10 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED SINCE LAST POST

1.       2013 is supposed to be my year. Or so my cousin says. I don’t believe her.

2.       Avocados are toxic to dogs AND cats. Do not give pets avocado. They can, however, have cucumbers.

3.       I still hate almost every song on my iPod.

4.       When I wash Murphy, I think I get more wet than him.

5.       Job searching sucks. Job searching with a time limit sucks even more.

6.       Do not mention the word “explode” to the Washington DC police as you pass through security for the Inauguration. They get quite touchy about that.

7.       Still need to learn how to be assertive without feeling like a bitch because situations sometimes require you to do this i.e. missing the bus back to PGH and being stranded in DC.

8.       Probably should not doubt strength and competency of the bow your boyfriend makes.

9.       Most definitely do not drink a bottle of wine and then shoot an arrow from said bow into your boyfriend’s face. He will get mad.

10.   I can update my blog by email. That took me long enough.

 

 

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September 1st

How did it get to be September already?

I really hate moving for many, many reasons. I feel like it ruined the summer. First it was worry and panic over finding a place. Then, the dates didn't really work out with moving in/moving out so more time, money, and stress. Of course, the gas company cannot make anything easy. Why would they do that?

I'm just really looking forward to fall. I get to see some of you guys! Maybe go on a small weekend getaway. Job search. Start new classes. Get my dog back. Temperatures become normal again. Ikea trips.

You make Danzing want to speak Spanish

Can I gush for just a moment?

-I love that we stayed up to 4 am watching any and all Shakira music videos we could find on YouTube.
-Whenever I hear our song it turns me into a giant pile of mush.

Okay, I'm done.

So I got a promotion and raise at work. The promotion doesn't come with any additional responsibilities as I assumed those responsibilities months ago. I just now have the title and get a few extra dollars an hour. I think they mostly did it to make sure I didn't leave for any of the other title companies in the area like the majority of my former coworkers. Whatever their motives, it is nice to be appreciated so I'm going with it. That said, I still hate my job.

On New Years Day, we painted our attic blue. We started out wanting navy blue but I was scared that it would be too dark. So we ended up with a blue entitled Corsair that was a wee bit lighter. After spending all day painting and watching the complete series of Daria (a Christmas present), I realized it is Tardis blue. It looks like the police box threw up all over the walls. Oh well...we are getting a police box sign for the door.

I really need to go to a good concert. Something unabashedly corny and awesome, like the Spice Girls. I think we should make a girl's weekend of it. PS we have an open invitation to NYC with free lodging in Brooklyn. Let's do it! Pleaseeeeeeeee?

Smorgasbord of thought...

1. I am truly thankful for all of you! To me Thanksgiving is about celebrating the family you've acquired over the years. It might not always be the people who are related to you by blood but the people who you actually like being around. So to all of you, I love and miss you!!! Hope you have a relaxing day filed with calm and yummy foods!
2. So Murphy has heartworms. It's something we knew we when adopted him from the pound but I was just so excited that they were finally releasing him after he beat kennel cough that I didn't even think about it. However, we're just about to start the real treatment after months of preventative medicine and antibiotics. I'm scared. I keep reading all this stuff on the internet about how a high percentage of dogs don't even survive the treatment. And he has to get shots of arsenic and be in his cage for two months. Ahhhhhhh......it's terrifying. But he's young and strong and I don't think the vet would put him through this all if she didn't think he'd survive. So we just have to be positive!! (PS I don't know how parents go through stuff like this with kids, gah!)
3. I have my own kitten. His name is Voodoo Ben Franklin Phil Collins. For short I call him Voodoo. He's adorable and stripped and has a bunch of thumbs. I can't believe I have my own kitten. It's bizarre. That's a picture of Murphy and Voodoo below. They are best friends and snuggle together.

1. The dress I wanted for Christmas has sold out. Quelle surprise! So I have now decided anyone of these shall do especially the ones with sequins. 
2. Should I be concerned that when I sent Wombat this link for our trip to Portland, he sent back this link?

4 weeks of overtime

Just completed my fourth continuous week of overtime.

• It included 2 Saturdays.
• I've been made a secret team leader for the project we've been working on. It's a project for another department so why they can't have someone be in charge, I don't know.
• It doesn't come with a raise. (I asked)
• I miss having a lunch hour.
• I miss leaving work when the sun is still out.
• Team leader is really just another word for babysitter.
• My director just realized she didn't get me a birthday card. I told her not to worry. It was a theme this year.
• I just realized my department is run by Mean Girls. I'm sad that they all make more than me.

All in all, I would really enjoy some fondue and pumpkin pie margaritas are delicious.

Window shopping

Found my Christmas dress. Now just need to wait for it to go on sale, like 95% off should do the trick?

Anyone else obsessed with Impulse by Karl Lagerfeld at Macy's? I want it all. I'm incredibly jealous of Pomme's discount right now. Though, the model in their campaign scares me a bit.

Also, I really wanted to get some pieces from the Missoni collection at Target. But now I'm scared I wasn't fast enough and it'll be all picked over by people who are price gauging it on Ebay. Sad times.

Bocce

On Sundays, I drive Wombat to work. I take the long way past the community park and there, on the other side of the tennis courts across the street from the little league baseball fields, is a bocce ball court. Every time like clockwork, there is a group of little old men playing a game. One of them brings a boom box that plays classic Italian songs (except for last week when it was playing a weird mash up of Italian love songs and French techno). I always try to hit the red light so I can soak it all in because for that brief moment I feel like I'm back in Italy. By the time I drive back through about 15 minutes later, they are all gone.

It's my favorite moment of the week.

Dumb luck?

Am I dumb because I left my keys in the ignition which caused the battery to die twice this week?

-or-

Am I lucky because I left my keys in the ignition with the doors unlocked twice this week and no one stole my car?

Oh, and I went to warm up my lasagna at work and when I came back upstairs they had laid off everyone I had been hired with and about a third of the company. I'm scared to take lunch now.

Sibset

Someone come play the sibset game* with me over at youcan'tcallitit.com because my boyfriend is lame and wont do it with me. Please!!!!!


*The way some of the names are spelled terrify me.

Pinterest

I started a Pinterest account today and it is inspiration overload. I love it. If only, I was actually crafty.

This weekend will spent with my family who has descended upon my fair city. We will shop, eat, drink, party and laugh. I can't lie. I'll spending most of my time worried that every one thinks I'm fat. My grandma did ask if I was pregnant last time I saw her. I wish I didn't have to spend it with my extended and I could just hang out with my immediate family.

Hope you all have a Fourth of July full of fireworks!

Conflict Kitchen

I want to eat here.

These Old Shoes

I finally got my laptop repaired. It's been about six months without it and I've missed it so.

I bit the bullet and left my parent's cell phone plan. Same number, same phone for the moment but it's up to me to pay the bill now. I thought this means I'm officially not financially tied to them anymore but I just realized I'm still on their insurance until August when my benefits through work kick in.

So I'll wait out the next few weeks and then I think I'm officially an adult??

- - - - -

I think I've officially been away too long as blogger took a hell of a long time to log in just now.

I came across these cinemagraphs and thought they were really cool so I wanted to share them.

But then I thought why don't I just move the blog to wordpress right now or start a tumblr or something. However, per my conversation with Pomme, I am not starting anything new until I have found a distinct purpose for it. Like a food blog, or road trip blog, or something like that.

So for now, I'll just randomly pop up with stuff until I can find someway to focus my time.

#310

So I wrote you all Christmas Cards. Very beautiful and nice Christmas cards. And I was drunk while doing it so who knows if I spelled things correctly. But anyway, I then took the cards and shoved them in a purse. A week later I found them and in an attempt to force myself to finish addressing them, I put stamps on all of the envelopes. My next step was shoving them back in the purse, still unaddressed. I discovered them today. My options are now A) send them out almost 2 weeks after Christmas, B) save them for next year and be super awesome by already crossing something off of my 2011 Christmas to-do list or C) use the envelopes to send you guys some other kind of holiday card such as St. Patrick's Day or Valentine's Day or Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friends Day because postage is probably going to go up by next Christmas. We'll see what I actually get my lazy ass to do.

This previous summer, I was trapped in a freak sudden horrible rainstorm on my way back from work. I had shoved by iPod in the outside pocket of a backpack instead of putting it in a water safe pocket because I'm really smart like that. Once making it home, I discovered it had been sitting in a puddle of water. But I was late for something and still soaking wet so I just left it on top of a bookcase and ran away because denial is always the best course for wet electronics. Since then, the battery life has shrunk and it frequently runs out of juice. When this happens, the time and date reset to December 31, 1969, every single time. So obviously this means that in the near future I get to time travel and I go back to 1969 where I get into all sorts of trouble. Thus forcing myself to figure out how to send a message to current me via my poor mentally retard iPod Touch. It totally makes sense.

#309

Not having internet and cable at home is strange. Weird in that I don't miss cable at all. I just sub in other activities for the time spent being a couch potato. I do miss internet and it drives me crazy not having it. Though the crazy is getting smaller and smaller. So who knows, maybe some day I wont miss it at all?

Since I have to go to public places to use the internet, I've learned some things.
1) old men feel 100% comfortable just plopping down at my table and starting a conversation even though I have no interest in them. They just talk and talk while I keep my focus on the computer. It's really awkward.
2) groups of women who get together to chat over coffee are super annoying. They are loud and talk about themselves incessantly. The topics of conversation are usually super self indulgent and about crazy things such as silver cavity fillings or buying bottles of wine for waiters because they should know what the wine tastes like in case customers ask.
3) I like not living in the immediate city but I hate suburban white women. They are so whiny and really suck at driving.

Snow flurries have started in PGH. The people out here already can't drive. Adding in snow is major and causes them to use their brakes about 99.9% of the time. Going up hill, going down hill, turning requires a complete stop now. I miss being able to drive to work but I don't miss living in Squill.

I'm making my mom's Christmas present and I'm super nervous about it. But I always get nervous about gift giving for that woman so I shouldn't be too surprised. Speaking of my mom, she's still not over me moving in with Wombat. The passive aggressive swiping and pawning her issues off on other people is not appreciated. I wish she'd get over it. The rest of my immediate family seems just fine with it. Who knows about the extended family? But I don't really care about them.

#308

• Today turned into a cell phone free day as I lost the phone or left it at home or something. Whatever I did, I don't have it with me and it's nice.
• Looked in my closet for appropriate outfit for Frances' wedding. Have determined nothing is right but have no money to buy something new. I'll have to go all project runway with my sewing kit and make something fabulous myself. Or just wear a sheet.
  
• After spending almost $100 tuning up my car, I brilliantly drove with the emergency brake and ruined the rear brakes. Something I didn't quite realize until I was trying to stop before smashing into a delivery truck. Lessons learned: 1)don't drive with the e brake on, 2)pump the brakes when they stop working, it slows you down, 3)Wombat is quite handy with fixing cars when I destroy them
• Wombat said he'd buy me a convertible. I'd just have to rebuild the engine myself. That can't be too hard right?
  

#307

I think I shall make Sundays cell phone free days. I kinda like not being tied to my phone for just one day. It's a bit freeing but I bet it'll never last.

I just looked up the weather in Raleigh and it's supposed to be in the 90s when we're there. Ugh! I'm really into fall and wearing all of my fall clothes. I don't want to pull the sundresses and shorts back out of storage. I also don't want to drive through West Virginia for a majority of the trip. I'm trying to convince him to let us drive through Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia instead. I think it'll be better that way. I'm excited for the trip but I can't lie, I'm a little nervous about it.

I've lost count as I don't actually visit my blog anymore, FAIL

I slept walked (sleep walked?) the other night. It was totally creepy, like I could feel myself doing it and couldn't stop it. Not a huge fan of that at all.

I went back to 80's night after taking a four months off. While I don't think it'll become a weekly thing again, it was nice to get out and dance.

The house is still in boxes. It's sad. I have no energy or motivation to unpack. I should really get on that as last night I invited his coworkers over for fondue. That's right, I'm breaking out the fondue pot from it's years long hiatus. CHEEESEEEEEE

I'm excited for fall just like Pomme. I think this season has the best fashion and I totally feel my cutest in the cardigans. I really want to get a pumpkin this year. We have the perfect front porch for it.

Life is in no way perfect. Things are all jumbled and in some ways messed up. But I'm ridiculously happy. I know it's cheesy and sappy and lame and I'd been fighting it for a long time. It's really nice. Okay, that's all I'll say, promise.

#305

It started on vacation and has continued once I returned to real life. I'm only getting 5 hours of sleep a night. I feel like crap. I look like crap. Everyone tells me I look tired. I am tired. I go to bed exhausted. I wake up exhausted. I miss sleeping.
Also, I think I've run out of internet. I can't think of anything else I want to look up or explore. So basically I just refresh facebook all day long. Ohhhh this is sad.

#304

I am successfully moved into the Full House. It was an adventure with lots of rushing around and improvising but it's done. Yay! It feels so good to be out of Squirrel Hill. I really started to loathe that neighborhood near the end. But who knows, maybe I'll be back?

I am awake after only 5 hours of sleep. I feel like I was hit by a truck and I couldn't figure out why. Then I remember we went to the bar to celebrate after moving. I had two whole beers which normally wouldn't make me feel this way but I guess after not eating a whole lot yesterday it was enough.

We were sitting outside the bar last night, drinking in the night air, when a guy I've only met a few times who never ever remembers me asked if I was hungry. Ummm, yeah I was starving. He disappeared and returned a few minutes later with a hot dog and a box of chicken wings. They were the most delicious things ever.

I also ate at a Chick-fil-A. I'm sad that my dislike of chicken has led me to never try this place. I found it actually pretty delicious and they have waffle fries. I'm a sucker for anyplace that has waffle fries. The only weird thing about this place is it is closed on Sundays. A bit like Hobby Lobby.

Ohhhhhhhh, I got a road bike yesterday. It is a Bianchi. I've always wanted a Bianchi. It'll probably be my only Italian made method of transportation ever. It feel off of a bike rack and somersaulted down the highway so somethings need to be fixed but then it'll be fully functional. I am surprised to admit it but this biking thing is kind of addictive.