Mini Me

Lulu is sitting next to Spencer, a standard long haired Dachshund, who is also a rescue from Central Texas Dachshund Rescue. We met while waiting for the Mighty Texas Dog walk to start this morning. Doesn't Lulu look tiny next to him?

Happy Birthday!

2008 marks the 40th birthday of the office cubicle. You would think we would celebrate this fact at my office because without such a creation our jobs would not exist (in case you don't know I design office systems. That sounds nicer than cubicles doesn't it?) but we have no cake and I feel like that youtube kitty. I would tell you about the company that is credited with be the creater of the cubicle but frankly, they are our competitor so I'm not going to. Google it if you must.

In 2001 Dilbert creater Scott Adams teamed up with IDEO.com to design Dilbert's perfect cubicle. You can read the article from CNN here.




People really hate cubes/cubicles/OOLs(I hear this one a lot from government agency employees. I think it means open office layouts?). Apparently, I'm just strange enough to like them. There are days when I would really like to be able to go into my own office and shut the door but for the most part I am able to zone out and ignore what is going on around me. I get in a zone, click click clicking away. Just me and my mouse...designing more cubicles for you to enjoy.

I stumbled upon My Life in a Cube, which is a blog of cartoons about what else, life in a cube. Funny stuff. I can totally relate to this one. Some days I have to break out my fingerless "hobo" gloves.

Like old times

This lolcat made me think of my dad and how mad he would get if any of us (including my mom) touched the thermostat when I was growing. I could not wait to grow up and get my own place so I could set that thing at whatever temperature I wanted!


more cat pictures

Mean people suck

This morning I was listening to the same morning show that I always listen to, trying to win tickets to the premiere of Sex and the City, when a woman called in and told a story that nearly made me cry. A local woman's dog was attacked by 3 pitbulls that jumped out of a car as she and her dog were walking into a Petsmart. Here's a video that one of the local news stations ran.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Today there was a sad moment when I realized that there are only 4 episodes of CSI:Miami left on my dvr. But I know that I missed several from the 2006-2007 season and the beginning of this season so I will have to re-activate my Netflix account and order up me some Horatio.

In the mean time, I can always count on YouTube to provide me with a laugh. Seriously, the opening line cracks me up every time. It's become a game now, with myself, to predict just want corny thing Horatio Caine is going to say as he puts on his sunglasses.

Wouldn't it be funny....

if Kristin's wedding turned out looking like this?



Hmmm, no, not so much?

So over the weekend my mom and I went to San Antonio. The main reason we went was to see The Body exhibit. After seeing it I really do not want to eat chicken again for a long time. We did a lot of walking around the Riverwalk area. Saw the Alamo. wooo exciting.

Rant

First....where is my damn Martha Stewart Living?! I keep seeing it in the store, with Martha's serene smile staring back at me. Taunting me. But nooooo. No magazine for me! I even went to the website and filled out the form that you're supposed to fill out when your magazine doesn't come. It's bad enough that she yanked Blueprint but now this? Martha, you disappoint me.

Second....you know how sometimes you have to deal with people, who are shall we say, not so smart? But you keep hoping that it's just a fluke? That they'll snap out of it? Yet they never do? So who's the dumb one then? This is when I chant my new inner mantra "scowling makes wrinkles. scowling makes wrinkles. scowling makes wrinkles."

Third....going to the gym for my workout at noon instead of after work? What was I thinking? Longest "lunch" ever! Not to mention, I was staaaaaaaarving and it's really hard to do lunges and crunches and whatever other torture the trainer is throwing at you after you've already done 20 minutes of intense cardio. Then I had to go home to totally re-do my whole morning routine. Trust me, I was not about to shower at the gym. That's totally ick. The communal bathroom thing...I left that in the college dorm, thank you very much.

And finally, I have not had a decent night's sleep in nearly two weeks. I would just like to have one night uninterrupted by dreams about work or the NCIDQ (it's too soon for those to start!) or Lulu barking her fool head off at 4am because some cat or possum dared to walk in her yard!

That silly dog

Gus is my sister's dog and he's a big goof. When she adopted him she lived with 3 other girls. One of them, who we call Smallz, was also Kristin's roommate when they lived in Austin. So Gus likes her alot. Specially if she's got a beer in her hand. He's been known to lick the bottle because he thinks if he licks it you'll give it to him (why not, it works with food?)


moar funny pictures

My sympathies

Some days, I really need some cake too

Mighty Texas Dog Walk

It's nearly time again for the Mighty Texas Dog Walk. Lulu and I participated last year and it was a lot of fun. The t-shirt is much cuter this year too. The purpose of the walk is not only to try and break the world record for the largest dog walk but also to raise money for the Texas Hearing and Service Dogs. They have a blog if you want to learn more about the organization and there is a post about last year's walk.

Can't Sleep

All week I have been waking up at random times through out the night. Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to sleeping in this morning. Guess what time it is? 7:10 am. Guess what time I woke up? 6:30am. Yay.

Say what?!

Listen up. I love me some fried pickles (slices though, not the spears). Serve 'em up with a side of ranch dressing and you've got the ultimate PMS food. Especially if you're chasing them with an ice cold milk shake.

But this....this Pickle Sickle. That's an abomination. No wonder people in the rest of the country think Texans are strange.

Maybe I've been watching too much CSI:Miami

see more crazy cat pics

but this srsly cracked me up

Happy May Day!

That Martha, she thinks of everything. So pretty. These are my favorite flowers.

There's a whole group on Flickr dedicated to Ranunculus! Of course there is! You can find anything on Flickr!

That is all

12 hour work days should be outlawed. That much work really cuts into my gym and CSI: Miami watching time, you know. Also, do not want to sit in front of computer any longer tonight.

The joke's on you

The other day at work there was joke posted above the copy machine. Something about the Pope and bread and chicken. It wasn't the funniest joke I've ever read. I'd give it half a chuckle. One of my coworkers read it and said:


see more crazy cat pics

A Thing of Beauty

The other day at work we had a "lunch & learn". This is when a manufacturer's rep comes during lunch, brings us food and gives a presentation about his/her product. The man that came the other day brought a terrible lunch from Luby's. Not only was the food gross but he didn't bring enough. We're not Jesus with the fishes & loaves people!

But then he pulled out the Emeco binder and I was blinded by beauty. It was like hearing the angels sing. Now, we'll probably never sell any of these chairs because they are expensive but maybe I can talk him into bringing a demo model into the office. Then I can put it near me so I can touch it and pet it and call it George.

The model pictured here is the Kong chair and was designed by Philipe Starck.

Shameless bragging

Forgive me for just a moment while I brag on myself please. But as of today, when I weighed at the gym after work, I have officially lost 50.2 pounds! How awesome is that?!

Check out my before and after photos. The before photo, on the right, was taken for work in the summer of 2005. The after photo was taken in mid March.

Why I can never go to prison

A thousand miles from nowhere

Not quite, but might as well be. On Friday I drove to Lubbock. Today I drove back. It's about 400 miles each way. Unless you miss a turn in a small town and drive an hour out of your way. Not that I did that or anything. Sure I used to make the drive to Lubbock a lot. When I was in college. In my 20s. When I didn't mind long road trips. Now the hour long drive to my parents' house can seem too long.

And the scenery...well it's just so beautiful. If you like brown flat landscapes.



Thank god for iPods. Months ago iTunes had a book as one of the free downloads and it's so long that even listening to it the entire drive to/from Lubbock I still have at least 2 hours left.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to drive around the Texas Tech campus so that I could do any reminiscing. After living in Austin for so long it was a little jarring to see the black and red double T Texas Tech everywhere. I guess I've gotten used to the burnt orange of ut. And that's just sad.

This makes me laugh

My favorite Michael Jackson song too.

Austin City Limits

The line up for the Austin City Limits festival came out today. I didn't buy a ticket during the pre-order period and now the 3 day passes are $170. That's a bit much for me. Even though the festival is being held a couple of weeks later this year, at the end of September instead of the middle, it's still going to be hot. And last year I was struck by some kind of martian death virus and let me tell you that it did not mix well with 95 degree heat and porta pottys. On the plus side, I did lose 10 pounds that weekend.

It looks like some of the bands are repeats from past years: Gnarls Barkley, The Raconteurs, Robert Earl Keen, Patty Griffin, What Made Milwaukee Famous. Some new players, and the ones I'd like to see are: N.E.R.D, Silversun Pickups, Duffy (her song "Mercy" was a free download from iTunes and it totally kicks ass) and Flyleaf (they're from Belton, Texas ya'll!).

Who knows, maybe I'll be one of those poor souls trying to buy a ticket from a scalper at the gate on the Saturday of the festival because there are several people that I'd like to hear. Of course, I could remedy that by just listening to my iPod or going to iTunes and downloading their songs. I'm not really one for live music anyway.

If you go to the website and click over to the playlist and then click on the band names you can listen to clips from the bands. Check it out. Buy a ticket! Bring your money to Austin. Boost the economy!

For Kristin

this made me think of when you and El Hombre were pulled over by the Po-po.

Brought to you by the letters...

S A L and T

What doesn't taste better with bacon? Well now you can find out by adding bacon salt to your food.

There's even a blog

Mine All Mine

My obsession, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, is single once again. Sweet miracle. Now I just need to hunt him down and make him my love slave. Ahem.

Must be the cupcakes talking.

Sorry.

Under the influence

You know how it's never a good idea to go to the grocery store when you're hungry? Well,the same theory can apply to blog surfing while PMSing. Do NOT read cupcake blogs at 7am on Monday morning when you have PMS. You know why? Because you will stop at the gas station on the way to work and buy diet Coke and a Snickers bar. But all day you will really be thinking about the beautiful and delicious cupcakes you saw on Bakerella's blog. You will want to shove them into your face as fast as you can. But since you are a lady (hey! shuttup! I am) you will not do that.

photo by Bakerella

Aren't these adorable? Bakerella was on the Martha Stewart show last week (which apparently was cupcake week and I did not know it!) demonstrating how to make these.

Cupcake!

pink cupcake crisp color boost full size
Originally uploaded by polkadotandplaid

This is another new favorite photo on Flickr.

Happy happy joy joy

I've got color 2007
Originally uploaded by supershoppertoo

The other day I was browsing on Flickr, as I often do, and I stumbled upon this photo. These colors are terrific. I just love this kitchen. It's so bright and cheery. In fact, ya'll need to click on over to this woman's photos and check out the awesome job she did on remodeling her 1956 ranch. It's amazing.

Books

grrrr

stupid blogger. I wrote a long, witty, fabulous post and stupid blogger's autosave didn't work and then there was an error when I tried to publish it. Now my brilliance is lost forever.

New Blogs

Just thought I'd clue y'all into some blogs that I've recently started reading.

Fail Dogs never fails (heh) to crack me up.

I*Heart*You is a fellow Texan. She posts about things I want to buy. She really likes that show The Hills on MTV and posts about that too. Those posts I don't really read because I don't watch that show. Sorry!

LOL Dogs. Like LOL Cats, but with dogs. Almost as funny.

Urban Grace Interiors is an interior design blog. She's posted some photos of spaces she's designed and they're terrific.

Migraine Woes

Woe is me. I have been a big ol' whiny butt lately to friends, family and coworkers about my migraines. I'm pretty sure they all just want me to shut the hell up. But guess what?! Now you call all hear me complain too! My neurologist is having me keep a headache diary for the next three months. In March there were only 6 headache free days. The last 2 weekends I've been pretty much crippled by migraines. Right now I'm pain free, after hurting all day long, but I feel much like my pregnant coworker...about to hurl at any second.

This is not fun. My doctor says it's part genetics (thanks Grammy!), part hormones (welcome to your early to mid 30's!) and the weather. None of which I can do anything about. Well maybe the weather, if I moved to Arizona where it doesn't rain much. The barometric pressure is probably pretty constant there, I would think. And there does seem to be a job there for me. Hmmm. Yeah, no. It's too hot and dusty there and I love Austin.

Woof woof

Marking my calendar!

May 30th! It's a red letter day. Why? Sex and the City the movie opens!
Can. Not. Wait.

My Tomato

Let me show you it.

I bought this tomato at Whole Foods this morning to use on hamburgers later today. Do you know how much this fancy tomato cost me? FOUR DOLLARS. American! Not that funny Canadian money. It better taste good. I don't even really like raw tomatoes all that much.

SMART

I know I just got a new car last May but ever since my trip to London in 2004 I have wanted a smart car. And now they are available in the US! In Texas even!

You say it's your birthday!

Today at work we had our monthly birthday celebration. I like this day. It means cake. I like cake. Cake is good. Don't tell my trainer. Anyway. Today it was extra special because not only did we have miniature cupcakes (so tiny! so cute!) but we also had a pinata! If only I had not left my camera inside. Nothing like a bunch of grown adults scrambling around in the dirt for some half melted chocolate that they beat out of a papier mache watermelon. Still, it was fun.

This YouTube video that I found this afternoon seems so appropriate. It makes me laff alot. ha ha ha (sorry, must be all that dirt encrusted chocolate I snarfed down)

Always a bridesmaid.....

So my baby sister is getting married. It's so exciting! She and El Hombre (that's what she calls her boyfriend, I mean fiance, on the internets) have been dating for nearly 4 years. When they began Living in Sin last summer she told him he had a year to propose.

So one morning in January, while I was at work, he sent me an email. In it he said that he was going to propose and wanted my help finding out what kind of ring Kristin wanted. Oh my gosh! I was so excited that I practically shouted. Picture me all Home Alone style with my hands over my face. My coworkers thought something bad had happened because I could not speak with my crying tears of joy. But then I had to keep it secret for nearly two months! Do you know how hard that was?! I talk to my sister almost every day. It just killed me not to tell anyone.

El Hombre came up with a plan to have all of my sister's friends, our parents, El Hombre's parents, myself and the boyfriend present for the proposal. She had no idea that we were going to be there and once again it was so hard for me to not let it slip that I was going to be in Dallas that weekend.

Let me tell you that the look on her face when we walked in the door of the restaurant was worth it. I wish I'd had a video camera. It all happened so fast that we didn't get too many photos but here are a few:





I'm sure there will be more wedding related posts to come. We went wedding dress shopping last weekend. She's already bought it. It's beautiful. Now we've got to find the bridesmaids dresses. That should be fun. I'm 34. The other girls are like 26 or something. Yay. I feel old next to them.

Good Friday

I had the day off from work today in celebration of Good Friday. It was a really pretty day here and I totally wasted it. Instead of doing the many things I had planned I spent it doing laundry, watching Lost and Make Me a Supermodel and napping on the sofa. In my defense though, I had a migraine and life has been really busy lately. So busy that I didn't even hang my Easter wreath on the front door! Look how sad it is hanging the garage with the other out of season wreaths.



The Boyfriend bought a house. My sister got engaged (more on that from me in another post). Things at work are jumping. That takes a lot of energy and I am the Lazy you know.

Not so smart

Daylight Savings

squared circles - Clocks
Originally uploaded by Leo Reynolds

Am I crazy or is Daylight Savings Time really early this year? It starts on Sunday. So don't forget to change you clocks. I'm hoping the extra hour of daylight will help me become reinterested in blogging and crafting.

Memory Lane

When I was in college and living in the dorm my friends and I would go out every Friday and Saturday night to Studio C. It was one of the few dance clubs in Lubbock. There are probably more now but in 1991, not so many. Plus, being only 18 there weren't too many places we could go. But that was okay because we did all our drinking in the dorm before hand (sorry mom and dad, but it's true). One of the girls invented a drink called a tequila slammer, only it had vodka instead of tequila. Strange. I guess we drank what we could get and that vodka took the finish right off the school issued dorm furniture so you know it nasty. Anyway, my point to this story is that it was at Studio C that I first fell in love with techno music. I still love it today. Will I be 80 years, in the old folks' home, and still listening to it? Probably. I found a video (which could be seizure inducing so maybe close your eyes and imagine a dorky girl dancing around in glasses and grunge attire circa 1991) of one of my favorites. In fact, I still have it on my ipod and it makes excellent workout music.

Kind of Cool

Even though Kanye West is a little bit of an ass and a whiny baby, I like his music. This video is cool.

Amazing

Okay, this is crazy. Months ago when I crankily posted about one of my favorite books being turned into a movie I never thought it would bring so many visitors to my blog. Oh fine, it's not my witty banter that's bringing them all. It's the photo of Jeffery Dean Morgan. Today I had 323 hits. Amazing. I can't wait for his movie with Uma Thurman, The Accidental Husband, to come out this summer. Witness his hotness once again:

Blogging Blues

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

I feel kind of blah about blogging these days. It's going around. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's because work has been a little bit nuts or maybe it's because I haven't been creative in quite sometime. Hopefully I'll snap out of it soon.

Quiz Time!

I took Animal Planet's dog breed selector quiz for fun this morning, just to see what results I would get. Thankfully, the miniatue Dachsund was in the top 8 breeds! Lulu might have been sad if she didn't rank high.

If you had told me a year ago that I would not be dreading Valentine's day 2008 I probably would have laughed in your face. But the last 6 months have been the best in a very very long time.

The boyfriend just sent these to me at my office. He's such a sweetie.

Happy family

Today my cousin and her husband threw a "happy retirement" party for my dad. Kristin and El Hombre made the drive down for it. Don't we look adorable.

What's your body worth?

$4755.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth.

Vote!

It's time to vote. Texas is redesigning its license plate. Go here to vote for your favorite.

I used to have school plates, like this one, on my Beetle, but decided not to get them when I got my new car last May. Sometimes I miss them.

Taxman!

So I finished my taxes and filed them online tonight. My refund should arrive and be electronically deposited into my account in 9-15 days. Sweet. Too bad it's all going to American Express to pay off credit card debt.

Now I get the joy that is amending my 2005 and 2006 taxes because I found some deductions that I didn't know about at the time. Unfortunately, there is not a handy, user-friendly, free online form that will walk me through it. No, I have to fill that form out by hand. Oh math! My arch nemisis! Pray for me.

More on Pam & Samantha

Valentine's Day is coming

Very cute card I found at Rock Scissor Paper. If Lulu could sent out Valentine's cards she might send this one.

There's also a whole bunch of doxie stationary. Super cute.

Excellent news!!

Samantha has been found and returned to her rightful owner, Pam. Thank God for a happy ending.

Praise Be!

I have heat again. Of course, it's not cold now. And probably won't be cold enough to really need heat for another 10 months. Unless we get another freak Easter freeze. But yay! for heat.

What is wrong with people?!

I have a lot of what I call "invisible" friends. These are people I know from online. Some of them I've actually met. One is a woman named Pam that has family here in town so whenever she comes to visit them we've gone out for drinks. She is one of the funniest women I have ever met.

This morning I woke and found out that yesterday, while she was at work, someone broke into her apartment and stole her dog. They took nothing else. All the jewelry, tv, computer, other valuables are still there. The front door was ajar and a window was pried open. Her sweet baby Samantha is missing and Pam is beside herself. I would be too. So all you dog lovers, please be thinking good thoughts for Pam and Samantha in NYC and that they will soon be reunited.

Good News, Bad News

First the bad news....last Thursday the heater in my house started to die. Thirteen year old furnaces aren't exactly inexpensive to repair. It was supposed to be repaired today. More bad news. The part is on back order and won't be here until Monday. Let's take a look at the weather forecast for rest of the week:



brrrrrrrrrrr I've been sleeping under four blankets, which are are so heavy Lulu can hardly get under them.

Now the good news.....Target has space heaters on sale. Buy one get one free! For only $30! Sweet. And even though I know it's a little bit wrong, I'll be returning them after the heater is fixed.

British Airways, why must you torture me?!

Once again, BA is torturing me by sending me great deals on flights to London. It doesn't matter that I can fly round trip out of Houston for under $600 because I do not have $600. Well yes I do, if you count plastic money but really that would eat a hole in my stomach and keep me up at night and what fun would that be?

I hate you British Airways.

not really, call me later, 'k?

ps...that's how I look when I'm in London, don't you know.

Just call me guinea

As in guinea pig. You see, my finances are in need of a serious cash infusion due to some unexpected medical bills (Unicare insurance SUCKS..ahem) and while I've entertained the idea of holding a virtual garage sale and selling off my worldly possessions via ebay and craigslist, well that just takes too much effort (but if you need some yarn, fabric or Stampin' Up stuff let me know). So today I was driving down the highway and I spied a huge billboard announcing a migraine study that pays $400. Perfect! I whipped out my cell phone right then and there and made the call. It's a bit of a hassle, thus the money, because you have to go to the office when you get a migraine and hang out after you take the medication but I'm getting more details later this week.

Lulu loves iPods

So much so that she tried to eat my shuffle tonight! I heard a strange noise in the bedroom and found her on the bed looking guilty, the shuffle at her feet and missing one earbud cover. Upon further inspection, both buds were wet and dented. Thank god I caught her before she ate the whole thing! That is a vet bill I can not afford!

Help a Sister Out

My sister is participating in the Strut Your Mutt 3K fun run next month. It's to raise money for the SPCA. All our dogs are not mutts, only Gus is, but they are all rescues. So help a sister out and sponsor her in her efforts to raise money for this good cause.

Addicted

So today the nice man from the Dish Network came and hooked up my tvs to satellite television. I made the switch from Time Warner Cable because I was paying way too much and Dish can give me the same channels with 2 (!!!) DVRs for like half the money. I will never have to leave the house again! Do you know how much television I can record now? Like 300 hours! How awesome is that?! DO YOU SEE HOW EXCITED THIS IS MAKING ME?!

It's the little things in life that get me through each day. Oh and my neighbor brought me a plant and some slices of lemon pound cake today. Isn't that nice?

My daddy always said....

that if I kissed enough frogs I'd find my prince....


moar funny pictures

I'm a genius ya'll!

Smoothie

For Christmas the Boyfriend gave me a blender. Don't worry, it was on my Amazon list and he also gave me jewelry. I come from a family that doesn't mind practical gifts. After all, over the years my mother has asked for and received vacuums and leaf blowers as anniversary gifts (not that I'm wanting those!). Anyway, my point is...I wanted a blender so that I could make smoothies. Last night after I got back from the gym I whipped one up.



8 oz orange juice
6 or so strawberries, slightly frozen
1 banana, chopped and slightly frozen
4 oz plain yogurt

Will it blend? Oh yes, it will.

Just in time

It was really cold today so it's a good thing I finished this scarf last night.