4 Tag

I pushed the Easy Button today as I don't have anything to say that is remotely exciting or entertaining.

4 Jobs I Have Had in My Life
1. Gift wrapper
2. Convenience store clerk
3. Showroom manager
4. English as a second language teacher

4 Movies I Can Watch Over and Over
1. Dazed & Confused
2. Love Actually
3. Bell Book & Candle
4. Clueless

4 TV Shows I Like to Watch
1. Survivorman
2. Girls Next Door
3. The Hills
4. Bones

4 Places I Have Been on Vacation
1. China
2. Mexico
3. Canada
4. Thailand

4 Favorite Foods
1. PB&J
2. Chocolate
3. Fried anything
4. Sushi

4 Places I Would Rather Be
1. In bed
2. On holiday any where
3. On sofa
4. Hanging out with my mom

Ramblings...

So the birthday has come and gone, more with a whimper instead of a bang. I celebrated it all week with work friends and personal friends followed by spending the actual day at the spa. Got my hair did and a facial and let me tell you it is tough work getting beautiful. Then went to dinner by myself at my favorite Thai restaurant. Finally passed out on the sofa. I was exhausted.

I love how now that I am 36 and not in a relationship that everyone I know is clearly thinks I am unhappy and must be in a relationsihp. Due to a new job, school and tennis I don't have time to do much else. That is a pretty full schedule and looking for a man / dating is a full time job. I have taken myself off all the online boards because...well...it's all the same people I've seen since I moved here 6 years ago! I'm actually pretty happy. Do I miss having someone to go and do fun activities with - especially certain activities? Sure. But frankly I can't handle anyone for an extended period of time. I need my personal space.

I now have to write yet another term paper. Why is the magic number of pages for a term paper between 8 - 10? Why not 6 - 8? Hell, 2 - 4? Seriously, does my teacher really want to read 15 term papers? I've never understood it. I would rather deal with a group presentation than to have to write yet another term paper.

Perhaps I need a personal assistant to write my term paper for me? Although I've heard what everyone has these days is a "glam squad" which I am clearly in need of...essentially a traveling team of spa people. This is clearly beyond the ubiquitous maid, chef and driver. I seriously do not know how I have been doing it alone for so long now.

My Mawmaw (grandmother to you Yankees) used to say you can have nice things or you can have children and pets. I have pets. Specifically cats. I think Schmoopie has this weird gag reflex that when he gets upset with me he pukes everywhere. I swear it's not due to the occasional hair ball. I woke up this morning to find that of all the places he could hurl all over, he chose my sofa. And of course, by the time I see this, I am running late for work and barely have time to try to clean it up. I have a sofa with slipcovers. Which in theory sounds like a good idea however I will never buy another slipcovered sofa again. The slipcovers are not exactly the easiest things to get on and off as well as you cannot throw them in the dryer as they shrink (learned the hard way)...so I came home tonight to strip the sofa and wash the slipcovers. I'll be lucky if I can get them back on again. And the thing that sucks most of all is the slipcovers cost about 1/2 the cost of the damn sofa if I wanted to replace them! Which I won't be doing...so I'm guessing that side of the sofa will be permanently covered with a throw. Lovely.

Clickity Clock

Commercial of the week, Zycam, it works. So on Saturday I was feeling puny and whiny (I know not much different from most days) and started taking Zycam for my stuffy head and I swear on my cats furry heads that by Sunday morning I was fine! Isn't that crazy?!

So we had our 6 pack weekend and it was a great success. I have to say I particularly enjoyed the process of watching men in little leather underpants with capes run around and kill people - a la The 300. I frankly think that uniform needs to come back into fashion. Women are doing the whole Grecian goddess thing, I think men need to do the Greek god thing. It's only fair.

I had to go to New Orleans on Tuesday for work. I know I've said it before and I'll continue to say it, but I hate flying. I was booked on a new regional jet airline and was a bit trepidatious (is that a word?) about it. I don't like those little regional jets with the one seat on one side and the two seats on the other. However, what this new airline lacked in planes it made up for in service! Service? On an airplane? I know! How revolutionary! Que Surprise! We got FOOD! Not only did we get FOOD, but we got FREE FOOD! It was a morning flight and the flight attendant came around and offered us "breakfast cereal"! "Would you like some breakfast cereal"? "Why yes I would"! I had the nicest, most pleasant breakfast on that flight. I couldn't wait to come back to find out if I would get the same "breakfast cereal". I did not, but instead was offered a yogurt smoothie and a breakfast cereal bar! Seriously, I can put up with a lot if the flight attendant is nice, solicitous and I'm being fed. I will totally fly this airline again.

New Orleans is still quite sad. Two years post Katrina and things are still coming together. It's quite sad. As usual, I was quite lame and didn't want to traipse around by myself, so I took a long bath and passed out on the bed dreaming of staying in a nice hotel with room service - which I was not in. Quite exciting.

So happy to be home. I love being home.

Sniff, Honk Honk!

I'm getting a cold and I'm pissed off about it. I have no idea where this came from and why all of the sudden my entire head is stuffed up, but I'm really ticked off. One of my co-workers was sick this past week and I'm so totally blaming it on her! I hate being sick. Yes, I'm sure the rest of you love it. However, I was the child who got sick all the time. It was during that phase when they wouldn't take your tonsils out even if you were dying, which I was. So I was stuck taking stupid chewable pills because I was too ascared to swallow pills at that time. Lovely memories.

I love it when you tell people you are sick and they ask you what you did. Well...last night, after I took a cold shower, I ran outside naked and rolled in the grass and then went to bed under the fan on high. Gee...I have no idea what I did to deserve a fricking stuffy nose!

I don't have time to be sick and why am I getting a cold just in time for my BIRTHDAY! Annoying!

I was to spend today doing homework...so not motivated. I blame it all on Schmoopie. The minute he lays on me, I have to go to sleep. There is no choice in the matter. Not to mention, he knows I don't feel well, so he's coming over to try to comfort me and because of the nice blankie he makes on me, I immediately fall asleep. So I blame him or I'm simply narcoleptic. I wonder if I could get a job that requires napping. I'm sure my MBA will help me secure that one.

Tomorrow, I'm going to my friend MWs house for our "six pack weekend". We plan on watching a bunch of movies that showcase very fit men in little clothing, such as The 300, Casino Royale (why is it that 007 manages to have his shirt off in just about every scene, yet Mr. Jason Bourne has not done so in the last 2 in the series?!) and Troy with Brad Pitt. I am making my infamous lasagna and we are going to veg out and pig out and ogle men all day. I can't wait.

But now I have to go blow my nose. Honk!

Bears do it in the woods

Please tell me that everyone saw the train wreck that was Britney Spears last night?! OMG! It was like watching a rated R movie with your parents - you want to watch, but you are so embarrassed!




I believe Fall has officially fallen in the Midwest. I walked out of the office this evening at around 6:30pm and it was 61 degree Fahrenheit. Feels really nice. I'm the type of person who likes to sleep when it's cold. I want to sleep in a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up on top of my feather bed cocooned in my down comforter surrounded by at least 6 down pillows. Now it's officially good sleeping weather. What a nice change from the fricking Africa hot triple digit degree temps we had for most of August. Ugh.

My latest reality show that I'm obsessed with is called Survivorman. I know most of you know I'm a complete nerd these days, watching shows like Planet Earth and the Deadliest Catch. The guy who does Survivorman, is thrown into various wilderness conditions for 6 days and 7 nights with no food, water or shelter and has to figure out how to get to civilization. He's like fricking Macgyver for real. He somehow manages to always build a fire. It amazes me, kind of like that movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks. Had that happened to me, I'm so not smart enough to survive. But what I like about the TV show is that this guy is supposed to be some trained professional survivor and yet he constantly makes boneheaded mistakes. I watched one recently where he built his fire too close to his shelter and it caught on fire! He's constantly coming up with creative ways to use trash he's found to make a fishing lure, etc., and he'll forget to bait it. There are some episodes that he doesn't eat for 5 or 6 days. Or he'll eat something truly nasty because it's either that or die. I would throw a massive pity party and lay down and die...or get eaten by a bear. I hope that bear likes Spam, as I have a fondess for it lately.

Spam Musubi

Have you noticed that it's next to impossible to walk into any store like Target, Walmart, or a traditional grocery store without dropping a minimum of $100? And that for some reason the magic price for big ticket items like flat panel televisions or pieces of furniture is a minimum of $1,500? And that's if you are shopping at a discount / off-brand location.

I went to one of the wholesale shopping clubs today. I don't go very often. I'm not really sure I can justifiy the $50 membership for only going once a quarter. I am a single person, do I really need to buy 24 rolls of toilet paper at one time simply to save money?

Speaking of money, recently I decided to invest in one of those robotic kitty litter boxes. I love the fact that I don't have to walk my cats - especially when it's pissing down rain - but I seriously HATE the litter box. Ever since the automatic cleaning boxes came out, I've been skeptical...but I was going to have to buy a new box regardless, and then when the pet store told me I could return it (I know, ew) if the boys didn't like it, I bought it.

Well, who knew the Terrorist was such a baby! He was so scared of the box that I couldn't even get him to go in it! Schmoopie didn't really care one way or the other but the damn thing was a nightmare. Worse than a regular box the mechanism was constantly stopping / starting, not working when it should, getting caught up...I was dealing more with fricking poo with the automatic box than I was before! So this past Saturday, I got rid of the damn thing. What a relief to go back to the regular pooper scooper.

When GJB was visiting, we found a "new" restaurant (I say "new" with quotes as I have no idea how long it's really been there, it's just new to me) called Ohana, Hawaiian BBQ. I've lived in Hawaii. Granted I was 9 and 10 years old, but I have lived there. I wasn't aware Hawaiians had a particular style of BBQ, other than perhaps the big huge pigs they roast during a tourist luau. So clearly we had to try it.

The menu is an odd combination of many Asian dishes, such as your usual Chinese General Tso's, Pad Thai and crab rangoon. Then, comes the weirdness that is Hawaii, the use of Spam. I've never understood Hawaiian's love for the squidgy salty faux meat that is Spam. Everyone used to eat it when we lived there and from what I understand, Hawaiians eat over 60% of the world's Spam. So, in looking at the menu, there is an item called Spam Musubi. Musubi is a type of sushi - usually a large piece of fish is put on top of a bed of rice with seaweed or nori just wrapped in the middle - larger than your average roll or traditional piece of sushi. Clearly, it was a moral imperative that GJB and I try this Spam Musubi (see photo).

Keep in mind, GJB and I lived in Japan for 3 years. We are pretty well traveled and have eaten our fare share of nasty crap. So, we were not expecting to like Spam Musubi, but we wanted the bragging rights to say we ate it. It is now my favorite thing to eat. I LOVE Spam Musubi! Then! I see it on the Today Show on Saturday morning because one of the major cooking magazines is showcasing strange regional dishes such as Kool-pickles (that's right, dill pickles soaked in Kool-aid) and there is Spam Musubi! You can read more about Hawaii's obsession with Spam and Spam Musubi at http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Spam.htm.

Foreigners

My friend, GJB, who I used to teach with in Japan and I haven't seen in 3 years came to visit for the Labor day holiday. He's British and asked me why do we celebrate Labor day...so why do we celebrate Labor day and does anyone really labor on that day? I try to avoid all labor at all times.

We had a fun visit. It's always good to catch up with him and reminisce about our years in Japan. His memory for people and things is so much better than mine! I think because of moving so much while growing up, I tend to wipe the slate clean and start over in each place.

I'm tired though from his visit. We were busy! Thursday night, dinner with friends. Friday night, minor league baseball game (fun!), Saturday the zoo (lame!), Sunday lunch and hung out with more friends (fun!) and Monday shopping and watched DVDs (fun!). I'm not used to having anyone around for that long. He always jokes that I can stand him for more than 4 days, hell, I can't stand anyone for more than 4 days! Clearly the reason I'm still single. Well, that and the chubby factor. Speaking of which, (tangent warning), so idiot fancy pants degree person actually received funding to do a study to find out that gee...men only look for attractive mates and women don't. Didn't know you needed to do some big study to figure that one out! Ridiculous!

Back to GJB - People tend to find him fascinating as he only works enough to save up money to go on holiday. He's been to practically every country in the world and I'm not joking. He's moving back to his parents home to attend an MBA program in their town to then try to get a job as an ex-pat in either Singapore or Korea, just so he can continue to try to save up money to go on holiday.

Here I sit, day in day out, like a hamster on a wheel...work, school. Work, school. Then, when I graduate it will be worse...just work again. I need to win the lottery.

I started tennis lessons again tonight and got moved up to the "advanced beginners". Tonight was lame. We worked on fundamentals - I just want to play! Fundamentals, schmundamentals - boo! I hope Thursday night will be more fun. I'll probably get demoted to the "beginner beginners"...