm so ready to date. I think. Or maybe I'm just bored...nah, I think I want to date. Meanwhile, Mr. Ed Choppers at my job http://musefromabroad.blogspot.com/2009/02/la-di-da.html is on her fourth guy in a month. What the hell, right? I'm obviously hanging in the wrong spots. I met some young whipper snapper named TJ a couple of weeks ago but he's really not right for me at all. He's scrawny with bad teeth (I'm talking Austin Powers grill) and even worse fashion sense. Plus, he's only 25. Again, where are the grown men!? Hopefully, they're in Las Vegas this weekend.
On Sunday, I met some Fiddy Cent wannabe in a Range Rover at a stop light. He was driving around shirtless and souped up on 'roids, listening to some super raunchy rap music I've never heard before. Who drives around shirtless? Murderers? Woman beaters? Weirdo's? I told him I was gay and he said "so?" 0_o "So I don't date men. I prefer women. Sorry."
The hell? I still don't think he got it. This can't be all that's out there. But it is my life, unfortunatley :(
I actually have a crush but nothing can come of it. You may be surprised to know that this doesn't bother me. It's safe and I don't have to shave my legs for it. Sometimes the idea is better than the actual thing.
The last guy I was sort of interested in, I inadvertently insulted. I asked him if he came here with stars in his eyes, like most folks do, "Then when their dreams don't pan out, they run home and talk shit about LA and its shallow citizens, lol." Turns out, he wants to be a model/actor/dancer. I should've known. Dah, well.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Getting ready for my mini-vacay

I just bought a black, string bikini for 7.99. Ross fucking rocks, man. Last year, I bought an adorable tankini for .50. No friggin lie; FIFTY CENTS. I swear, Ross is putting folks out of business (sorry Chicks!). They are the best when you're bargain shopping. I also copped four pairs of shoes, a heather gray short, strapless romper, and another cute little shorts suit.
So the plan is to hit the pool as soon as I cross the state line into Vegas and check into my hotel. My fingers and tootsies are bubble gum candy-coated pink and come tomorrow my hair will be Hot Toffee Golden Brown and shining like new money. I'm bringing my big, clunky camera along for the trip and will be taking a gabillion pictures for the ole bliggidy-blog.
We take off Friday morning and I've a feeling this is going to feel like a looooooong week until then.

Go Green!

With Earth day right around the corner (April 22nd) I thought it'd be nice to list some things we all can do to protect/help our environment:

1. Energy saving light bulbs. Saves you money on your electric bill as well ;)

2. Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, and take one from the Fockers, lol, who said: "when it's brown, flush it down. When it's yellow, let it mellow." Within reason, of course. This is also another good money saver, as well as water saver.

3. Energy star appliances - my city gives rebates when you buy them. I just got my $150 rebate check in the mail for my sexy stainless steel fridge. <----another $$$ saver

4. Bike, walk, carpool, train, metro/bus IT!! Gas is expensive and costly to the environment.

5. Be water smart! Water your lawn once a week and less during rainy season. Don't hose down sidewalks or pavements. The very real threat of global warming makes conserving water most imperative. California, for one, has been experiencing droughts and water shortages for YEARS.

6. Weatherstrip your house to keep cool air in when it's hot and warm air in when it's cold. This'll keep your heating and cooling bills low as well. Double win ;)

7. RECYCLE - plastic bottles, cans, glass (just about anything really. Don't believe me? Google it and see. I even recycle all those sales papers I get in the mail) and then use the money to go buy slurpies or something. Three medium bags of plastic should net you about $6, glass and aluminum cans will get you even more. Every little bit adds up to a lot. And recycling one ton of aluminum saves as much electricity as a typical household uses over a 10-year period. If you don't want to save these items to recycle yourself, your city might offer bins for you to dump them in to be recylcled. But if you like slurpies and extra lunch money, like me, there should be a recycling center on your grocery store parking lot.

8. Shop at your local farmers' market! Saves on transportation (CO2 emissions from trucks) from farms to markets because you're buying directly from the farmers and cutting out all of the middle men. Every 'hood has one, just Google to find yours. Turns out, mines is right down the street from me, within walking distance, and takes place every Saturday morning until noon. I just spent $5 on 3 bunches of delicious strawberries and we're having strawberry shortcake for dessert :).

9. Reuse those plastic grocery/shopping bags OR, better yet, don't accept them at all. Buy reusable grocery bags from Rite Aid, hardware stores, Trader Joe's, IKEA, or nap sacks from just about anywhere. Keep them in the trunk of your car and take them out whenever you go grocery shopping.
10. Plant a tree.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!~~~~~~~

Friday, April 17, 2009

It's a new day

I'm no longer angry. And not because my ex sent my son home last night with a plate of food for me to take for lunch today, trying to make amends. Although that did help a bit. The situation isn't lost on me. I merely slept on it. Part of me wants to delete that post but I won't. If I didn't still care about that ridiculous man I doubt this would bother me as much. But having him as an integral part of my life for 15 years, it's virtually impossible for me, with my nature, to treat him like a stranger who doesn't matter (I'm working on that though and if he keeps this up he will shuttle me right along to that point pretty quickly). We've shared a lot of life.
Anyway, TGIF and all that. I have a Happy Hour Mani Pedi appointment with mi madre later on today and I'm really REALLY looking forward to it. One week from today, we'll be on our way to Vegas for the jazz festival :)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

GrrrrRrrrrrR!

I could bite the head off a little chick right now. Or better yet, my ex. He is on some special sauce this week. I have no idea how I lasted as long as I did in that relationship but I finally feel like my "Patience of a Saint" trophy is truly deserved (thanks Pat). I will cherish that cute little malibu barbie until she can no longer stand proudly on her pedestal (pics and backstory soon come. it's really one of the cutest and most thoughtful gifts I've ever been given.)
Anyway, so I've given this idiot (my ex, if yall can't keep up) so much, helped him out in SO many ways, and what do I get today when I'm trying to continue my nobel reign of support in the face of HIS miserable lifes bullshit?? Shit. I got shit, yall. This asshole snubbed me and my sincere offer to assist him with his wack ass life, as if I hadn't been the only person on Earth helping him for almost half my life (it went both ways at first but now it's leaning heavily to one side). I really didn't deserve that. Now, I won't divulge all of my business online but suffice it to say that he is royally getting the fuck over right now yet he still insists on acting like a little entitled bitch, as if he's not getting the fuck over right now, but I refuse to believe that I spent almost half of my life with an idiot, and you'd have to be an idiot not to see that he's getting the fuck over right now. I refuse to believe that. I did not spend almost half of my life with a zip damn fool. But I am a child of God, you see, so I will not let him buckle my stride nor take me down that miserable road with his miserable good for nothing ass. "He aint nothing but the devil" (c) Tanya's grandma.
Starting today, I am going to cease communication, or just keep it to a minimum since we do have a child in common, and let his retarded ass fall on his stupid face. My life is peachy right now :) Sucks to be him. Fucking bitch.

Anyway, so the backstory on the trophy goes like this: My dear old buddy old pal, Patty and I were once sharing a joke about this annoying little woman named Marilou getting awarded our company's "Traveling Trophy," which is really just a Barbie doll with pom-poms hoisted up on a little pedestal with Marilou's name engraved on it. Pat said that I really deserved that trophy because I had to put up with my insufferable (at the time. he's gotten 100 times better) boss, which was no easy task by any stretch of the imagination. So we laughed, we cried (from laughing) and we went to lunch. A week later, Patty calls me up and says to come and meet her outside. I go, and she hands me a Converse shoe box. I raise an eyebrow, a bit puzzled but I am not one to frown at a gift so I opened it. Inside was a BLACK (Black was important because I had complained one year about the lack of Black dolls on the market during the holidays and almost got kicked out of Target, lol) Malibu Barbie doll standing on a pedestal that was engraved with "Patience of a Saint" and my full government name on it. To say I was touched wouldn't be enough. I am still in love with my Barbie and she sits proudly on my desk a whole three years later, hair just as crinkly as ever, smiling for all assholes to see. And today's episode with King Loser proves that my patience still hasn't worn thin. I haven't lost my cool :)
*knock on wood

Monday, April 13, 2009

Idle chit chat with Tasha

(Posted with permission) like that commercial says, when i grow up i wanna be an old woman :)

Scout: when i joke about being a golden girl, living in a house w/ my mama and some friends, I’m half serious
and i'm really starting to feel womanly these days
like, i got a silver strand in my bangs and my body is showing many "womanly" signs
it's kinda cool.
it's interesting too
T: Girl, apparently when EYE'm goin through somethin
my girls be goin through it, too
now you talkin this womanly thing and for some reason, i been feelin that, too
like, my skin is gettin prettier and my hair is doin its thing and I found threeee gray strands, lawd
Scout: at first i tripped over my gray
but then ***** called me storm trying to be funny
and would you know, my ass dug it. lol
T: See, you told me about yours, so somethin told me to look for mines---FOUND IT!
I woulda kicked that fool in his unfunny ass nuts, lol
I gotcho Storm
lol
Scout: naw, i smiled.
i think storm is hot
shit, i dressed as her for halloween
lol
T: dudes got jazzy mouths, though, lol That IS kinda sexy.. Where you get the wig from?
Scout: i'll be a sexy gray mama, alright
i bought it online. but it was wack compared to this long wig i saw at a wig shop but by the time i got around to buying it somebody had beat me to it
but i'mma find that wig again. the one i got is for dress up/costume so it's already shedding
T: ugh, i hate that
Scout: it's only meant for dress up so i'm not surprised
but the other one is a bonafide wig
i want that shit
i've seen some sexy gray haired ladies out there
i think it'd be cool to look like that
sophisticated and like you got some money in yo pocket book
AND the bank, lol
practical but like you’ve got all your ducks in a row
that's something to look forward to, i think
i don't envy the 20somethings
not at all
T: girl
like,
it would take a whole LOTTA money to get me to relive my 20s
matterfact, to do the stuff I WISH I had done then, I'd need more money, lol
but
It still wouldn't be enough for all the emotional shit--the growth
Scout: yeah, i aint trying to go back. i like where i am now and wouldn't trade my experiences for another go ‘round
i'm straight
i wanna do so much more living.
T: exactly
Scout: i wanna live in the new body that i've come to love, this one that i have now
i wanna travel and see the world and learn more things
now that i know what i know
about life and living
T: I think it'd be much more fun to see the world NOW, with everything that I am and everything that I know, vs. seeing it back then, when I was so young and green and unappreciative
T: stop sayin the same shit I'm sayin, please, damn
lol
Scout: that fucking energy is SKRONG! lol
Tasha: No doubt
Scout: and i feel strong
T: lol
Scout: not like i did back in my 20s
i was weak then
T: girl, I was so wobbly inside
Scout: i feel like i've finally gotten a grasp on life now
on who i am
T: Like, you know that hyperventilating you do when you’ve been weeping over something? That shaky on the inside feeling? That's how I describe my whole 20's. I'm still there some days. I’m not all the way there.
Scout: yeah, there are times when my anxiety levels are a notch up there
and it's not a good feeling
that worry and uncertainty
not being able to really let go and relax in the knowledge that EYE GOT THIS
and i got this now.
so there's no need to worry but sometimes my anxiety pops back up for old times sake, to say "hey bitch! I'm still here"
just so i won't forget how far i've come :)
i just gotta tell that asshole to settle down
i got this
T: girl, i told you that analogy of my father payin for those swimmin lessons for us at the Y in Seattle...and how i'd start out at one end of the pool and swim with the proper technique for as faaar as I could, then stand up and look back at the wall to see how far I'd come? Well, I do that in life.
I look back on situations and people and see how far I've come
Scout: you’ve got to.
you gotta reflect
you won't know where you're going if you don’t have a clue where you've been
we're making progress, mama
:)
i think i'mma be a happy golden girl
i sometimes pass these lil old ladies sitting out at the Corner Cafe in the morning
and i wonder if they're happy w/ how far they've come
i want to be content w/ myself and my life at their age
i wonder if those ladies are happy w/ the choices they made
T: I would hope they would be
Scout: and if they’ve got some good stories to tell
T: I hope I will be
hell, i got good stories NOW, so I KNOW I'll have some in 40 years
Scout: yup
lol
we just had a STELLA convo.
T: ha
Scout: i'm going to save and edit this for my blog.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter

Every holiday gets sadder for me. My family seems to be drifting apart as I get older, as my cousins age, as my nieces and nephews grow and go on to do their own things, apart from the family. I feel like I'm an island of one. Okay, two, maybe three. This Easter was no exception. The saddest part of all is that this whole ordeal is making me want to have a bunch of kids, which is totally insane. Anyway, this Easter sucked. How could I not see this coming? Ugh. Maybe I expect too much. My mama's deviled eggs were good though, as usual.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Unfortunately, I'm not tech savvy

Some of you have expressed concern over my chopped off picture link down there to the side of the page. Welp, it took me a gabillion years and 10 tons of patience just to get that link to show up on the page at all, lol...so in my mind, that equates to a heap of progress. However, I haven't the patience to sit and fiddle with it any longer, so if you'd like to check out my photo's just click on them and voila! you will be magically transported to my Photobucket page where you can peruse to your hearts content :) Go'n and be nosey. I encourage you to. ;)

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

10 things that make me happy

1. Cheesecake - plain is best, imo

2. Books - I collect them, I adore them, I cannot get enough of them. Currently, I'm torn between "Gary Benchely, Rock star" and "Their Eye's Were Watching God" as the book that makes me the happiest. Both have FANTASTIC characters.

3. Declutterization - Not sure that's a word but I'm ALL about removing the unnecessary objects (clutter) from my life and breathing space. Everyone should do inventory control at least once a year and clean house.

4. Kissing fish :) - They really make me happy. I had a pair when I was little and one lived for 15 years. His name was "Jaws" and he's burried under a bush in my mom's old front yard.

5. Pajamas - Was that a surprise? lol. I have a drawer stuffed full of them and have been looking for a nice lingerie cabinet for years in order to store more (I also have a ton of underwear). Nothing says comfort like a good pair of pajamas. I think better in them. I'm happiest in them.

6. Cold, windy, rainy days - Watching the rain is calming. And on days like this, it's as if the world is in the rinse cycle, getting cleaned and almost like new. I stop and take notice, as most of us should, and slow my roll. "God is at work" (c) some old person, I don't recall who .

7. Gidget - She was the shit! I watched Gidget re-runs in the 80s faithfully and was quite fond of Sally Field. There's still a soft spot in my heart for her. She was footloose and fancy-free, adventerous, funny, quirky, happy and sweet, and she rocked bikini's for most of the week and chilled on the beach w/ laid back surfers and hippies. What a life!

8. Bubble baths - They force me to meditate whilst getting clean. They're certainly the bees knees to this multitasker.

9. The ocean - Something about water. Perhaps it's my zodiac sign (Aquarius/water bearer), I dunno. But I love, love, love the ocean. It's powerful, wonderful, and relaxing. Once, in April, we sailed off to Anacapa Island and left the smog and chaos of the city in the distance. It was glorious watching all that calamity get smaller and smaller until it was out of sight, and all that was left was us and nature. It's the epitome of smelling the flowers to me. Makes you really put things into perspective when you get such a BIG picture like that.

10. Finding money - Who in the hell wouldn't find happiness in that!?!?! :) Enough said.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Fixing up the chateau

My sexy, new refrigerator is here! Well, not HERE here but it's in store, ready for me to pick it up. I decided not to have it delivered for $70, but instead to reserve a $20 u-haul truck and pick it up myself. I have to pick up my manpower in an hour.
My fridge is gorgeous. LG calls it "titanium" but my only concern is that it's fingerprint proof and is 22 cu :). It also boasts a bottom-mounted freezer so now all of my cool viddles will be at eye-level. I'm so thrilled. Next step in the kitchen is painting the cabinets, putting in a back-splash behind the stove, installing a schnazzy new floor and eventually getting a new stove. I'm also thinking of opening up one of the cabinets by removing a door and having open shelving to create the illusion of space. It's so small in there so rather than spend a small fortune on renovating (I was initially toying with the idea of knocking out a wall and expanding the room), I'm just going to upgrade what I have and use color and a few tricks to make the space seem larger. I have no idea how long I'm going to live in this house yet, so I'm taking my time with the upgrades. It's only been 11 months and some change and I've done a lot as it is.
Yesterday, we did a heap of yard work and I can't stop peaking outside and smiling. A clean house - inside and out - gives you such a good feeling. The lawn and bushes look so neat. I put down some solar stake lights as well. Hopefully, they'll get enough sun today so that I can see them glowing tonight. I still want Japanese lanterns but I can't find large, solar powered ones that I like anywhere. I'm going to keep looking, though.
Next on the list of house to-do's: installing my chandelier, painting the borders of the dining room mirror, new crown molding, colorful adirondack chairs in the backyard, Japanese solar lanterns, creating a mirror/tv combo to go over the fireplace (I saw a really neat trick in a design magazine) and re-sanding the hardwood floor in the living and dining rooms. Some day, I'd like to have solar panels installed on the roof but that's much farther down the line since they cost upwards of 10g's and, like I said, I'm not sure how long I'll be here. For now, I'm plenty comfy and it feels great :)

Friday, April 3, 2009

Harlequin Romances

In Jr. High, my friend Bianca and I were avid Harlequin romance readers. To us, the stories were a delicious taste of the forbidden. Lines like "Todd's manhood throbbed with passion as he watched Tabitha undress" thrilled our pubescent imaginations. Is that what sex was like? A scene out of a Harlequin romance? I gulped the Kool-Aid and soon we were resorting to crime in order to get our hands on as many books as possible. At the rear of every book there was a subscription card you could mail off to receive four books at a discount every month. Well, since neither of us had a job or any money to pay for a subscription, we decided to send off for books under an alias. Samantha Crabapple, for instance. I was scared as hell but brave Bianca assured me that we'd be ok. We were minors, she reasoned. If the folks at Harlequin were dumb enough to send us books, they deserved to be had. And besides, they likely expected such a thing, given the ease at which it was to obtain these books free of charge. She was right. It was way too easy, so I went along. We got our four books per month and devoured them like candy, highly anticipating the looooove scenes. Then in stepped my fast and worldly, older cousin. "You really wanna know what sex is like," she asked us.
We did.
So she ripped a sheet of paper out of my notebook and drew a tiny little dot on it. "This is you," she said. Then she looked at us to make sure we were at full attention.
We were.
"And this is sex," she took the pencil into her fist and, with all of her might, STABBED the tiny little dot, ripping the page.
We were officially scarred.
Although, we continued to read the books until Harlequin got hip to our scheme and stopped sending them to us. That's when we graduated to magazine subscriptions - Elle, Mademoiselle, Vogue, etc. - and a whole new batch of drama ensued: Body image.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Silence

I have a lot on my mind right now and I'm not sure how to get it all off. It's 10:32pm, a half hour and 2 minutes past my weekday bedtime. It's amazing how things can go from sugar to shit in a days time. Just the other day I was even-steven, floating on a cloud, no worries, no stress. Now today someone I care a great deal about may be losing their job and I stumbled upon some info that I can't even bring myself to type here. But suffice it to say that the shit wasn't good news. I'm not totally down, though. I am a little worried, sad, but not without hope and confidence that my fluffy cloud will reappear and I can hop back on it with ease. Tomorrow is a new day. And this is not the worse that could happen, thank God. Things will turn up roses...soon enough.
I should really be in bed. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.
goodnight.