Progress

We are working our way downstairs. The upstairs hall, the staircase and living room are all painted, and crown molded now, and the entry hall has a new light. We also had the ceiling wood beams painted white since the walls are now beige. It looks so good! The pics don't do it justice. Furnishing the living room, however, is going to have to wait. We bought a leather couch and some cool wooden boxes to store stuff in, but that's about it. We are not looking forward to having the kitchen and family room done now, which is next, because it will be hard to live during the reconstruction. We are going to have to eat out every night! Funny thing happened. Upon tearing down the wood paneling from the bar (egads!), it uncovered what has to be the most hilarious wallpaper EVER. I remember it from my childhood, but holy GOD, it's awful, isn't it? LOL! I kind of love it at the same time. Brings back good memories.

By the way, you all crack me up. My emails of late are like, "What good thing?", "Is it a man, did you meet someone?", "Did you win the lottery?", "Oh, come on, tell us!"

Yes, I met someone, and yes, I am walking on clouds right now. He blows all the other ones out of the water so far. That's all I'm saying for now.

Yummy Lunch

Rotisserie chicken with avocado, vine tomatoes, Swiss cheese, spinach and aioli sauce on a 9-grain roll, accompanied by a spring mix with sweet vinaigrette. I eat well these days! Gotta love those California avocados! Yes, my lunch is important. Everyone wants to know what I had for lunch, including you. I will never regret posting food pics, and will probably never stop, so get over it.

I have some news, I think, but I'm going to wait a bit to talk about it cuz I don't wanna jinx it.

I Come By It Honestly

My mom and I went to dinner and splurged on steak and lobster. YUM! We both had a glass of wine with dinner. Afterward, I was driving us home and my mother was whining about going to the lamp store, which I did not feel like doing at 9 pm at night. (Also, my rule is no drinking and shopping. LOL!) As I passed the store, she shrieks this, "Right lane, right lane!" I told her we weren't doing that tonight. Then I hear: "Fuck, Shit, Piss!" Now, you may think that is just vulgar, but you have to picture the situation. My 105-pound senior citizen mother sitting in the passenger seat shouting an interesting string of obscenities because I wouldn't take her to the lamp store. Truly, it was FUNNY AS HELL. So, to calm her down, I made Grasshoppers for dessert. :-)

Storm Swimming

So I did something really cool the other night; albeit a little dangerous. We were having a thunder and lightning storm with rain, and I cranked the pool heat up and went swimming. It was probably the best thing I've done in awhile. I fixed the pool light recently, and when I turned it on, the pool glowed and I watched the rain splash and create glittery bubbles. It was so beautiful! I floated on my back and watched the show while the rain fell on my face. I know I'm a little crazy, but sometimes the best things in life require risk.

Stuff & Things

Wow, busy week. Taxes are done, got an offer on the house (way too low, though), and work is nuts. Texas trip got pushed to April due to work stuff, but we have been discussing the details and it sounds fun! We are going to spend time at Lake Travis, lunch at the University where Mario graduated (Texas State) and maybe even a drive down to the Riverwalk in San Antonio. My friends at work are now talking about a day trip to Magic Mt. Holy crap, I can handle Disneyland, but I may be too old for those kinds of G-forces! They will make me go however, so, YIKES.

Not sure what I am doing today, but hooray for the 3-day weekend! It is stormy here right now so outside activities are squelched, but maybe I will catch up on my sleep.

Sad?

I'm a little sad tonight. I'm not even sure exactly why. I don't have anything to be sad about. I have this great job that has really blossomed over the last year, I live in what used to be my vacation home that I love, I have great friends and family around me, and I no longer have the same stresses over money and whatnot. It has also been my own decision not to date; at least for a while. So why I am I sad? Good question.

I often think about things I can't do anything about. I'm not talking about my ex or any old boyfriends, or any bad things that have happened in my life, I mean about some obscure things that have somehow affected me profoundly without an explanation of why they affected me so much. Things that I should have forgotten by now, but haven't. Have you ever crossed paths with someone whom for whatever reason was only in your life for a brief second, but you can't forget about them? I have a sketchy at best recollection of some major events in my life, so how do I remember every detail of something so seemingly insignificant? This kind of thing perplexes me. Why do some details of your life stand out over others? I still do believe things happen for a reason; not in a way that suggests life is pre-planned, but in a way that if something that should be fleeting or just another day becomes so profound for you that it becomes part of who you are, it MUST have a purpose to it.

There is something I write down every day. A little bit of information I jot down on a small white notepad every. single. day. I keep it with me at all times. I never forget to do it. It is THAT important to me. I've been doing it for awhile now; long enough that I have filled up many notepads. I guess you could say I am obsessive, but it doesn't run my life, it is just a part of my life now. The information I write down is information that comes to me every day. If that information ever stops coming to me, I'm not sure how I will react. Inevitably, it will some day, stop. I know that. I have quit trying to analyze why I do this, I've just accepted it. I look forward to it. There is only one other person in the whole world that would probably be interested in this information besides myself. Actually, they would probably be more interested in why I keep it more than what it is. The information is nothing special. If I died tomorrow, the notepads would be of no use to anyone. Evidence suggests this person has been affected by me as well, in a way that I'm sure makes no sense to them either.

Life is strange. It can be ugly, it can be beautiful, and yes, it can also be very, very strange.

She's funny, that one.

My mom says some pretty funny things.

Mom: I'm cold, it's freezing!!
Me: Ma, it's 70 degrees outside.
Mom: Well, I have no thermalation!

Thermalation??

Cookbooks, A Drink, and Me

Playing with the Nikon

My Weird, Boring, Wonderful Life

Sometimes I think I have it all figured out, and then some days I wake up and the first thought in my head about my life is "WTF"?

I didn't get home from work until midnight last night. There was a crisis I had to deal with and was given a seemingly impossible deadline. But I made it! Ha! While everyone else was arguing, I just did it. I came home and it took several hours to come down off the stress. This morning I had a headache because all the stress settles in my shoulders and neck. I need a massage badly, but I'm not paying 80 bucks an hour. I'm still sick, too. It is just a stupid cold, but it robs me of energy.

I don't know what I'm going to do today. I'm going through my cookbooks. Damn! I have a lot of them! I want to get a bookshelf for downstairs near the kitchen because I forget about them up here. My mom wants to go down to Laguna Beach, and Cath is coming down at 1 pm. Oh crap! I better go get dressed.

Sick AGAIN!

I also ripped a fingernail off. OUCH. I can't even begin to tell you how much that hurts, and it is now painful to type as well. My nose is running, I'm sneezing, my head is pounding and my jaw hurts. Don't know why my jaw hurts. Since I've moved to Cali, I've been sick FIVE times. You would think moving to a nice, sunny warm climate that I would be sick LESS. But nooooo. My boss has the same thing and the director has strep throat. We're in terrific shape. I stayed home today but was constantly answering calls and texts. They can't live without me. Sheesh.

UUUFF! Louie just jumped up in my lap, spilled my water and planted his ass on the keyboard. Now Maggie is barking. Gotta love dogs. LOL.

Guess who is going to Texas!

Last night my friend Mario, his best friend Arthur and his roommate Jodi, all called me up and invited me on a little vacation with them. Mario used to live in Austin, Texas and wants us all to go with him for a visit at the end of March. I was flattered that they invited me, they said, "You HAVE to go, you are so fun!" So, I'm going. I've never been to Texas, and Mario knows all the fun places in Austin, so this should be an adventure! It is cool to have something to look forward to. I will be buying my plane ticket next week. Stay tuned!

ANGRY BIRDS

OH. MY. GOD

This is the best game EVER! At first, I wasn't that interested in some stupid little computer game, then I played it.

2 hours later, I am a full-blown addict. TRUST ME. The sound effects make me giggle, too. I will be dreaming about little pig heads in military helmets. My mom and Cath (who is to blame for my addiction) just laughed at me acting like a crazed hyena while playing it on the iPad.

Turtle Dog

My dog thinks he's a turtle.

Funnies

Roasted Pineapple & Habanero Dip

Okay, I confess I love Brussel Sprouts. YUM. Made them with garlic, olive oil and spices. Then I made Pork Tenderloin topped with the pineapple habanero sauce that I got from a store by Knott's Berry Farm.

Doesn't Get Any More Random Than This

I have purposely not been dating since I broke up with Paul, but I have to laugh at some of the profiles of the guys who have emailed me from online dating sites. One guy is looking for a woman who has never been married, is super fit and wants to have lots of kids. Did this guy even READ my profile? Next, some moron has this in his description, "I am a very, very handsome guy and I am great with women." Um, maybe he should add that he is also very humble and most likely a man-whore. And then there is this guy, "I am a 25-year-old guy in a 50-year-old guy's body", to which I responded, "I am a super model inside of a pudgy girl." Seriously guys? So, any other questions on why I am retired from dating?

I LOVE my new Nikon D90, hence the random pictures of my beloved pool, my Bolognese sauce, and my K-cup coffee.

Poor Lou-dog is having a hard time. The vet determined that somewhere along the line he had a stroke, and now he has these little seizures. It breaks my heart into a million pieces. He isn't in any pain that they can tell, but the little guy is a mess and sleeps most of the time now. I just hug on him and love him as much as I can.

Worth Every Penny

There is nothing better than coming home and going for a refreshing swim. Been doing laps and I'm discovering muscles I didn't know I had. Some people run, some people do yoga, I swim. I'm sure you must be sick of me talking about it, but tonight as I was drying off, I realized my life wasn't so bad. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I was smiling when no one was looking.

Swimming in Winter

The pool is swimmable now! Hooray! I have some new gear too, for laps.

More Chico's

Goofing around and showing off my new Chico's necklace. They had a 40% off sale which makes it more affordable for me since I just dropped a load on the pool heater.