Blogging under the influence

first let me apologize for the randomness of this post. You see, about 10 minutes ago, I took my first ambien. I'm feel a little bit like I drank too many margaritas, only with out the acid reflux (damn getting old suxs).


Okay gotta make this fast, the words are getting blurry. Side affects of this medication may make do inappropriate things like sleep driving (HIDE THE KEYS), making and eating food, making phone calls and having sex. Sounds to me like one big house party. WHATCHOUT


as I can no longer really see what I'm typing I should probably just brush teeth and plop into bed,

PS....Lulu got sprayed by a skunk last night while visiting my parens. Glad they are dealing with the destinking and not me.

PPS....aren't those flowers pretty? my brithday is coming up. maybe i've mentioned it? It's on Wednesday October 1st. The most wonderful day in teh world. everyone should love me on that day.

A dog in love

The music totally makes this video. My hat is off to its maker.

This can't be good

For a few years now I've had this little pink mole* on the side of my leg. I always hated it and wanted it removed but my doctor said it wasn't any big deal. I tried to ignore it. But sometimes I would touch it, just a little, to make sure it was still there (why yes, I am strange). So the other day I noticed that I couldn't feel it! What?! Where did it go?! I looked in the mirror and it was no longer pink. It had turned a darker color. And it was no longer raised! And it kinda hurts. This is not good. Not good at all.

It just so happens that I already had an appointment set up with the dermatologist next week for my yearly mole check anyway. I think my body knows and is fighting me because along with this mole thing I also have developed some kind of funky rash on my neck (which my friend so helpfully pointed out to me during lunch) and acne on my forehead. How can I have wrinkles and acne at the same time? Not right.

*yes, that is my mole and no, you don't want to know how much I had to contort to take that photo. Lulu was not amused that I spent 10 minutes trying to get a photo instead of feeding her dinner.

Missing

One dog bone.
Reward: a million licks.
If found, please contact Lulu.



Somehow, Lulu has misplaced her most precious bone. I have looked every where. Under the bed, the coffee table, the entertainment center. Even the backyard, just in case she took it out there from some crazy reason. She misses it. I miss it too because instead of gnawing on it quietly tonight, she took every single squeeky stuffed toy out of her bucket and "killed" each one of them. LOUDLY.

I could have died....

Okay, perhaps I am exaggerating just a bit but I do live in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood and yesterday I just could not take the loud car stereo any longer. For over an hour it had been pulsating. I could hear it in my home, over the hum of the a/c and the television and it was about to drive me insane. So I went outside and walked past 3 homes and halfway down the parking lot of the apartment complex that sits next to my condo development. There was the offending vehicle. A dark blue pick up truck. Windows down, teenagers milling about.

At least the boy had the courtesy to fully turn off the stereo when I walked up to his window and said in my best mom voice "excuse me". I then told him that if he did not keep it turned down I was calling the police. Punk ass kids.

This is not the first time I've had to confront them about the music and I expect it won't be the last. I sort of get a kick out of it. But that is probably something someone could get knifed or shot at over.


more animals


oh...guess what I hear now.....I don't really want to call 911 to report the loud music but if I call 311 they're just going to patch me over

Color Me Beautiful

Over on How About Orange today there is a link to Colorstrology, which links a Pantone color to your birthdate. My color is Purple Heather 14-3911 and apparently I am a leader, organizer and decision maker. Organizer, yes. Decision maker, most of the time....just not when faced with a new and delicious menu of foods. Leader, not so sure about that one. Does your color match you?

Anything for a buck

well almost....a couple of weeks ago I spent 20 minutes on the phone with some guy answering questions about my tv watching habits and then because he said I would get cash money in the mail I let him send me more surveys to fill out. Yes, for six whole dollars I agreed to track what tv shows I watched for a week. The joke was on him though because that was the week the Olympics were on and I dvr'd a lot of things but watched very little.

Last week I got a call from a local market research place. I was disqualified right away because I sell furniture. Technically, I personally do not sell it, but I've sold it in the past and the company I work for now sells it. So I have no idea what that was for.

Tonight I got another and was nearly disqualified again! This time because a relative works for an internet service provider. Maybe I just shouldn't explain so much? See my dad had this company....but now he's retired...so does that count? I guess they figured it's cool because they kept asking me questions about my cell phone ("you use it to make calls?" uhm yes lady, I'm speaking on it now), how often I'm on the internet, etc. So in a couple of weeks I'm going to sit in a room full of strangers for two hours and talk about my internet usage. One of my favorite topics! And I'll make $125 in CASH. Maybe they will give me an iPhone. That would be totally excellent (yes, I'm trying to bring back 80s slang. work with me)

Monday Morning

You know the day, possibly the week even, is getting off to a bad start when you pour a big bowl of your favorite cereal and don't realize there isn't enough milk until after you've already poured the milk over the cereal. So only about 1/4 of my cereal is wet. Damp wheat chex. Breakfast of healthy slackers.

It's that time of year again

A time of year I hate.....football season. Blech. So my Facebook profile is getting inundated with "wave requests" from my friends to show support for our college team. Yeah, whatever. But dogging on another team, I can go for that. Specially if it means hating on the Texas Longhorns. I ran across this little graphic and it cheered me right up.

OH HAI

Lulu loves my boyfriend. More than she loves me. She goes NUTS when he comes over. Someday, I will get video of it and you will laugh. Oh my god, you will laugh. Anyway, the other night she was extra loving with him and spent several minutes snuggling in his lap.









Then she had enough, of both the loving and the photo taking, and went back to her spot in front of the window to protect us from any possums that may decide to lurk along the fence.

Kibble skittle

Lulu gets excited about feeding time but not like this. This video is so cute. I don't know how they were able to video it without cracking up.

Random Musings

Why is that Lulu hates the vacuum and will flee from it, so far as leaving the house and going outside even if it's in a different room than she, but will calmly sit in the backyard and let me mow within a foot of her? Dogs is weird.

Last night I watched that Britney Spears movie Crossroads and God help me, I cried. That's right, it made me cry. It's official...I am the world's biggest cry baby.

A couple of nights ago I had two very bad nightmares. One involving work and lots of yelling and the other involving the death of someone that used to be very important to me. Normally I don't read much into dreams but the death one stuck with me so much that I thought maybe it meant something. I wasn't about to call the person up and say "hey, are you dead?" so I did what every girl with stalker tendencies does....I put Google/Facebook/Myspace to work. You can not hide from that Internet holy trinity. If you exist on the web, they will find you. Results yielded not dead yet.

Last weekend I stopped to get a Diet Coke...I know, I'm not supposed to drink caffeine but I really really needed one...anyway, all the gas station had was Diet Coke tall boys. I felt kinda dirty. Like this should be in a brown paper bag.

Fashion Dilemma

I need a dress for my sister's wedding. Maybe you recall me mentioning it? She's getting married in two months and I'm the maid of honor. The dress requirements are: black, between knee and calf length and must be non-hoochie. I thought I'd found a dress, borrowed from a friend but it is a little too casual compared to the other bridesmaids' dresses. See me trying it on at work last week:



So yesterday, during a moment of downtown at the office, I found these dresses on Nordstrom.com. The first one is great but I'm not crazy about the asymmetrical hem and it doesn't ship until the end of September. The second dress is much hotter but do I really want to be hot at my sister's wedding? Also, I have a thing about my armpits. They are not attractive. What if people look at the exposed one and laugh? What if my boob falls out? We do not need a wardrobe malfunction. The third dress has a great neckline, with the deeper v, but I'm not sure it's fancy enough.






















What to do, what to do? I know...buy all three and then decide!

So cute

I just stumbled upon this adorable ribbon via How About Orange.
Want!
To do what with, who knows!

Stress and chocolate

So tonight while I was trying to study and stuffing my face with Dove chocolates because I was feeling anxious about the test (less than two months and I am so not prepared) I noticed the inspirational message on the chocolate wrapper. It said

don't think about it so much

If only. So then I just finished my chocolate, flipped on an episode of Intervention (mmmmm, addiction to pain killers, sweet!) and did some ab exercises on the living room floor.

I am so weird.

Like a hole in the head

I need another credit card like I need a hole in the head but how could I pass up the offer of 0% interest for a year AND the opportunity to put Lulu's picture on the card? Well of course I had to do it. Don't worry, the APR doesn't jump to some kind of crazy rate after the introductory period. I made sure to read all the fine print first.

It does occur to me that if the credit limits on my credit cards were combined I could pay off my mortgage and my car. Normally I don't have any idea what the limits on them are because I'm not using them like candy but recently one expired and I was sent the replacement. The credit limit on that card alone is nearly my yearly salary. Insanity! That does not make me want to shop. That terrifies me.

Happy Anniversary x 2

see more dog pictures

This is a week of anniversaries. One year ago tonight, I went on my first date with the boyfriend. It was a great date so we out again that following Friday and we've been going out ever since. Okay, true confession time: we were on a break for a couple of months due to me having a freak out (sorry babe, love you) but now we're back together and it's all good.

The actual date of our first date was August 8th, which also happens to be the anniversary of my condo purchase. 3 years ago on that date, after many tears of frustration due to an inept mortgage broker, I finally became a home owner. And I've been broke ever since. Welcome to the American dream. yay.

Sanctuary

My cousin has opened a new store here in Austin (the Westlake area), called Sanctuary. Today there was a little blurb about it on Apartment Therapy. Rock on, Hanna! She's having an open house tonight featuring make up, jewelry and cupcakes. What more could a girl want?

Check out her blog here: Simply Sanctuary

Kristin and me visiting the store a few weeks ago:

Get into the groove

I am having the worst time getting into the groove of studying for the NCIDQ. Do you know how long it's been since I had to study for an exam? 9 years.

It's 9pm...ask me how much studying I've done tonight? No wait, don't. But really, after work I had to go to the gym and then I had to go to Kinko's to get some stuff done for work and that took forever and then I had to get gas and then...well you get the idea. I haven't even eaten dinner yet. 3 Dove chocolates don't count and since all I had for dinner last night was Doritos (in the car, on my way to my study group) I should probably eat some real food tonight.

The Accidental Husband trailer

What's the deal?

For months now I have been not so patiently waiting for The Accidental Husband to be released. But the released date keeps getting pushed back. Yesterday, while once again trying to find out when it's going to be coming out, I found out that the movie has already come out in other countries! What is up with that? The movie must really suck. But I don't care. Jeffrey Dean Morgan in a lead role!



Ooh oh! Yesterday I read that they might be bringing his character, Denny, back to Grey's Anatomy. Now how they are going to do that, since Denny died a very dramatic death and has already come back as a ghost once, is beyond me. But again, I do not care. Just now my ass will be firmly planted on the sofa, tissues in hand for that episode.

Not just for celebrities!

Earlier this week my doctor referred me to an ENT because I am sick from yet another cold/sinus infection. This is the 4th one since the end of May. So today I had that appointment. I had joked with someone that maybe the doctor would say I had a deviated septum and needed a nose job. Well guess what, no joke. But really, a nose job is not necessary, just a "simple" sinus surgery. However, if I'm going to be put under anyway, why not have it done? Time and money are an issue at the moment so I'm not in any hurry. After all, my nose has been this way for most of my life. But if you are feeling generous and want to paypal me the money just let me know!

Age is just a number

But why is the AARP trying to recruit me?! I'm not even 35 yet! They keep sending me letters in the mail to join their organization. I don't think so.

Brain daid

Yes, I know that I've got a misspelled word up there. I don't care. That's how I typed it and I'm too tired to hit back space to fix it. Why so tired? Because I just spent my entire weekend sitting in carpet showroom, under the most horrific buzzing lights in the most uncomfortable chairs, trying to absorb as many tips and tricks possible to pass the NCIDQ. This exam is my nemesis. It has given me so much grief. It's been 8 years since I last took it but just sitting in that room today made all the anxiety ramp up again.

Also, the timing of the test could not be worse. The exam is spread out over two days, October 3rd and 4th. My 35th birthday is October 1st and I really wanted to take a fabulous trip somewhere. But between the cost of the exam and the timing, that ain't happening.

Unless I win the mega millions between now and then and hell, if that happens then just forget the damn test!

Housekeeping

If Lulu were a cat, this would be her reaction when I vacuum. Instead, she just runs out the dog door and then waits right outside, giving me pitiful eyes through the window.


more cat pictures

Is there something I don't know?

Why do the spam gods keep sending me emails about design jobs when I already have a design job? Is there something I don't know? Am I going to wake up one day and find out that my interior design degree is a fake? It sure as hell better not be. Yesterday I realized that I've been out of college for 12 years. When did that happen? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was freaking out about graduating and finding a job?

Ticklish?

This gives new meaning to bubble toes:

Say my name!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 46 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Srsly

I am going to kill my neighbors (okay not really) if they don't STOP BLASTING their music. It makes me want to take a machete and go to town on their stupid cars. woooo so you have a boomin' bass. Aren't you a badass. blech. Can I call 911 on them or is loud music more of a 311 thing?

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. The new glasses aren't helping. They're just making me mad.

Batman: The Dark Knight....totally worth it.

No other news to report here.

Mystery solved

The other day I had an appointment with my opthamologist for an eye exam. Even though I just had a full exam in March my vision has been giving me problems and I was fairly certain that was contributing to the headaches. Sure enough, my astigmatism has returned, despite having LASIK twice. Apparently, my body is very sensitive to vision changes (does the fact that I'm sensitive really come to a surprise to anyone that knows me well?).

At least I got some stylish Coach frames.

Suck It!

OMG! Best day evah! Kathy Griffin is coming to town AND I BOUGHT TICKETS. If I could have done a happy dance around the office I would have right after I completing my transaction I would have. Instead, I settled for doing a little seated cabbage patch in my chair. Yeah, that's right, I did.

photo courtesy of Bakerella

What are they trying to say?

In my mail today was a postcard from my dermatologist's office. The last time I went to their office I came out looking like this:



Today's postcard is not a friendly reminder to wear sunscreen or to come in for my 6 month skin check. No, it's to tell me that there is going to be a Botox and Juvederm event. WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! Do you think I need Botox?! Because I want it, really I do. I just can't afford it. I've got the Mariana Trench running across my forehead and 35 is getting closer and closer *sob*.

I used to think that aging would bother me, bring it on, etc. Yeah, now not to so much. The only good think about aging is that all the white hairs coming in have stopped my hair from turning brown and now my hair is looking more and more blonde. I've been saving so much money at the hair salon!

I agree

nataliedee.com

Song we never sang

Funny, but I don't remember singing this song in Sunday school when I was growing up.


more cat pictures

Wedding Dance

I really think that El Hombre should bust out moves like this at his and Kristin's wedding. Nice, don't you think?




edit:
The bride and groom are professional dancers. You can see a slide show of their wedding here. The photography, by Scott Robert Photography is AMAZING. Of course it helps when your subjects and scenery are both beautiful.

Unremarkable Numbskull

Today I finally had my follow up appointment with the neurologist. The results of my MRI....unremarkable. He made sure to tell me that was a good thing in terms of neurology and the brain. Just in case I hadn't figured that out already. He didn't really have any answers for me. I've been following his treatment plan: no caffeine, no OTC meds, no rx meds except for the topamax and maxalt (and I've only had one maxalt a week if I need it and just sucking it up the rest of the time). In fact, I've had intermittent headaches, at this point I hesitate to call them migraines (except for the one I had last week when I was in Canada. Then I wanted to die), since Sunday.

So he decided that I needed an occipital nerve block. Yes, let's do that. Let's numb my skull up so I can drive home in rush hour traffic! That will be fabulous. Oh what's that you say? My insurance won't cover it? Even better! Just add it to the MRI bill. Anyway, so the right side of my head got shot up with lidocaine and 2 other drugs. I go back next week to get the left side done. The back of my head doesn't hurt but that is never the major source of pain. The temples, where I would like to drill a hole to drain the pressure, still throb. I would cry but that makes it worse.

Better than....

Thursday was the monthly birthday celebration at work and I was in charge of bringing the treat so I decided to bring the infamous Better Than Sex dessert. Everyone loved it but it wasn't as delicious to me as I remembered from my childhood. Of course, I forgot the leftovers at the office so I can't have another taste just to make sure.

Long Awaited Canada Post

You were all holding your breath, weren't you?

First, I must apologize for the sucky photos. That happens when you have to use a disposable camera because you remembered the pack the digital camera but left its battery at home, sitting on the bathroom counter where you left it after unplugging it from the charger.

I went to Calgary to attend a week of training for my job. It was interesting and I learned so much. They sent us home with so much material that my suitcase was nearly over the limit. It weighed 40 lbs on the way there and 49.8 on the way back! Besides learning product knowledge, it was also great to learn that I am not the only one dealing the stresses and messes that I have at work. The 8 other people in my training do as well! Every car ride and lunch turned into one long bitch session...if we weren't comparing annoying things salespeople do it was complaining about our installers losing things or crazy client requests. It was nice to talk to people who get it! I didn't have to explain any shorthand or acronyms. We all spoke the same strange furniture language.

The weather was just awesome. Believe me, coming from 100 degrees, I was loving the highs of 75 and the cool, crisp mornings. It was strange for the sun to not start setting until after 10pm though and with the sun coming up again around 4:30am I wasn't able to catch up on my sleep as much as I had hoped. I took this photo in Banff around 10pm.



Here are some more photos of Banff. Let me tell you that these photos do not do it justice at all. Seriously, we were all gasping at how beautiful the mountains were on the drive up there. Someone told me that the Banff Springs hotel was one of the locations to film The Shining. I don't know if that's true and my Google fingers haven't help me find any truth to that but it sure looks like it could be! We only walked through the lobby but it was beautiful.







And finally, here's me in Canada.

Ring a ding

One evening after a long day of training we decided that it would be a good idea to drive to Banff. It was only 90 minutes away and since it didn't get dark until 11pm, why not? It was beautiful. Photos soon, I swear. Anyway, while there I found this cute ring there and just had to have it. That's coconut and bamboo inlay.

I have returned!

I'm back from Canada. I miss the cooler weather already. Photos and posts about the trip to come later.

Happy Anniversary

Not only is today Father's day but on this day in 1968 my parents got married in the same small town they now reside in the same church they now attend every week. It's funny how things come full circle. I wish I was able to scan their wedding photos because my mother was a beautiful bride and my dad was very handsome. Happy 40th Mom and Dad!

The photo above was taken in 1979. I believe my mother is pregnant with my sister in this photo. I was 6. This next photo was taken shortly after my sister was born, so probably in December of 1979. Dig that groovy sofa. Also, I'm wearing my favorite t-shirt which features the Storm Troopers. I wanted marry one.

Father's Day

Happy Father's day, Daddy. I love you!

So much fun

Here's one dog that knows how to stay cool and have fun!

Adorableness

My friend Michele has kittens. They are adorable. It's a good thing that she is in Houston and that I am in Austin because these kittens are up for adoption. Michele is a one woman wonder, working to end feline over population by spaying and neutering the wild cats/kittens that roam her neighborhood. Of course she can't catch them all and these cute kittens are the result. Don't you want one? Let me know and I'll hook you up.

Albino Dachshund

I ran across this video about an albino Dachshund named Sylar on The Long and Short of It All. He's just like any other Dachshund, only he's all white with blue eyes and a pink nose. Also, I love the music used in the video.

Somebody doesn't know their animals very well, do they?


more funny fail pictures at FAIL Blog

Wrong

Fail Dogs, you always succeed in cracking me up.

O Canada!

Later this month I am going to spend a week in Calgary. I wish it were for fun, but no, it's for work. At least I get my own hotel room. When I first was told about the trip I was also told that I was going to have to share a room with 2 other women. Two other women that are complete strangers to me. They also work for the same company I do, just in different cities. But I said hell to the no on that and managed to get my own room.

It could be worse. Two of my coworkers are going to NeoCon next week and not only are they sharing a room but last I heard they have to share a bed too! You know, I like most of my coworkers but I don't like any of them that much.

Suckage

So far my weekend plans have been scrapped. I am still sick. I've been sick since last Saturday night. My head feels like it is going to explode. Is it a migraine or is it from the cold? I don't know! Dare I take a pill? My new insurance company will only give me 4 every 30 days. But hey, at least I don't feel like puking anymore.
Although, that is very handy for the diet. I haven't been this thin since I was 14.

Weekend plans

See a movie.

Lounge by the pool

Begin studying for the NCIDQ.

Maybe some yard work.

If I get around to it.

Awesomeness

In less than an hour the season finale of Lost starts. Can. Not. Wait!

This is one of my new favorite songs. It rocks. Play it loud.



Also, George Clooney is single once again. George, call me!

I don't think so

Growing up there was a dessert that my mom often made that was so good but yet so scandalous. Why? The name. It was called the Better Than Sex dessert. She got the name from a woman at church so you can see why it might be considered racy.

The other day I was flipping through the May 2008 issue of Cooking Light when I came upon a photo and recipe that looked very similar to her recipe. Sure enough, it's basically the same recipe, only lightened up. They're calling it Cool, Creamy Chocolate Dessert. Probably reaches a broader audience that way. But this morning, as I was quickly reading some blogs before work, I stumbled upon the recipe again and at that blogger's house it's called Sex in a Pan!

So, in summary, a lot of people equate chocolate pudding and cool whip dessert concoctions to be equal and/or better than sex.

Movies

What better way to spend a long weekend than to see movies? This weekend I saw two. Priceless and Young at Heart. I recommend both.





Priceless is a French film (so put your reading glasses on, it's subtitled) that stars Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh. It's cute and makes me want to move to the French Riveria and take up smoking and scooter riding. Or something like that.







Young at Heart is a documentary about a senior citizens chorus that sings covers of songs by the Ramones, James Brown and Coldplay just to name a few. You might have seen clips of them on YouTube. That's where I first heard of them. From the very start of the film I had a smile on my face. I laughed and I cried. Even if you don't go see the movie, at least watch this clip. It's the one that made me cry.



Here's a clip of the Young at Heart singers performing recently on Ellen DeGeneres' show, doing some James Brown and Outkast.