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.

Remodel Hell

Holy crap the house is ripped up every which way from Sunday. We have 6 guys here, three inside and three outside. The dogs are going apeshit.

Chores Galore

Time to get some work done. Just swabbed the deck like a pirate, gotta give the dogs a bath, organize my shoes on my new shoe rack and do the laundry. Ug. After that I think I will lay in the sun with a good book. Barbequing kabobs tonight, then my new pool heater goes in tomorrow!  Yay!

D-Land with Mario & Sheila

Who needs work when you can ride the Matterhorn!

Friends Mario and Sheila on the Matterhorn. This is way better than working. It's good to be the boss!

Alive and well at D-land!

Surgery went good and now I'm spending the day at Disneyland with my friend Mario. This is great, it is hot and the park is empty!  Woohoo!  Pics later.  On my way to Tower of Terror.

Surgery!

I am having my surgery tomorrow, and I'm off work until next Wednesday.

Cali in Winter

I love that it is 85 degrees in JANUARY. My friends back home hate me.  The dogs are loving it too. I went to a karaoke bar last night with my two moms to hear our friend Al sing. I haven't been to a bar in years, and I don't think I've EVER been in one with my mom. LOL. He was amazing, he drew quite a crowd. Going to enjoy the sun today.

Dinner, Coffee and Roots

Me and my dark roots made baked chicken parmesan for din-din and now I'm kicking back drinking a cup of coffee out of my new Keurig coffee maker that I scored at Christmas. Actually, it's a Cuisinart which is better than the Keurig. Nothing real exciting going on.

Remodeling, Master Bath

The new walls look pink in the pictures, but really they are a beige-y peach. It has been fun getting rid of all the wallpaper and popcorn ceilings everywhere.

Remodeling, Guest Bath

Will still be putting tile flooring down and getting a new toilet, so still a work in progress.

Remodeling, Master Bedroom & Guest Bedroom

Remodeling, My Bedroom

Over the last 6 months we have been slowly remodeling the house. We aren't even CLOSE to finishing, but I wanted to post some before and after progress. My bedroom was first, then the guest bedroom, office, master bedroom and bath, and my bathroom. We are still going to tile my bathroom and get a new toilet, but haven't gotten to it quite yet, and the office is still too messy to show. The entire house has electrical and plumbing issues, so it has been real fun. We have also done the garage and a few things downstairs, but I want to wait to take pics until it has progressed a little further. My grandparents had not done any redecorating since the 70's, so the changes are pretty drastic. LOL! I can't WAIT until we get to the kitchen and back yard! I love my red wall, and just so you know, it is NOT an 'angry' wall, it is the 'blood of Jesus' wall, K?

My Mother

When she isn't making me nuts, my mother is quite entertaining. We went to dinner tonight, and we split the bill. We were both paying cash, but I needed change so I asked her if she could break a 20. She replied "No, I just have a bunch of tens." I don't know if it was the look on my face or me saying, "OK, well how about I trade you this 20 for two of your 10's then?" that made her bust up into laughter and realize what she said. It has been an hour and she is still laughing. Crazy woman. LOL!

Back to Work

So I've thrust myself back into work after 11 days off. I like the structure believe it or not. BUT come January 20th, we are doing a software migration for two weeks and I won't have a thing to do. My boss suggested taking some of my vacation time since I've maxed out my vacation accrual. Frick. We don't get our bonuses until Jan 31st of course, so doing anything interesting is out. It is a shame because my bonus is quite substantial this year. A few things I'm doing is getting a pool heater and a Tempur-Pedic mattress.  Tired of my back hurting. The rest is going in the bank. I won't know how to act with a savings account.  If I ever sell my house, I might be able to salvage retirement before I'm 100.