OK, call me a fool. I watched the Bachelorette. For those of you who have a real life, on this reality tv show Jen had a group of men to date, which she whittled down one by one. The show usually ends with a proposal, over-the-top romance, mush, etc. She was down to 2 remaining men tonight, and we all tuned in to see who she would choose.
She said no to both. Thanks for playing, this is terribly awkward, but no, I won't marry YOU, and no, I won't marry you. Oh my god, we're on live tv, and I'm so sorry, but.... no.
She wasn't very good at articulating why, which was pretty maddening to some, including the host. However, I think I understand.
There is a moment that you feel "this is the person I am meant to be with." I had that moment when my husband put his arm around me, with his hand barely resting on my back, and he kissed me goodnight on our first date. I just knew. It was very small, but definite. However, it wasn't an "I can see myself with this man when I am old and gray". (Yes I am technically gray now, but shut up, that is not the point here. ) No firewords. Just a "hey, this is nice, I think this could work out" feeling. I ran with it. I was tired of being single, I had a nice man who made me laugh and treated me nicely and wanted to make a life with me, so I said "what the heck, let's give it a shot. " Irreverent and hopelessly foolish? Perhaps. Fifteen years and two adorable kids later I'd have to say "yup... but it was a good call".
I think as much as Jen wanted to have that kind of certainty, that Trista Rehn "When I look at you, I see babies and blah blah blah...." Jen never had that feeling about John Paul, and she only got a bit closer with Jerry. (As my geometry teacher used to say, close only counts in dancing and hand grenades. I told you about him in another post way back when I started writing - before Erik and his friends corrupted me. Ha, ha! Kidding. It was my Serious Phase.)
Jen is looking for a PERFECT relationship. ("He has to be the kind of man that I can bring home to my family, and I have to love his family, and I have to love his job and the life he has built for himself but he has to be willing to give that life up on my whim. He has to be my rock and be someone I can be sure of but I need to feel butterflies around him. He can't be too predictable but I want to know what he's thinking. I have to be SURE that we'll be happy together...")
Are you following me yet? I hate to tell her but I don't think the relationship she is looking for exists. What she wants is perfection. Certainty. There is a reason why wedding vows have all of those good things AND all of those bad things spelled out. Life is imperfect and messy and uncertain.
You get married as the ultimate "alliance"... whatever crap happens, we'll promise to stay together and to try to figure it out together. Along the way I will stick with you even though you annoy me by doing x, y, and z. I will in turn annoy you right back and resent the hell out of you if you try to box me in and prevent me from doing the annoying things that I do. There will be issues we can't resolve with a neat tidy bow on the day that they arise so that we can keep a foolish little vow to "never go to bed angry". (Do people really give advice like that with a straight face? )
I had two different people today basically tell me that their spouse is being a pain. My spouse has so far escaped annoying me today, but on many a day we clash. I do believe that we are each happily married, overall.
Marriage isn't made in the courtship. It's the day in and day out choice to stay together, work on things, and hope for the best. Jen doesn't want to "settle". It's not "settling" if you choose to stay with someone even though you can see their flaws. Everyone's got flaws.
Jen needs to really DO what she said she wanted to do, let her guard down, take a chance, and make a go of it. Take the good with the bad and accept that she is not going to find "her perfect match". Until she can do that she WILL be alone.
Monday, February 28, 2005
I had the wierdest dream last night...
I dreamt that I was trying to watch the Oscars... (I love the Oscars!! The clothes! The stars!)
Billy Crystal wasn't there to sing about the movies... Robin Williams was there and he wasn't funny, he told a joke about Donald Duck I heard in 8th grade... what have you done with my Funniest Man Alive?
Chris Rock WAS there, and kept saying "ass", and he did this weird skit at a movie theater, basically saying that black people aren't smart enough to go to any of the nominated movies...WTF??
(Don't you think Jack Nicholson should host the Oscars?? Mr. Carly and I do...)
Beyonce kept singing different songs. (Couldn't they afford more than one singer?) Each song was worse and each dress got uglier...I don't know how she changed her clothes AND makeup so quickly and is that her real hair?
Prince was on...don't ask me why...
Worst looking actress... Renee Zellweger... hair too dark, top of dress just awful. Close runner up, Melanie Griffith, for her saggy gray paisley and her husband's pony tail
Hilary Swank had her dress on backwards...what? Oh, my bad.
If you know that I have an ongoing issue with Clint Eastwood's clothing, I have to say he looked OK. However as soon as I said that, Mr C said that his jacket wasn't altered right and was gappng at the collar. He wins. Million Dollar Baby, $100 tux.
By the way, is Julia Roberts nursing her twins? Wow?
Virginia Madsen looked nice but once again Gwyneth looked bad... very bad...
Wierd....
PS: Best outfit... the young actress Emmy Rossum (look at the back too) from Phantom of the opera...an amazing dress, excellent necklace too.
Billy Crystal wasn't there to sing about the movies... Robin Williams was there and he wasn't funny, he told a joke about Donald Duck I heard in 8th grade... what have you done with my Funniest Man Alive?
Chris Rock WAS there, and kept saying "ass", and he did this weird skit at a movie theater, basically saying that black people aren't smart enough to go to any of the nominated movies...WTF??
(Don't you think Jack Nicholson should host the Oscars?? Mr. Carly and I do...)
Beyonce kept singing different songs. (Couldn't they afford more than one singer?) Each song was worse and each dress got uglier...I don't know how she changed her clothes AND makeup so quickly and is that her real hair?
Prince was on...don't ask me why...
Worst looking actress... Renee Zellweger... hair too dark, top of dress just awful. Close runner up, Melanie Griffith, for her saggy gray paisley and her husband's pony tail
Hilary Swank had her dress on backwards...what? Oh, my bad.
If you know that I have an ongoing issue with Clint Eastwood's clothing, I have to say he looked OK. However as soon as I said that, Mr C said that his jacket wasn't altered right and was gappng at the collar. He wins. Million Dollar Baby, $100 tux.
By the way, is Julia Roberts nursing her twins? Wow?
Virginia Madsen looked nice but once again Gwyneth looked bad... very bad...
Wierd....
PS: Best outfit... the young actress Emmy Rossum (look at the back too) from Phantom of the opera...an amazing dress, excellent necklace too.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
The shirt off (my) back
Gap spokesperson and U.S. Fund for UNICEF ambassador Sarah Jessica Parker designed a limited edition Gap t-shirt to benefit UNICEF’s tsunami relief and recovery efforts. Available exclusively at www.gap.com for $20, the shirts sold out within a week. Gap is donating $100,000 from the sales to UNICEF's humanitarian aid programs in South Asia.
.
I bought one, and I love it. It's comfortable and I look JUST like her in it. (Badump-bump) Seriously though, nice shirt.
.I bought one, and I love it. It's comfortable and I look JUST like her in it. (Badump-bump) Seriously though, nice shirt.
How I started my day
I found this note from my son... next to 3 boxes of cereal (to choose from), a bowl, and a glass of OJ.
The smiley face is winking, and if you make fun of his spelling I will hunt you down and leave a My Little Pony head in your bed. ( Johnny needs some serious counseling).
Friday, February 25, 2005
Good Meds & bad TV
Wednesday I called for a doctor appointment and was told to come at 5:00 Thursday. OK. Made Mr. C come home early to stay with the kids, which was good because I waited an hour and a half. I didn't think it would be that long because after only about 15 minutes the nurse took my temp (actually she waved that thing NEAR my ear, barely touched it, didn't look at it, and wrote down 98.6.... I am never really THAT warm...) You know you really are sick when the nurse tells you that you look terrible.
There was a guy in the waiting room who reeked of cigarettes, which was just setting off my cough reflex over and over. There was a woman in really ugly clogs who limped in when it was her turn and I heard her say before the door closed "My feet hurt so much." It's the shoes, woman. I don't need to go to med school to solve that mystery.
So when I finally got to see Dr. he cheerfully explained that he stays late Tuesday and Thursday and lets all of the "sick people" come after 5. Hmmm. Fascinating. I hacked in his waiting room for an hour and a half. Mind you I live about 3 blocks away so if the nurse had said "Come at 6:10" I would have been fine with that.
I love my doctor... well not THAT way but maybe if given the chance... as I have said previously he is funny and smart and has always effectively treated our problems. I am already feeling slighty better, except my ribs are starting to ache from trying in vain to expel the alien. I now feel like someone is standing on my face, rather than stomping and grinding the heel of a workboot into my right eyesocket. Lots of pressure in the sinuses. Waaah! Doc gave me decongestant that won't make my heart pound AND he gave me antibiotics I only need to take once a day.
Short hits - Apprentice .... I, I, I am fired? No one TOLD ME there were other scenes? Buh bye. Stephanie's father owns a plane? Not coherent enough to pick up on what was said about that but I covet her beautiful hair.
And for stunning contrast, on Survivor... that girl with the tatoos is SO gross. Why can't she keep her shirt on, not to mention her shorts? Just that little fuzzy digitized blob over her ill fitting tacky red bra makes me want to lose what little food I managed to put down. The bottoms are ten thousand times worse, and then when she raised her arm and showed her COMPLETELY unshaved underarm, my entire little family screamed "Ewwww!" in unison. Someone should tell her she isn't bikini material. I have this sinking feeling that she is going to be in the show for a long time, because the producer already focused on how she feels like an outsider, she is redeeming herself by performing well in the challenges, etc. Oh, the horror.
Yesterday I saw all sorts of truly bad TV. Tony Danza sings this really dorky thing on his talk show, about being optimistic. Apparently he does this often because the crowd sings along. (He clearly hasn't seen Angie on Survivor. There is no hope for a good side there.) Click.
Suzanne Summers marketing really ugly clothes. Leather! :::shudder::: Click.
The chick who played Anna Scorpio trying to sell an abs workout machine. Canned dialogue about how hard it is to keep your figure after pregnancy, from someone who is about a size six. Smack. Click.
The most horrifying use of my Time Warner fee:
Ambush Makeover... I kid you not. Your loving family or dearest friend submits a video saying that you're a freak and you need to be made over, and then a situation is staged where you are publicly humiliated by a rude person who then kidnaps you to do a makeover. I'd reach for the mace in my purse, frankly. Yeah, I know that you all know I do NOT carry mace because I'd probably manage to incapacitate MYSELF rather than anyone threatening me. Just go with it.
They re-did a 65 year old Vegas waitress to celebrate her retirement. She started with a three foot tall Dolly wig and spackle makeup. Oh, and really bad teeth accented by a mole that she covered with black eyeliner. I kid you not, I can't make this stuff up. Out of morbid curiousity I stayed to make sure that yes, she didn't look so bad when they finished with her. Then I shut off the tv.
Have a good weekend, kids!
There was a guy in the waiting room who reeked of cigarettes, which was just setting off my cough reflex over and over. There was a woman in really ugly clogs who limped in when it was her turn and I heard her say before the door closed "My feet hurt so much." It's the shoes, woman. I don't need to go to med school to solve that mystery.
So when I finally got to see Dr. he cheerfully explained that he stays late Tuesday and Thursday and lets all of the "sick people" come after 5. Hmmm. Fascinating. I hacked in his waiting room for an hour and a half. Mind you I live about 3 blocks away so if the nurse had said "Come at 6:10" I would have been fine with that.
I love my doctor... well not THAT way but maybe if given the chance... as I have said previously he is funny and smart and has always effectively treated our problems. I am already feeling slighty better, except my ribs are starting to ache from trying in vain to expel the alien. I now feel like someone is standing on my face, rather than stomping and grinding the heel of a workboot into my right eyesocket. Lots of pressure in the sinuses. Waaah! Doc gave me decongestant that won't make my heart pound AND he gave me antibiotics I only need to take once a day.
Short hits - Apprentice .... I, I, I am fired? No one TOLD ME there were other scenes? Buh bye. Stephanie's father owns a plane? Not coherent enough to pick up on what was said about that but I covet her beautiful hair.
And for stunning contrast, on Survivor... that girl with the tatoos is SO gross. Why can't she keep her shirt on, not to mention her shorts? Just that little fuzzy digitized blob over her ill fitting tacky red bra makes me want to lose what little food I managed to put down. The bottoms are ten thousand times worse, and then when she raised her arm and showed her COMPLETELY unshaved underarm, my entire little family screamed "Ewwww!" in unison. Someone should tell her she isn't bikini material. I have this sinking feeling that she is going to be in the show for a long time, because the producer already focused on how she feels like an outsider, she is redeeming herself by performing well in the challenges, etc. Oh, the horror.
Yesterday I saw all sorts of truly bad TV. Tony Danza sings this really dorky thing on his talk show, about being optimistic. Apparently he does this often because the crowd sings along. (He clearly hasn't seen Angie on Survivor. There is no hope for a good side there.) Click.
Suzanne Summers marketing really ugly clothes. Leather! :::shudder::: Click.
The chick who played Anna Scorpio trying to sell an abs workout machine. Canned dialogue about how hard it is to keep your figure after pregnancy, from someone who is about a size six. Smack. Click.
The most horrifying use of my Time Warner fee:
Ambush Makeover... I kid you not. Your loving family or dearest friend submits a video saying that you're a freak and you need to be made over, and then a situation is staged where you are publicly humiliated by a rude person who then kidnaps you to do a makeover. I'd reach for the mace in my purse, frankly. Yeah, I know that you all know I do NOT carry mace because I'd probably manage to incapacitate MYSELF rather than anyone threatening me. Just go with it.
They re-did a 65 year old Vegas waitress to celebrate her retirement. She started with a three foot tall Dolly wig and spackle makeup. Oh, and really bad teeth accented by a mole that she covered with black eyeliner. I kid you not, I can't make this stuff up. Out of morbid curiousity I stayed to make sure that yes, she didn't look so bad when they finished with her. Then I shut off the tv.
Have a good weekend, kids!
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Bleah
I am sick. There is an alien inside my skull and he is leaking slime. It's really gross and I'd apologize AGAIN to my coworkers for being at work hacking and coughing yesterday, but I think they lost interest in my blog because it's not as funny as Erik's or the others. Ehh. What can you do? It's one of those catch-22's, I was supposed to be off most of this week, so if I had called in sick Tuesday and Wednesday my boss would probably say "Oh, sure you're sick" - could you blame him?
There are all sorts of strange things that pass through your mind while you are sick.
For example, Barry Manilow is NOT an attractive man and he shouldn't ever dance. He was on Good Morning America today live from Vegas, and some of the women there WEPT while watching him. OK, get a grip now, ladies!! Apparently most of Barry's fans are old women with huge, er, frontal regions. Scary. That being said, I adore him anyway and would drop everything to go back to Vegas again to see him. He is kicking off a year's worth of performances there tonight. Seriously, let's go. Well, not today, I'm sick.
When I am sick I pretty much want to be left alone with my misery. This means I want to lie in bed with about 6 pillows, two crocheted afghans, a box of tissue, and the remote. Unless of course, my son comes to me with a tiny bear who just wants to sing to me "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear/Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair / So Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?" (you have no idea how hard that was to type in my incoherent state. I feel like I am DUI)
Example #2 - Is there any chance that Mel Gibson could become Pope ? No, I know. Never mind.
My ears itch. Inside. Like there are caterpillars down in there - I have this urge to jab a really sharp pencil in but somehow I know that would not be a Good Thing. Note, I am going to the doctor today to see if I have a sinus infection, or what... my doctor is pretty cool. He's smart AND he doesn't give me the heebie jeebies. He's pretty funny - he tells all of his interns about how D tried to pick off his own nipples once, because he is a boy and he didn't think he was supposed to have them. For real. He was about 3.
I am normally very into American Idol because it's something I can watch with my kids but this week I just could care less, perhaps because of the alien. I'll let you know next week. I'm going back to sleep.
There are all sorts of strange things that pass through your mind while you are sick.
For example, Barry Manilow is NOT an attractive man and he shouldn't ever dance. He was on Good Morning America today live from Vegas, and some of the women there WEPT while watching him. OK, get a grip now, ladies!! Apparently most of Barry's fans are old women with huge, er, frontal regions. Scary. That being said, I adore him anyway and would drop everything to go back to Vegas again to see him. He is kicking off a year's worth of performances there tonight. Seriously, let's go. Well, not today, I'm sick.
When I am sick I pretty much want to be left alone with my misery. This means I want to lie in bed with about 6 pillows, two crocheted afghans, a box of tissue, and the remote. Unless of course, my son comes to me with a tiny bear who just wants to sing to me "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear/Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair / So Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?" (you have no idea how hard that was to type in my incoherent state. I feel like I am DUI)
Example #2 - Is there any chance that Mel Gibson could become Pope ? No, I know. Never mind.
My ears itch. Inside. Like there are caterpillars down in there - I have this urge to jab a really sharp pencil in but somehow I know that would not be a Good Thing. Note, I am going to the doctor today to see if I have a sinus infection, or what... my doctor is pretty cool. He's smart AND he doesn't give me the heebie jeebies. He's pretty funny - he tells all of his interns about how D tried to pick off his own nipples once, because he is a boy and he didn't think he was supposed to have them. For real. He was about 3.
I am normally very into American Idol because it's something I can watch with my kids but this week I just could care less, perhaps because of the alien. I'll let you know next week. I'm going back to sleep.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Fabulous 40 of the Day
Happy Birthday to Kristin Davis who is the big 4-0. She of course played Charlotte York on Sex and the City.
Charlotte... what a great name... her character's first husband gave me one of my tag lines.... "Alrighty then", which my sister and I say to each other often.
Charlotte... what a great name... her character's first husband gave me one of my tag lines.... "Alrighty then", which my sister and I say to each other often.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Lesson Number One
A business analyst should never mess with her template.... because she will waste a couple of hours!!
Monday, February 21, 2005
Digi-Mom
Random web shopping suggestion: Cowgirl Chocolates - check it out. Spicy chocolate.
Well kids, I have finally leapt into the new millenium (only about 5 years behind everyone else....) Yesterday I bought a digital camera at Target. (In Clifton Pahhhk they say Tar-jayyyyyyhhhh as though it's in some FABULOUS subdivision. Whatever.)
I did rather extensive research (I read about half the ads in the Sunday paper.) The price was right, and so I went for it. I wanted to get it now to learn how to use it before a couple of upcoming family events. It's a 5 megapixel camera (you can adust the mode to take photos at various quality levels). I think it will be both easy enough for Mr. C to use AND contain enough bells & whistles to amuse Moi. Ha!
So now I have a WHOLE NEW way to goof off with the kids. Isn't that great? We've already shot a few action video clips that I can shame them with, when they begin dating. Mwahahahahaha.
Well kids, I have finally leapt into the new millenium (only about 5 years behind everyone else....) Yesterday I bought a digital camera at Target. (In Clifton Pahhhk they say Tar-jayyyyyyhhhh as though it's in some FABULOUS subdivision. Whatever.)
I did rather extensive research (I read about half the ads in the Sunday paper.) The price was right, and so I went for it. I wanted to get it now to learn how to use it before a couple of upcoming family events. It's a 5 megapixel camera (you can adust the mode to take photos at various quality levels). I think it will be both easy enough for Mr. C to use AND contain enough bells & whistles to amuse Moi. Ha!
So now I have a WHOLE NEW way to goof off with the kids. Isn't that great? We've already shot a few action video clips that I can shame them with, when they begin dating. Mwahahahahaha.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Babies
Fun article: "A baby speaks nonsense, but its handlers don't seem to notice. Sound like anyone you know? "
Ten ways that a baby is like a chief executive officer, by Stanley Bing.
I had a passing thought the other day about the tv show Supernanny. The common theme I've noticed is that in the families Jo visits, Mom is stressed out and Dad doesn't have a clue how to discipline his own children. He stands by passively while Mom loses her mind. I really believe that he WANTS to help, but has no clue how.
Ten ways that a baby is like a chief executive officer, by Stanley Bing.
I had a passing thought the other day about the tv show Supernanny. The common theme I've noticed is that in the families Jo visits, Mom is stressed out and Dad doesn't have a clue how to discipline his own children. He stands by passively while Mom loses her mind. I really believe that he WANTS to help, but has no clue how.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Washing the Dirty Monkey
Yes, that's been the highlight of my day so far. My son got a "TY" (aka beanie baby) monkey for Valentine's day and took it to school, where it got dropped all over and it was a mess. So we put him in the kitchen sink and gave him a Tide Mountain Spring bubble bath (and you all think I have NO LIFE....) It's pretty funny to hear a beanie baby talk. For future reference, they come out fine if you throw them in the dryer on a low setting with a towel and a fabric softener sheet.
Our school was actually closed today because so many kids and teachers are sick. (Great. I get to be home with my little darlings and wait for them to start getting sick.) We went to have lunch with Mr. C, who has been consulting at this company for a while - it looks like they may hire him (see me doing a happy dance?) At the diner the waitress was TOTALLY busting on my son. She put his food down and said "Dan would you leave me alone for five minutes now, please?" The look on his face was classic. Something like confusion and wondering "now what did I do?" but knowing that she was kidding at the same time. He wasn't even really sure how she knew his name.
Edit - So, you were looking for porn, from my title? Sorry Johnny, but there isn't much room for porn in parenthood. It gets crowded out by other things. That was pretty much my point!!
Our school was actually closed today because so many kids and teachers are sick. (Great. I get to be home with my little darlings and wait for them to start getting sick.) We went to have lunch with Mr. C, who has been consulting at this company for a while - it looks like they may hire him (see me doing a happy dance?) At the diner the waitress was TOTALLY busting on my son. She put his food down and said "Dan would you leave me alone for five minutes now, please?" The look on his face was classic. Something like confusion and wondering "now what did I do?" but knowing that she was kidding at the same time. He wasn't even really sure how she knew his name.
Edit - So, you were looking for porn, from my title? Sorry Johnny, but there isn't much room for porn in parenthood. It gets crowded out by other things. That was pretty much my point!!
When I was little we had 3 channels and no remote!
All of the riches of digital cable and yet I usually still watch ABC, NBC, CBS - why???
Well, there is Thursday TV. I usually get home from choir at 9 - we have a 2 hour choir rehearsal every Thursday. So I watch Apprentice while it's on and then watch Survivor (I loooooooooove my DVR).
During TrumpHour I am ashamed to say that I blurted out WHO IS THAT GUY (because Craig changed his hair). Way to teach my kids about diversity huh? Now, the team didn't get 20 large each for pearls, right? Still a nice reward. But where was Carolyn?? I know they said so, but it wasn't the same. My son jumped up to hold her book over the tv screen whenever the other woman was on - it was pretty funny.
It struck me over the weekend that she resembles Princess Diana, and while I'm sure that's not an original thought, I am very glad she doesn't resemble Camilla.
I watched ER because Cynthia Nixon is a great actress. I can't remember the last time I watched ER. Death, despair, etc. No thanks! I figured CN's character would die at the end because that's how ER usually works.
Speaking of death and despair - that singing lady on Survivor couldn't get off my tv fast enough but I was disappointed to see that eye candy leave with her. I was also puzzled to see that people were crying when she left. WTF??
Seeing Survivor after watching Apprentice reminds me of the moment when the boring opening act is walking off stage and the person you REALLY paid to see is in the spotlight. It better be good this season but it's already got potential. (Read: eye candy)
Well, have a good weekend y'all - happy tv watching.
Well, there is Thursday TV. I usually get home from choir at 9 - we have a 2 hour choir rehearsal every Thursday. So I watch Apprentice while it's on and then watch Survivor (I loooooooooove my DVR).
During TrumpHour I am ashamed to say that I blurted out WHO IS THAT GUY (because Craig changed his hair). Way to teach my kids about diversity huh? Now, the team didn't get 20 large each for pearls, right? Still a nice reward. But where was Carolyn?? I know they said so, but it wasn't the same. My son jumped up to hold her book over the tv screen whenever the other woman was on - it was pretty funny.
It struck me over the weekend that she resembles Princess Diana, and while I'm sure that's not an original thought, I am very glad she doesn't resemble Camilla.
I watched ER because Cynthia Nixon is a great actress. I can't remember the last time I watched ER. Death, despair, etc. No thanks! I figured CN's character would die at the end because that's how ER usually works.
Speaking of death and despair - that singing lady on Survivor couldn't get off my tv fast enough but I was disappointed to see that eye candy leave with her. I was also puzzled to see that people were crying when she left. WTF??
Seeing Survivor after watching Apprentice reminds me of the moment when the boring opening act is walking off stage and the person you REALLY paid to see is in the spotlight. It better be good this season but it's already got potential. (Read: eye candy)
Well, have a good weekend y'all - happy tv watching.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Brusha Brusha
I'd like to say that my third wine class was a lovely, relaxing evening.
However, given that I was ripping my hair out approximately 90 minutes before the class, I was barely down to a slow simmer when Ted started talking. (He coincidentally got a haircut, by the way, from someone who is Not His Friend. Or maybe it IS a friend and he doesn't want to hurt his/ her feelings, but he ended up with a bad 'do.)
Yesterday afternoon I was cleaning because I am planning on having a few friends over in the near future - I was scrubbing the floor of my bathroom/laundry room (alternating between a little fingernail-brush sort of scrubber and a regular sponge, because lint and clouds of hairspray make a BAD combination of sticky dirt). I was being such a domestic goddess. It's rare. I cook, do laundry, keep the bill collectors away, and the Mr does things like floors and lawns and driveways. It's all good. But I hate washing floors and apparently I'm not good at it. The water got dirty, and so I went to dump it and thought, Oh, I'll put it in the toilet, not my nice clean sink.
As the water was rushing out of the washbasin I remembered THE BRUSH. I made a vain attempt to grab it (oh gross, gross, I put my hand in a toilet, now I have to cut it off.... at least I had JUST cleaned the toilet a few minutes before..... ) but the force of the water I was pouring into the john carried that sucker right out of the bowl. I didn't even FLUSH the darn thing!
Feck, as Shamus would say. Feck Feck Feck Feck Feck!!!
So... did the brush go ALL the way down, or was it lodged somewhere in that bottom part of the can? The magic question. I came up with the brilliant idea of crumpling up a handful of toilet paper (CLEAN, THANK YOU FOR ASKING) and testing to see if it would go bye-bye when I flush.
There is nothing more disheartening than seeing the water level in a bowl go UP and not DOWN.
I tried fishing, first with a coat hanger and then with Mr. Carly's snake. The guy's got all sorts of tools but he wasn't around to help this time and since I had that wine class on the agenda I had to get this thing "going" if you will. Since I didn't really know what I was doing I gave up and called the plumber who fixed my sink last week. (They tripped over a pot of gold, huh?) He happily advised me he would be there first thing in the morning. Feck! At least we have another bathroom. Then Mr. Carly got home and discovered that the other bathroom had that same magical "water-going-up up up and not away" action going on.
AT this point, tears, more cussing, and phone calls to other plumbers ensued. Mr C was pretty cool about it despite the fact that HE thought I had put one of those big shower poof sponge things down the drain. Mine happens to have a HANDLE about a foot and a half long, so I was trying to figure out how the HELL he could think that I had flushed something like that in the first place. I'm afraid I got quite prissy at that point.
So after a fair amount of commotion Mr C sent me off to the wine class and stayed home alone to meet the plumber. (Probably so they could laugh at me, although he covered that up pretty well because he said "Well, at least one of us should go"... yeah, that's it. Good answer!) Two hours and $225 later the problem was resolved. Apparently the solution was taking things apart and using more tools and pushing that damn little brush out to the street. Don't ask me.
This one will go in my List of Reasons Why I Can't Be Martha's Apprentice. Not a good thing.
Wine... red wine... the Malbec was very good. But I didn't care for one of the others we tried, nor one of the cheeses. (Stinky cheese that smelled like tiny sweaty baby feet that have been cooped up in those fuzzy foot pajamas all night. Yuck!) When I get my act together I'll share more details.
P.S. Does anyone but me see a potential problem in putting Michael Jacskson on the PEDIATRIC ward??? Bueller? Anyone??
However, given that I was ripping my hair out approximately 90 minutes before the class, I was barely down to a slow simmer when Ted started talking. (He coincidentally got a haircut, by the way, from someone who is Not His Friend. Or maybe it IS a friend and he doesn't want to hurt his/ her feelings, but he ended up with a bad 'do.)
Yesterday afternoon I was cleaning because I am planning on having a few friends over in the near future - I was scrubbing the floor of my bathroom/laundry room (alternating between a little fingernail-brush sort of scrubber and a regular sponge, because lint and clouds of hairspray make a BAD combination of sticky dirt). I was being such a domestic goddess. It's rare. I cook, do laundry, keep the bill collectors away, and the Mr does things like floors and lawns and driveways. It's all good. But I hate washing floors and apparently I'm not good at it. The water got dirty, and so I went to dump it and thought, Oh, I'll put it in the toilet, not my nice clean sink.
As the water was rushing out of the washbasin I remembered THE BRUSH. I made a vain attempt to grab it (oh gross, gross, I put my hand in a toilet, now I have to cut it off.... at least I had JUST cleaned the toilet a few minutes before..... ) but the force of the water I was pouring into the john carried that sucker right out of the bowl. I didn't even FLUSH the darn thing!
Feck, as Shamus would say. Feck Feck Feck Feck Feck!!!
So... did the brush go ALL the way down, or was it lodged somewhere in that bottom part of the can? The magic question. I came up with the brilliant idea of crumpling up a handful of toilet paper (CLEAN, THANK YOU FOR ASKING) and testing to see if it would go bye-bye when I flush.
There is nothing more disheartening than seeing the water level in a bowl go UP and not DOWN.
I tried fishing, first with a coat hanger and then with Mr. Carly's snake. The guy's got all sorts of tools but he wasn't around to help this time and since I had that wine class on the agenda I had to get this thing "going" if you will. Since I didn't really know what I was doing I gave up and called the plumber who fixed my sink last week. (They tripped over a pot of gold, huh?) He happily advised me he would be there first thing in the morning. Feck! At least we have another bathroom. Then Mr. Carly got home and discovered that the other bathroom had that same magical "water-going-up up up and not away" action going on.
AT this point, tears, more cussing, and phone calls to other plumbers ensued. Mr C was pretty cool about it despite the fact that HE thought I had put one of those big shower poof sponge things down the drain. Mine happens to have a HANDLE about a foot and a half long, so I was trying to figure out how the HELL he could think that I had flushed something like that in the first place. I'm afraid I got quite prissy at that point.
So after a fair amount of commotion Mr C sent me off to the wine class and stayed home alone to meet the plumber. (Probably so they could laugh at me, although he covered that up pretty well because he said "Well, at least one of us should go"... yeah, that's it. Good answer!) Two hours and $225 later the problem was resolved. Apparently the solution was taking things apart and using more tools and pushing that damn little brush out to the street. Don't ask me.
This one will go in my List of Reasons Why I Can't Be Martha's Apprentice. Not a good thing.
Wine... red wine... the Malbec was very good. But I didn't care for one of the others we tried, nor one of the cheeses. (Stinky cheese that smelled like tiny sweaty baby feet that have been cooped up in those fuzzy foot pajamas all night. Yuck!) When I get my act together I'll share more details.
P.S. Does anyone but me see a potential problem in putting Michael Jacskson on the PEDIATRIC ward??? Bueller? Anyone??
Monday, February 14, 2005
Cupid Rhymes with Stupid...
Who is the sap who replaced the first O in Google with a heart made of roses for Valentine's Day? Sheesh. On behalf of single people everywhere, especially the best sister in the universe, let me post THIS in reply:
I'll send flowers
It's not that I am Anti-Valentine. I got flowers today from Mr. C and they're very nice. Tonight I'm going to make him tuna steaks with homemade bread and also some zuchini/squash/eggplant stuff on the side.
In addition I actually spoke to an old boyfriend of almost 20 years ago today and almost closed with "Happy Valentines Day - I still love you" just to see how much of a reaction I'd get. (What? I'm KIDDING - he called me about a work thing and it was all very professional.We only went on about 3 dates so really, nothing to see here, move along folks.)
My objection is primarily to the Hallmarkification of the holiday. You know, the "I have to give X a card/gift for Valentine's day." We spent $30 last night on Valentines for classmates and teachers. (B decided at about 6 pm that other kids MIGHT bring in something, and what if she didn't have anything, and oh by the way she has a student teacher too, and we can't leave her out. So we can't have her bring in gifts and not my son, and then the school secretary is a good friend of ours and the kids wanted to give HER something. Oy vey.) Now if I had PLANNED for this I might have been able to get some nice little Yankee candles (less than $10 apiece if you get the small ones). Alas, hubby was off to the supermarket for candy and candles that weren't anywhere near as nice.
My other gripe is that basically if you're single you can't get away from Valentine's day hooplah. It's everywhere, even GOOGLE. Yeah, let's rub salt in the wounds of every single person, huh? We won't even let them do a search without remind them that They Are Losers Because They're Single and It's V-Day.
If you are single, do what my sister is doing. Redo a room in your apartment and revel in the fact that you can do whatever you want and you don't have to negotiate with anyone (she picked out purple paint, apparently....) Flip off Cupid and have a great day anyway!!
I'll send flowers
It's not that I am Anti-Valentine. I got flowers today from Mr. C and they're very nice. Tonight I'm going to make him tuna steaks with homemade bread and also some zuchini/squash/eggplant stuff on the side.
In addition I actually spoke to an old boyfriend of almost 20 years ago today and almost closed with "Happy Valentines Day - I still love you" just to see how much of a reaction I'd get. (What? I'm KIDDING - he called me about a work thing and it was all very professional.We only went on about 3 dates so really, nothing to see here, move along folks.)
My objection is primarily to the Hallmarkification of the holiday. You know, the "I have to give X a card/gift for Valentine's day." We spent $30 last night on Valentines for classmates and teachers. (B decided at about 6 pm that other kids MIGHT bring in something, and what if she didn't have anything, and oh by the way she has a student teacher too, and we can't leave her out. So we can't have her bring in gifts and not my son, and then the school secretary is a good friend of ours and the kids wanted to give HER something. Oy vey.) Now if I had PLANNED for this I might have been able to get some nice little Yankee candles (less than $10 apiece if you get the small ones). Alas, hubby was off to the supermarket for candy and candles that weren't anywhere near as nice.
My other gripe is that basically if you're single you can't get away from Valentine's day hooplah. It's everywhere, even GOOGLE. Yeah, let's rub salt in the wounds of every single person, huh? We won't even let them do a search without remind them that They Are Losers Because They're Single and It's V-Day.
If you are single, do what my sister is doing. Redo a room in your apartment and revel in the fact that you can do whatever you want and you don't have to negotiate with anyone (she picked out purple paint, apparently....) Flip off Cupid and have a great day anyway!!
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Do French cows Moo?
Last night we got together at my favorite sister-in-law's to do our second annual "let's make great food for Valentine's Day" get-together.
Last year - Lobster thermidor. Delicious, but it took hours because we made stuffed mushrooms from scratch, then we make a fancy sort of salad that I can't remember now, we made a special rice side dish, etc. We ate dinner about 8 pm.
This year we decided to make dishes all "french" in style. Sister In Law had a couple of French cookbooks that we hunted through to pick out the recipes.
Last year - Lobster thermidor. Delicious, but it took hours because we made stuffed mushrooms from scratch, then we make a fancy sort of salad that I can't remember now, we made a special rice side dish, etc. We ate dinner about 8 pm.
This year we decided to make dishes all "french" in style. Sister In Law had a couple of French cookbooks that we hunted through to pick out the recipes.
We cheated a little, started off with Brie in pastry... from the freeezer section of the local supermarket. Bake it, drop some grapes and extra crackers on the platter (Carr makes great crackers that are simple but everyone I have over seems to love them.)
Then we had French onion soup, but we didn't really put our heart & soul into it; we didn't broil cheese on top. ( We wanted to keep the rest of the meal on the timeline we'd planned.) We had a salad with a hot mushroom vinaigrette which was nice.
The main course was scallops (foo foou name of the dish: Coquilles St. Jacques) and we had a side dish which was zuchinni, rice, and cheese, all baked together with little things like shallots thrown in. Both were REALLY yummy. At our last wine class we told the owner our plans and he recommended this wine:
Then we had French onion soup, but we didn't really put our heart & soul into it; we didn't broil cheese on top. ( We wanted to keep the rest of the meal on the timeline we'd planned.) We had a salad with a hot mushroom vinaigrette which was nice.
The main course was scallops (foo foou name of the dish: Coquilles St. Jacques) and we had a side dish which was zuchinni, rice, and cheese, all baked together with little things like shallots thrown in. Both were REALLY yummy. At our last wine class we told the owner our plans and he recommended this wine:
Chateau de Chasseloir 2002 Muscadet Sevre et Maine
It was excellent. According to Ted (wine guy) it is grown on the French coast and has a slightly "salty" taste from the sea air. (I vaguely tasted that but wouldn't have been able to verbalize that on my own.)
We also had steaks with our meal, which was a whole side drama. I try not to bag on my other brother in law in this blog but really, sometimes...he just gets on my nerves. We asked them to bring steaks because Mrs. Other Brother in Law does not like fish. Any fish. We had our menu picked out, then when we invited them, it was sort of an "oops... hey, how about you bring steaks and grill them too and it will be like surf & turf?" So we had BIL grumbling about "well I didn't know I'd have to cook them (sorry, Bobby just left) and then, although we told him 3x that we had figured out we would eat about 6pm, for some reason he partially cooked them, then turned the grill off. Hello? Remember I'm in the frigid Northeast, where things take a bit lonnnnnnger to grill in the wintertime.
So when the rest of the food was ready, the steaks weren't. And there was a basting sauce involved which was apparently a pouting issue ("We couldn't make anything that would need the stove..." - why not just make a nice steak? you have to know that BIL always wants to "wow them" and good enough just NEVER is, for him.... eyerolls galore from me on this whole issue.) The steaks were somewhere between "Moo, I'm still alive" and really rare. Mrs. OBIL seemed stressed and I felt bad, but what could we do? We didn't have an extra oven so they couldn't be broiled inside. I was just hoping no one would get sick because they were half cooked, then stopped, then finished later.
Mooooving on, we had dessert. We made bread pudding with challah bread, with white chocolate chunks and raspberry sauce mixed in. It was so good. SO good. The wine I had gotten was:
Robert Pecota Winery (California) 2001 Moscato d'Andrea Muscat Canelli
(I'm sure I am listing the phrases in the wrong order, but whatever...) I liked it. The guys didn't like it. The sister in law that I'm taking the classes with thought it tasted like a port wine. (The other one is expecting so she didn't have any wine.) We all agreed it might be nice for serving along with chocolate dipped strawberries. It's a very heavy, sweet wine. It was about $13.
We had a great evening, and made the kids try everything (that's a little crusade of mine especially with my nephew who only wants chicken fingers and fries. He's 10, just like my daughter and I follow the No Thank You Bite principle. You have to try ONE bite and and I promise that if you don't like it, when I ask you if you want more, if you say No Thanks, I'll leave you alone. ) He actually liked the scallops and so did my son. My daughter B did not, so I must keep working on her tastebuds to prevent her from becoming another finicky eater like Mrs. OBIL - how can you not like A-N-Y fish???
PS.: Speaking of kids and the sea, take a look at what that awful Johnny did to my son's sweet little Johnny Depp tribute... oh who am I kidding, I laughed like crazy....
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Gooood morning Albany!!
I was awakened by my 7 year old who got a new "backpack on wheels" last night. He wanted to show it to me (Spiderman, of course) and he proceeded to mow the lawn (aka my bedroom floor) while making a "dushh-dud-dushhe" noise and thrashing like he was being electrocuted. It was so freaking hilarious but I was NOT awake yet.
I was hiding under the covers more or less and my daughter hopped into bed with me and started telling me the entire plot of a recent Lizzie McGuire episode interspersed with the VITAL FACT that Kelley Clarkson might go blonde but B doesn't think she'd look right as a blonde.
J Lo's new song annoys the bejeeeezus out of me (it's the horn section actually that grates on my VERY last nerve) and I hate Destiny's Child, period, so I'll just move right on to mention that my son said "drop it like it's hot" last night and I forbid him to sing that song. I told him that I would take his radio away for one night and his eyes got REALLY huge because he likes to fall asleep listing to Delilah (gag). Then I sort of muttered 'what does that mean, anyway, drop it like it's hot?' and B said "to take your clothes off". So now it's official, I am not almost 40, I am almost 10,000 years old. Sheesh. My 10 year old gets Snoop and I don't.
Mr. C gave me an early Valentine present of Ultimate Barry Manilow!! Yeah, shut up, I don't want to hear it. They are all the old songs from the 70's and 80's that I love. He also got me Michael Buble's new cd. I still hve a gift card from Christmas that I'd better use soon - I might get Alicia Key's newest CD, not sure. Any recommendations to balance out the Barry vibe, anyone?
Tonight it's "cook for hours" with my sister in law. We are going to try some of the wine we got at our last class, and make some more elaborate recipes like Coquille St. Jacques and the raspberry / challah bread pudding from Glen Sanders . We actually think it's fun to spend four hours cooking, but my other sister in law said something like "I had no idea it was so involved." Whatever.
Have a great weekend!!!
Friday, February 11, 2005
I hate 'developing stories'...
I'm torn between deleting my previous post, and the alternatives of saying exactly what I think about the woman involved, or just letting it go. Three options, all of them aggravating me because the whole thing makes me want to bang my head against a wall.
There is, however, a fourth option, and that is to say "I should know better."
Nearly four years ago a good friend of mine was involved in a "mess" that made MANY local headlines. I learned a few things, many of which I briefly forgot today.
1) The rush to get the story "on the air" first is more important to many news providers than getting the full / real story.
2) The media will use your emotions to suck you in to a story. As a parent I was brought to tears by the initial story. I was outraged. Furious! That's exactly how I was meant to feel, by the reporters. Now, I'm not saying they were lying. But as it turned out, the story is very different (apparently) from what was originally told. I allowed my feelings about the subject in general (and my friend, in particular) to compromise my objectivity.
3) Everyone has an opinion about stuff they hear on the news, and those opinions can be very hurtful to the people who actually KNOW the people that the news is about. In many cases the person is portrayed as someone completely different than who they truly are. The whole "media" thing makes the nightmare that much worse for the family. They are hurt by whatever happened, and they are also hurt by the vicious media coverage. They want to say "this isn't who he/she is" and no one really listens. You find out who your REAL friends are.
4) The shit will fly for a while, then the media will go on to the next "if it bleeds, it leads" tale. But they will come back to haunt you at EVERY friggin' court appearance you make. If you comment, they will edit your comments before airing them. Your lawyer will tell you not to comment. When you have no comment, the media will use that to portray you as callous/ indifferent, etc
5) People with no real connection to you at all will comment on you. They will write letters to the editor. They will post on the internet (ugh...) But they don't fucking know what they're talking about.
6) Never slug a news photographer because it's just a whole 'nother bag o' crap to deal with.
If I can leave y'all with one point, it's "Don't blindly believe everything you see on the news. Think. "
There is, however, a fourth option, and that is to say "I should know better."
Nearly four years ago a good friend of mine was involved in a "mess" that made MANY local headlines. I learned a few things, many of which I briefly forgot today.
1) The rush to get the story "on the air" first is more important to many news providers than getting the full / real story.
2) The media will use your emotions to suck you in to a story. As a parent I was brought to tears by the initial story. I was outraged. Furious! That's exactly how I was meant to feel, by the reporters. Now, I'm not saying they were lying. But as it turned out, the story is very different (apparently) from what was originally told. I allowed my feelings about the subject in general (and my friend, in particular) to compromise my objectivity.
3) Everyone has an opinion about stuff they hear on the news, and those opinions can be very hurtful to the people who actually KNOW the people that the news is about. In many cases the person is portrayed as someone completely different than who they truly are. The whole "media" thing makes the nightmare that much worse for the family. They are hurt by whatever happened, and they are also hurt by the vicious media coverage. They want to say "this isn't who he/she is" and no one really listens. You find out who your REAL friends are.
4) The shit will fly for a while, then the media will go on to the next "if it bleeds, it leads" tale. But they will come back to haunt you at EVERY friggin' court appearance you make. If you comment, they will edit your comments before airing them. Your lawyer will tell you not to comment. When you have no comment, the media will use that to portray you as callous/ indifferent, etc
5) People with no real connection to you at all will comment on you. They will write letters to the editor. They will post on the internet (ugh...) But they don't fucking know what they're talking about.
6) Never slug a news photographer because it's just a whole 'nother bag o' crap to deal with.
If I can leave y'all with one point, it's "Don't blindly believe everything you see on the news. Think. "
Turn it off
I'm not in a happy place right now, people. I read the news and then got a really discouraging phone call. Whammo, I am depressed and angry all at once.
Someone threw a baby out of a car window. They bundled it up, plastic bag over head, and chucked it out of a moving car. The baby is alive because someone saw this happen, and rescued him.
This happened in Florida, a state WITH a safe haven law, which basically means that if you have a baby and you "don't want it", leave it anywhere that a nurse, fireman, etc will find it and you won't go to jail.
I know -- hey, when we find those parents, let's wrap THEM up in a bundle, with a plastic bag over THEIR heads, tie the two of them together, and throw THEM out of a window. Whilst going over a high bridge, over very deep water. I'll personally volunteer to assist in eliminating these two from the face of this earth.
Stories like this HURT people (like me) who have experienced the abrupt end of a wished-for pregnancy. The emotions run something like "why? why? I was married, didn't do drugs, did everything 'right' and I couldn't keep my baby, and then this bitch has one and LITERALLY throws it away?" It is SO unfair and so shattering. You never really get all of the pieces back together. Close, but never complete.
The women I volunteer with would give ANYTHING to have had their child be a healthy eight pound baby. In addition, the phone call I mentioned was about a dear friend who lost her baby yesterday at 19 weeks of pregnancy. Please remember her in your prayers. I won't get into all of the specifics, but she is about ten BILLION times more deserving of a child than the bitch in the news.
The song that sums up perfectly how I feel right now is by Phil Collins, and it's called Long Long Way To Go.
Someone threw a baby out of a car window. They bundled it up, plastic bag over head, and chucked it out of a moving car. The baby is alive because someone saw this happen, and rescued him.
This happened in Florida, a state WITH a safe haven law, which basically means that if you have a baby and you "don't want it", leave it anywhere that a nurse, fireman, etc will find it and you won't go to jail.
I know -- hey, when we find those parents, let's wrap THEM up in a bundle, with a plastic bag over THEIR heads, tie the two of them together, and throw THEM out of a window. Whilst going over a high bridge, over very deep water. I'll personally volunteer to assist in eliminating these two from the face of this earth.
Stories like this HURT people (like me) who have experienced the abrupt end of a wished-for pregnancy. The emotions run something like "why? why? I was married, didn't do drugs, did everything 'right' and I couldn't keep my baby, and then this bitch has one and LITERALLY throws it away?" It is SO unfair and so shattering. You never really get all of the pieces back together. Close, but never complete.
The women I volunteer with would give ANYTHING to have had their child be a healthy eight pound baby. In addition, the phone call I mentioned was about a dear friend who lost her baby yesterday at 19 weeks of pregnancy. Please remember her in your prayers. I won't get into all of the specifics, but she is about ten BILLION times more deserving of a child than the bitch in the news.
The song that sums up perfectly how I feel right now is by Phil Collins, and it's called Long Long Way To Go.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
My baby's got pipes
My daughter is in her school choir and she had a little solo in mass yesterday. :::sniffle:::: I am so proud of my baby! Some of the "big kids" told her today that she did well, so she is in 7th Heaven
Fr. K mentioned to Mr. Carly that she did well and said something more or less that she gets that from me. She looks just like me too. Mr. C and I joked about how Billy Joel / Christie Brinkley's daughter Alexa ended up looking like Dad and singing like Mom. That is a bummer.
In the Annoying department, I have one of those spray nozzle things on my kitchen sink. When someone tries to use it, the valve sticks or something and then the faucet won't work. So I bumped it while I was cleaning off the sink, and now I can't get water outta my faucet.
I'm swearing a lot - can you hear me? Does it count if no one can hear me??
Fr. K mentioned to Mr. Carly that she did well and said something more or less that she gets that from me. She looks just like me too. Mr. C and I joked about how Billy Joel / Christie Brinkley's daughter Alexa ended up looking like Dad and singing like Mom. That is a bummer.
In the Annoying department, I have one of those spray nozzle things on my kitchen sink. When someone tries to use it, the valve sticks or something and then the faucet won't work. So I bumped it while I was cleaning off the sink, and now I can't get water outta my faucet.
I'm swearing a lot - can you hear me? Does it count if no one can hear me??
Yammer....
I'm in a rambling mood today so here's what's on my mind. Hey, if you're bored enough to be reading blogs at work, you have to take the good with the bad.
Gooogly... not the search agent...that's my thoughts on Prince Charles and his new bride-to-be... WTF cares that those two are getting married? Man, I didn't even have breakfast yet. At least when Brad and Jen are on tv, they're attractive, not that I really have a lot invested in whether they do or don't get back together.
Reynold's wrap nonstick foil is the BESTEST stuff ever(it's an inside joke with my sister, our mom goes on & on about the stuff... we are going to cook up some story about some McGyver type situation where RWNF saved the day, my sister will tell her, and we'll see how long it is before Mom calls me to say "do you know what your sister did?" --- any suggestions on plotline here?) Of course, you have to know that when my sister decided to buy a new car one time, she told my mother that she did it because one of her headlights was burnt out, just to see what mom would say. It torqued her good for about 30 seconds.
Robin Givens on Good Morning America always has the most beautiful beaded necklaces on. She's got one on today that I plan to copy later this afternoon. (I'll post a picture so I can screw up my template again)
There was supposed to be a lot of snow this morning and there wasn't so Omar took my kids away. Heh heh. Now it's snowing like crazy. Wonder when the little darlings will come home?
Gooogly... not the search agent...that's my thoughts on Prince Charles and his new bride-to-be... WTF cares that those two are getting married? Man, I didn't even have breakfast yet. At least when Brad and Jen are on tv, they're attractive, not that I really have a lot invested in whether they do or don't get back together.
Reynold's wrap nonstick foil is the BESTEST stuff ever(it's an inside joke with my sister, our mom goes on & on about the stuff... we are going to cook up some story about some McGyver type situation where RWNF saved the day, my sister will tell her, and we'll see how long it is before Mom calls me to say "do you know what your sister did?" --- any suggestions on plotline here?) Of course, you have to know that when my sister decided to buy a new car one time, she told my mother that she did it because one of her headlights was burnt out, just to see what mom would say. It torqued her good for about 30 seconds.
Robin Givens on Good Morning America always has the most beautiful beaded necklaces on. She's got one on today that I plan to copy later this afternoon. (I'll post a picture so I can screw up my template again)
There was supposed to be a lot of snow this morning and there wasn't so Omar took my kids away. Heh heh. Now it's snowing like crazy. Wonder when the little darlings will come home?
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
I'm going to h--e--double toothpicks
I went to church tonight and went up to the choir loft. There were 3 other women there besides me & Stan. He sent us down to get ashes and the priest sort of missed and I ended up with ashes over the center of my left eyebrow. I mean WAAAAAY off center. Wildly, hopelessly, not even CLOSE to where they should be.
I went back up stairs and the girls looked at me and snickered. I looked at Stan and tipped my head to the right, like I was trying to center the ashes on my forehead and he cracked up. He is just as bad as me because he mimed a shaky old hand trying to wobble some ashes onto me. I almost spit out my sip of water.
For the rest of the mass all I had to do was tip my head to the right and they'd all laugh.
I'm really going to hell. Well, maybe not. But it's a good thing that
a) I didn't go first thing in the morning, (and have to work with Scott & John with this on my face) and
b) The choir doesn't sit in the front of the church
I went back up stairs and the girls looked at me and snickered. I looked at Stan and tipped my head to the right, like I was trying to center the ashes on my forehead and he cracked up. He is just as bad as me because he mimed a shaky old hand trying to wobble some ashes onto me. I almost spit out my sip of water.
For the rest of the mass all I had to do was tip my head to the right and they'd all laugh.
I'm really going to hell. Well, maybe not. But it's a good thing that
a) I didn't go first thing in the morning, (and have to work with Scott & John with this on my face) and
b) The choir doesn't sit in the front of the church
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Fat Tuesday
SO, being that I am now Catholic, I have to "give up something for Lent". I will be giving up S-O-D-A. For you "pop" people, I mean anything with the words "Coke" or "Pepsi" on the can. And call it soda for crying out loud!! Those of you who work with me, start a pool because traditionally my "give up for Lent" gives out before the Mardi Gras revelers sober up, and one of you WILL catch me drinking soda before long. Beads! Beads! I love beads. Well not THAT kind of bead, but whatever.
(I had about 3 sodas today, as a farewell. Not good. I'll be up a lonnnnng time.)
Tonight I went down to a local hospital. Of course, I was running late because Mr. C had to have his dinner, there were homework issues, yadda yadda. I am always running late when I escape to do my fun stuff, like choir. It is VERY hard to carve out time to be me, the adult person with hobbies/ volunteering I'd like to pursue. Sometimes I joke about needing to apply for parole just to leave the house alone.
So I ran out of the house, got me some fries and coke at Mc Donalds, and listened to Lenny Kravitz while I cut through the baaaaaaaaad, what are you doing here white bitch, part of town. Mr. Cab driver....
Via my sister who is a nurse in the NICU, I found out about a new March of Dimes program where Moms of babies in the NICU (usually the babies are preemies, born too early, but sometimes they are full term born to diabetic moms, or have other health problems...) anyway - they get a free scrapbook. It's a nice big 12 x 12 album and they get free stickers and paper and all that. I go down about once a month (they're just starting up the program) to help with the workshops. I show the people some of the stuff they can use in their books, how the cutting tools work, and so on.
One of the most bittersweet moments was a Mom showing Dad a photo that the M.O.D. liason took that day. He's been out all day (working, trying to keep from getting fired, was my guess) and she's showing him "look, this picture is from today, and her hair is getting blonde" and he stroked HER blonde hair and said "of course it is" and there was something in his voice, I wanted to go somewhere and cry. This baby is literally as "tall" as a pencil. They had a photo of her WITH a pencil along side her. A regular, #2 pencil.
(I had about 3 sodas today, as a farewell. Not good. I'll be up a lonnnnng time.)
Tonight I went down to a local hospital. Of course, I was running late because Mr. C had to have his dinner, there were homework issues, yadda yadda. I am always running late when I escape to do my fun stuff, like choir. It is VERY hard to carve out time to be me, the adult person with hobbies/ volunteering I'd like to pursue. Sometimes I joke about needing to apply for parole just to leave the house alone.
So I ran out of the house, got me some fries and coke at Mc Donalds, and listened to Lenny Kravitz while I cut through the baaaaaaaaad, what are you doing here white bitch, part of town. Mr. Cab driver....
Via my sister who is a nurse in the NICU, I found out about a new March of Dimes program where Moms of babies in the NICU (usually the babies are preemies, born too early, but sometimes they are full term born to diabetic moms, or have other health problems...) anyway - they get a free scrapbook. It's a nice big 12 x 12 album and they get free stickers and paper and all that. I go down about once a month (they're just starting up the program) to help with the workshops. I show the people some of the stuff they can use in their books, how the cutting tools work, and so on.
One of the most bittersweet moments was a Mom showing Dad a photo that the M.O.D. liason took that day. He's been out all day (working, trying to keep from getting fired, was my guess) and she's showing him "look, this picture is from today, and her hair is getting blonde" and he stroked HER blonde hair and said "of course it is" and there was something in his voice, I wanted to go somewhere and cry. This baby is literally as "tall" as a pencil. They had a photo of her WITH a pencil along side her. A regular, #2 pencil.
Monday, February 07, 2005
I've got Spyware in my Spam
Well by now we've all talked about our favorite commercial, so let's move on.
Today's #1 Bad Idea Which Sounded Good At the Time: mud
Other thoughts...
Chip -hey, is Lloyd there? (If this question makes no sense to you, just move on.)
I agree with this guy on the topic of congressional inky fingers
I don't know if the Nanny can help this family. Stupid people!! (Obviously the kid is at least 2x as smart as Mummy.)
I want this for Valentine's Day. Is that a problem? (I only want it so that I can sell it and quit my FABULOUS job.) But you could also get me a new Mustang convertible, even though that commercial was stupid. Is there some law that says that in "real life" (aka not on tv or in movies) only ugly old men get to drive cool cars? I saw a beautiful red sports car on the way home and the guy was baaaad looking in just about every way. There should be some sort of application process. "I'm sorry but you are not hot enough to drive this car, I can't sell it to you. " (Of course, that might put me in a minivan, so I'm not going to press too hard on this issue.)
I'd say more but CNN's site apparently just went down. Lucky for you! I'm off to scan my pc - any bets on how much pollution I'll find?
Today's #1 Bad Idea Which Sounded Good At the Time: mud
Other thoughts...
Chip -hey, is Lloyd there? (If this question makes no sense to you, just move on.)
I agree with this guy on the topic of congressional inky fingers
I don't know if the Nanny can help this family. Stupid people!! (Obviously the kid is at least 2x as smart as Mummy.)
I want this for Valentine's Day. Is that a problem? (I only want it so that I can sell it and quit my FABULOUS job.) But you could also get me a new Mustang convertible, even though that commercial was stupid. Is there some law that says that in "real life" (aka not on tv or in movies) only ugly old men get to drive cool cars? I saw a beautiful red sports car on the way home and the guy was baaaad looking in just about every way. There should be some sort of application process. "I'm sorry but you are not hot enough to drive this car, I can't sell it to you. " (Of course, that might put me in a minivan, so I'm not going to press too hard on this issue.)
I'd say more but CNN's site apparently just went down. Lucky for you! I'm off to scan my pc - any bets on how much pollution I'll find?
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Clint
Once again, I have to ask, WHO dresses Clint Eastwood? He looked SO bad at the Screen Actor's Guild Awards.
Terri Hatcher looked fabulous again. I wonder how much she's spent recently on gowns and all that for these awards shows she seems to be attending constantly....I said to Mr. C, "She's my age. I wish I looked like that." Smart man, his answer was "She's taller." Somehow I doubt it.
Terri Hatcher looked fabulous again. I wonder how much she's spent recently on gowns and all that for these awards shows she seems to be attending constantly....I said to Mr. C, "She's my age. I wish I looked like that." Smart man, his answer was "She's taller." Somehow I doubt it.
Over 500 visitors!
It's kind of funny. Or pathetic. When I set up my counter, I started it at 503. I laugh (at myself) every time I look at it, because I don't really know how to set it down to what it actually is. I did exclude my IP address when I was setting it up, so I know it's not just me reading myself. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself you might end up talking to a volleyball like Tom Hanks.
Thanks for stopping by, kids!
Thanks for stopping by, kids!
A strange Saturday
Here's a funny one I got from Waiter Rant: my favorite part is the quote "His name is Willy, for God's sake." (If you don't read WR, follow the link in my list at right and make a point to read it at least once a week.)
Question 1, only slightly related to the above:
How do I explain to my 10 year old daughter that the stuff Jessica Simpson is promoting is NOT a dessert treat for children?
There is a large yellow ball in the sky near my home and it's radiating heat. The big piles of snow are melting. I'm afraid.... what is happening?
Question 2: Don't you hate it when you make a joke about wishing global warming would get here already and someone points out that global warming IS exactly why the winters are getting worse, and then you feel REALLY stupid? Me too. Terrific, what's up next - Locusts?
Question 1, only slightly related to the above:
How do I explain to my 10 year old daughter that the stuff Jessica Simpson is promoting is NOT a dessert treat for children?
There is a large yellow ball in the sky near my home and it's radiating heat. The big piles of snow are melting. I'm afraid.... what is happening?
Question 2: Don't you hate it when you make a joke about wishing global warming would get here already and someone points out that global warming IS exactly why the winters are getting worse, and then you feel REALLY stupid? Me too. Terrific, what's up next - Locusts?
Friday, February 04, 2005
Safety Tips
1. Kangaroos are apparently six feet tall, and will grab you with their top legs, and beat the crap out of you with the bottom ones. Don't feed them, d'oh! In other words, today was a very slow day on Good Morning America. WTF? How often am I going to come across a hungry kangaroo?
2. When plowing off a pond for the town's winter carnival, it is a good idea to make sure the ice is thick enough first. I swear, it happened 200 feet from my house.
3. I always buckle my purse into the seat next to me when I'm driving alone. That sucker's huge and we DON'T want it crashing around in an accident. My Starbucks vanilla mints might spill all over and that would be tragic because they are awesome. All you people with really gag-me stale coffee breath that I sit in meetings with, please take note. Starbucks sells mints.
4. If you talk on a cellphone it makes you drive about as well as a 70 year old person. So knock that crap off.
5. Don't ever do this to my kid or I will insert the jewelry into a place where you will never lose it.
6. Don't piss this guy off because apparently he will shoot you and laugh. It's too bad he wasn't there for the events described in #5.
2. When plowing off a pond for the town's winter carnival, it is a good idea to make sure the ice is thick enough first. I swear, it happened 200 feet from my house.
3. I always buckle my purse into the seat next to me when I'm driving alone. That sucker's huge and we DON'T want it crashing around in an accident. My Starbucks vanilla mints might spill all over and that would be tragic because they are awesome. All you people with really gag-me stale coffee breath that I sit in meetings with, please take note. Starbucks sells mints.
4. If you talk on a cellphone it makes you drive about as well as a 70 year old person. So knock that crap off.
5. Don't ever do this to my kid or I will insert the jewelry into a place where you will never lose it.
6. Don't piss this guy off because apparently he will shoot you and laugh. It's too bad he wasn't there for the events described in #5.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
A Pirate Story
Once upon a time there was a pirate ship with three men on it, trying to get a treasure.
The captain spotted land and rowed a little boat to the land.
Soon the captain found the X and started digging.
Then they had the treasure and went home with it on their ship.
The end.
Go Red for ME!
Tomorrow, February 4, is National Wear Red Day, an observance aimed to raise awareness about heart disease, the number one killer of American women. NUMBER ONE, PEOPLE.
Tomorrow you can show your support for women's health by wearing a piece of red clothing, a red ribbon, or another red item. If, by chance, your company has just handed over a bucket of cash to be a supporter of the American Heart Association, even better. Not ony do you get less money in your annual bonus pool, you get to wear a little magnetic pin that looks like a red dress. It's actually kind of cute, and I'm offering the men in my department 50 cents if I catch them wearing the red dress, but I'm just thinking a magnet shouldn't be near a pacemaker, right?? Oy vey.
No, I do not have a pacemaker. I got lucky. On Valentines Day, 2002 I was eating dinner with Mr. Carly and I swallowed sort of funny, and my heart sort of flipped, and it suddenly felt like there was a person inside my chest, trying to bang his fist through my ribs to get out. My pulse shot up and I felt like crap.
For the next few hours I could not get comfortable, nor could I get my pulse to slow down. I was hyperventilating but I just thought "I'll just lie down, I'll be fine." When Mr. C convinced me that we needed to go to the ER, about 2 am, I started to cry, then I went into the bathroom to wash my face with cool water to pull myself together. It stopped. My pulse returned to normal. Now THAT was freaky, so we decided to go to the ER anyway.
Of course, since the episode was over, they couldn't tell me anything, but I did get a referral to a cardiologist.
Diagnosis: paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. Basically, your pulse is messed up and it's because something goofy is happening up in the top part of your heart. If there were actually wires in your heart sending signals to beat, mine would have some that were shorting out and arc-ing back.
I had to wear this oh-so-sexy thing called a Holter monitor, for 24 hours. Imagine this, take all 8 of the leads for a deluxe EKG, and wear them, attached to what looks like an 8 track tape player that you're carrying in a fanny pack. Someone made fun of me at work thinking it was a walkman. Uh, nope. But thanks for playing. In order to get the leads to stay on for 24 hours, they first scrubbed my skin with little bits of sandpaper and alcohol. Oh. My. Golly. Ouch!
The Holter test showed absolutely nothing, which was no surprise to me because I knew it didn't happen while I was wearing the monitor. (Mr. C wanted to canoodle just to see what THAT looked like on the monitor but that was just, well, NOT FUNNY dammit!!)
The cardiologists said that it seemed to be something non life threatening, called AV Node re-entry. I needed to go on Beta blockers. I will freely admit to being a wuss here, but beta blockers just sapped the life right out of me. I literally almost fell asleep while meeting WITH MY BOSS. Not good.
The surgery option was presented to me almost immediately but I said "Nuh uh" after researching it on the web. Not my brightest move, as I actually had come across some information which REALLY didn't apply to my case.
Months went by and then I went with my co-workers to one of those mall places where you can sit in a "racecar" and pretend to drive while a computer jostles around the car and shows you images via a screen that you see through the front "window". That effed me up REALLY badly. Thumpa thumpa thumpa. I hate NASCAR. My drugs were more of a "take this once daily" nature so it didn't help me when I was having an episode. The cold water trick only worked sometimes.
Then, that December, I was driving up a hill to work in really crappy snowy weather and some dimwit was RIGHT on my backside. Everyone around me was sliding and I was trying to just drive right, and this moron's trying to get in my trunk. So all of a sudden I screamed "WHAAAAAT is your problem??" and flipped him off, and then it happened again. Got what I deserved there, huh?
(Note that in none of these stories I was exercising or even exerting myself. That's the random nature of my problem. I also was not overweight then, so it wasn't that I needed to be exercising more.)
I went to the cardiologist's office that day and my pulse was over 200. Sports fans, that's three times what it usually is. They gave me a drug called atacand, or something like that. It was absolutely horrible. They put it in an IV, and for about 10 seconds you will feel like you are the Bad Witch and Dorothy's house just landed on top of you. Every cell in your body feels like it's being crushed into the exam table. It's this radioactive drug that drops your pulse waaaaaaaay down until the half life burns itself out. I just literally lay there moaning, it was so horrible.
I had that twice, about five minutes apart, becuase my pulse almost returned to normal and then it shot up again which REALLY sucked. It finally worked on the second try, and the doctor looked me in the eye and said "go to the E.R when this happens from now on. You should really have the surgery and get it over with."
At that point, more tests. Nada. Zilch. Nuclear stress test - now that's creepy, when they take a needle out of a metal box, inject the stuff into YOU, and then basically run away. Do I glow in the dark now?
I still couldn't deal with the thought of the surgery. I had to add a second medicine. Digoxin. Something for OLD people, darn it!! Sucky! After putting up with this for a while, I finally agreed to have surgery because I just felt like crap every day, from the medicines. At the time someone told me I was being a baby, and the doses were "nothing". Eff you.
I had an arrhythmia known as AV Node re-entry. The signal that sets the pace was more or less "looping back" through some extra tissue cells and repeating itself. The surgery to correct this is catheter ablation. They put a catheter or two in your groin, thread them up to your heart, use small electrical pulses to start and stop the arrhythmia, and decide exactly where to BURN TISSUE. Yup. Burn a little bit, to block the extra pathway, and we're all done. Want BBQ sauce with that?
I had the surgery in July. Shortly before then, I went out to lunch with a friend who really helped, because I WAS scared out of my mind. You were great, buddy. Thanks.
The surgery itself went VERY smoothly except that they had some trouble getting the catheters and IV's started, so I bruised like crazy. I stayed at an excellent hospital and learned that you should not brush your teeth if you are wearing a portable heart monitor because it freaks the nurses out. It looks like you're in v-tac or v-fib or something like that which is quite bad. I went home and slept for a day or two.
All went well, and I am now drug free. I have not taken a pill nor have I had an episode since my surgery. I don't even have to see the cardiologist anymore.
I know I've rambled on to an extreme extent here, but that's my story.
The final points I'd like to re-state here are:
1. Women can and DO need to worry about having a healthy heart - guys, take care of your women.
2. Don't research your medical problems on the internet, unless YOU are an MD, because you don't know what the hell you're doing.
3. My problem was nothing really, even though I've typed a million lines here. People have far more serious heart problems than me, and they need every dime the AHA can get for research, and we need better insurance in this country!!
4. Help me celebrate my RECOVERY by wearing red tomorrow.
xxoo,
Carly
Tomorrow you can show your support for women's health by wearing a piece of red clothing, a red ribbon, or another red item. If, by chance, your company has just handed over a bucket of cash to be a supporter of the American Heart Association, even better. Not ony do you get less money in your annual bonus pool, you get to wear a little magnetic pin that looks like a red dress. It's actually kind of cute, and I'm offering the men in my department 50 cents if I catch them wearing the red dress, but I'm just thinking a magnet shouldn't be near a pacemaker, right?? Oy vey.
No, I do not have a pacemaker. I got lucky. On Valentines Day, 2002 I was eating dinner with Mr. Carly and I swallowed sort of funny, and my heart sort of flipped, and it suddenly felt like there was a person inside my chest, trying to bang his fist through my ribs to get out. My pulse shot up and I felt like crap.
For the next few hours I could not get comfortable, nor could I get my pulse to slow down. I was hyperventilating but I just thought "I'll just lie down, I'll be fine." When Mr. C convinced me that we needed to go to the ER, about 2 am, I started to cry, then I went into the bathroom to wash my face with cool water to pull myself together. It stopped. My pulse returned to normal. Now THAT was freaky, so we decided to go to the ER anyway.
Of course, since the episode was over, they couldn't tell me anything, but I did get a referral to a cardiologist.
Diagnosis: paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. Basically, your pulse is messed up and it's because something goofy is happening up in the top part of your heart. If there were actually wires in your heart sending signals to beat, mine would have some that were shorting out and arc-ing back.
I had to wear this oh-so-sexy thing called a Holter monitor, for 24 hours. Imagine this, take all 8 of the leads for a deluxe EKG, and wear them, attached to what looks like an 8 track tape player that you're carrying in a fanny pack. Someone made fun of me at work thinking it was a walkman. Uh, nope. But thanks for playing. In order to get the leads to stay on for 24 hours, they first scrubbed my skin with little bits of sandpaper and alcohol. Oh. My. Golly. Ouch!
The Holter test showed absolutely nothing, which was no surprise to me because I knew it didn't happen while I was wearing the monitor. (Mr. C wanted to canoodle just to see what THAT looked like on the monitor but that was just, well, NOT FUNNY dammit!!)
The cardiologists said that it seemed to be something non life threatening, called AV Node re-entry. I needed to go on Beta blockers. I will freely admit to being a wuss here, but beta blockers just sapped the life right out of me. I literally almost fell asleep while meeting WITH MY BOSS. Not good.
The surgery option was presented to me almost immediately but I said "Nuh uh" after researching it on the web. Not my brightest move, as I actually had come across some information which REALLY didn't apply to my case.
Months went by and then I went with my co-workers to one of those mall places where you can sit in a "racecar" and pretend to drive while a computer jostles around the car and shows you images via a screen that you see through the front "window". That effed me up REALLY badly. Thumpa thumpa thumpa. I hate NASCAR. My drugs were more of a "take this once daily" nature so it didn't help me when I was having an episode. The cold water trick only worked sometimes.
Then, that December, I was driving up a hill to work in really crappy snowy weather and some dimwit was RIGHT on my backside. Everyone around me was sliding and I was trying to just drive right, and this moron's trying to get in my trunk. So all of a sudden I screamed "WHAAAAAT is your problem??" and flipped him off, and then it happened again. Got what I deserved there, huh?
(Note that in none of these stories I was exercising or even exerting myself. That's the random nature of my problem. I also was not overweight then, so it wasn't that I needed to be exercising more.)
I went to the cardiologist's office that day and my pulse was over 200. Sports fans, that's three times what it usually is. They gave me a drug called atacand, or something like that. It was absolutely horrible. They put it in an IV, and for about 10 seconds you will feel like you are the Bad Witch and Dorothy's house just landed on top of you. Every cell in your body feels like it's being crushed into the exam table. It's this radioactive drug that drops your pulse waaaaaaaay down until the half life burns itself out. I just literally lay there moaning, it was so horrible.
I had that twice, about five minutes apart, becuase my pulse almost returned to normal and then it shot up again which REALLY sucked. It finally worked on the second try, and the doctor looked me in the eye and said "go to the E.R when this happens from now on. You should really have the surgery and get it over with."
At that point, more tests. Nada. Zilch. Nuclear stress test - now that's creepy, when they take a needle out of a metal box, inject the stuff into YOU, and then basically run away. Do I glow in the dark now?
I still couldn't deal with the thought of the surgery. I had to add a second medicine. Digoxin. Something for OLD people, darn it!! Sucky! After putting up with this for a while, I finally agreed to have surgery because I just felt like crap every day, from the medicines. At the time someone told me I was being a baby, and the doses were "nothing". Eff you.
I had an arrhythmia known as AV Node re-entry. The signal that sets the pace was more or less "looping back" through some extra tissue cells and repeating itself. The surgery to correct this is catheter ablation. They put a catheter or two in your groin, thread them up to your heart, use small electrical pulses to start and stop the arrhythmia, and decide exactly where to BURN TISSUE. Yup. Burn a little bit, to block the extra pathway, and we're all done. Want BBQ sauce with that?
I had the surgery in July. Shortly before then, I went out to lunch with a friend who really helped, because I WAS scared out of my mind. You were great, buddy. Thanks.
The surgery itself went VERY smoothly except that they had some trouble getting the catheters and IV's started, so I bruised like crazy. I stayed at an excellent hospital and learned that you should not brush your teeth if you are wearing a portable heart monitor because it freaks the nurses out. It looks like you're in v-tac or v-fib or something like that which is quite bad. I went home and slept for a day or two.
All went well, and I am now drug free. I have not taken a pill nor have I had an episode since my surgery. I don't even have to see the cardiologist anymore.
I know I've rambled on to an extreme extent here, but that's my story.
The final points I'd like to re-state here are:
1. Women can and DO need to worry about having a healthy heart - guys, take care of your women.
2. Don't research your medical problems on the internet, unless YOU are an MD, because you don't know what the hell you're doing.
3. My problem was nothing really, even though I've typed a million lines here. People have far more serious heart problems than me, and they need every dime the AHA can get for research, and we need better insurance in this country!!
4. Help me celebrate my RECOVERY by wearing red tomorrow.
xxoo,
Carly
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Flipping off Dubya
Did anyone else laugh when Safia Taleb al-Suhail waved her middle finger at Bush? I know, I know, I know, she was showing that her finger had ink on it because she voted. I laughed.
I hate him for saying "We're gonna..." and Nucular. Slap!
I hate him for saying "We're gonna..." and Nucular. Slap!
Ice wine
I was reading a wine magazine I bought in the store last night. Most of it is charts and grades. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.
I came across the phrase "ice wine" and said to myself "What is that?", and so Self went to google, and this is what she found:
Icewine is a late-harvest wine made from grapes pressed while frozen.
To make Icewine, the grapes are left on the vine until after the first frost hits. These grapes are harvested after being frozen in the vineyard and then, while still frozen, they are pressed. They must be picked early - before 10 a.m. During both of these processes the temperature cannot exceed -8 degrees C. At this temperature the berries will freeze as hard as marbles. The water portion of each grape separates from the sugar, flavour and acid components. The water freezes and crystallizes, leaving the other components as suspended liquid drops among the water crystals. While the grape is still in its frozen state, it is pressed and the water is driven out as shards of ice. This leaves a highly concentrated juice, very high in acids, sugars and aromatics.
Is that cool or what? No pun intended. Maybe you Canadians are OK after all. Icewine is usually served slightly chilled with dessert or as the dessert.
Here's some links, kiddies:
http://www.ontariograpes.com/icewine.html
http://www.icewineniagara.net/
http://www.winesofcanada.com/icewine.html
http://www.jostwine.com/ice_wine.html
We just missed The 10th Niagara Icewine Festival January 14 - 23, 2005 -- of course! Just my luck. Mr. C and I could have met Erik and his lovely wife out at Niagara Falls. Oh well, maybe next year.
I came across the phrase "ice wine" and said to myself "What is that?", and so Self went to google, and this is what she found:
Icewine is a late-harvest wine made from grapes pressed while frozen.
To make Icewine, the grapes are left on the vine until after the first frost hits. These grapes are harvested after being frozen in the vineyard and then, while still frozen, they are pressed. They must be picked early - before 10 a.m. During both of these processes the temperature cannot exceed -8 degrees C. At this temperature the berries will freeze as hard as marbles. The water portion of each grape separates from the sugar, flavour and acid components. The water freezes and crystallizes, leaving the other components as suspended liquid drops among the water crystals. While the grape is still in its frozen state, it is pressed and the water is driven out as shards of ice. This leaves a highly concentrated juice, very high in acids, sugars and aromatics.
Is that cool or what? No pun intended. Maybe you Canadians are OK after all. Icewine is usually served slightly chilled with dessert or as the dessert.
Here's some links, kiddies:
http://www.ontariograpes.com/icewine.html
http://www.icewineniagara.net/
http://www.winesofcanada.com/icewine.html
http://www.jostwine.com/ice_wine.html
We just missed The 10th Niagara Icewine Festival January 14 - 23, 2005 -- of course! Just my luck. Mr. C and I could have met Erik and his lovely wife out at Niagara Falls. Oh well, maybe next year.
Vino, p2
Ok, I am not, nor will I ever be, an expert.
Our second wine tasting class was last night. The first hour Ted talked about why wine is cheap, or expensive. I won't do it justice because he has a very relaxed presentation style - I didn't feel like it was a "lecture" with bullet points.
I will summarize - there are many things about growing grapes that are not what you would expect. Poor soil and not very much rain is actually ideal, in a nutshell. You don't want big juicy grapes because they contain too much water and then the wine doesn't have enough alcohol which is key.
Mr. C wanted to know if there are Irish wines, hahahah but the answer is no, the lush greenness of it all does not lend the country to a Pinot Guinness. And England is not known for wines because centuries ago when English and French Royalty married they more or less agreed to grow the grapes in France. Hm. Bet they're sorry now.
Box wine comes from wine that wasn't considered "good enough" to charge what the winery needs to charge per bottle, to cover the costs of their crop (there's quite a bit of manual labor involved from pruning leaves off to get sun/air to the grapes, thinning down the grapes to concentrate flavor while growing, pulling out green / overripe grapes immediately after harvest, etc) Leaf picker... now there's a career option I might consider. Anyway, box wine can be nice, but not high enough on the quality scale to pull in the per bottle charge the winery is accustomed to. Since they have to get rid of it to have the barrells ready for next season, off it goes, into a box. How do you make a small fortune owning a winery? Start with a large fortune. (or something like that, can't remember exactly how he delivered the punch line, but You Won't Get Rich)
Our second wine tasting class was last night. The first hour Ted talked about why wine is cheap, or expensive. I won't do it justice because he has a very relaxed presentation style - I didn't feel like it was a "lecture" with bullet points.
I will summarize - there are many things about growing grapes that are not what you would expect. Poor soil and not very much rain is actually ideal, in a nutshell. You don't want big juicy grapes because they contain too much water and then the wine doesn't have enough alcohol which is key.
Mr. C wanted to know if there are Irish wines, hahahah but the answer is no, the lush greenness of it all does not lend the country to a Pinot Guinness. And England is not known for wines because centuries ago when English and French Royalty married they more or less agreed to grow the grapes in France. Hm. Bet they're sorry now.
Box wine comes from wine that wasn't considered "good enough" to charge what the winery needs to charge per bottle, to cover the costs of their crop (there's quite a bit of manual labor involved from pruning leaves off to get sun/air to the grapes, thinning down the grapes to concentrate flavor while growing, pulling out green / overripe grapes immediately after harvest, etc) Leaf picker... now there's a career option I might consider. Anyway, box wine can be nice, but not high enough on the quality scale to pull in the per bottle charge the winery is accustomed to. Since they have to get rid of it to have the barrells ready for next season, off it goes, into a box. How do you make a small fortune owning a winery? Start with a large fortune. (or something like that, can't remember exactly how he delivered the punch line, but You Won't Get Rich)
The good thing about the box is that it keeps the wine inside from being exposed to oxygen which will change the taste. (Which is why champagne always tastes like crap at a bad wedding reception - they put it in those stupid flat glasses instead of tall thin ones, and they pour it about 3 hours before anyone will drink it. Blaaaaaaaaaagh.)
If you need to chill a bottle of wine in a hurry, 35 mintues in the freezer will do the trick.
Ted gave us a list of some popular wine varietals (in other words, some of the ones he stocks)
- He raved over Muscadet and said that oysters are great with it. You will not EVER see me consuming raw oysters. Eww.
- Riesling - similar to white zinfandel but better
- Sauvignon Blanc is a good all-around (with chicken, fish, pasta & red sauce, etc)
- Viognier - a nice alternative to Chardonnay
Here's a website, for Sonoma county grape growers association: www.scgga.org
We tried 3 white wines. Ted pointed out you should try the driest first (and I thought "fine, if you know which one's which...")
Italy - Orvietto Classico 2003 (www.Ruffino.com) - he said this had trebiano grapes and my brother in law and I immediately looked at each other and said "Joey Tribbiano?" silently. I love him - but we are so pathetic. An ok wine, kind of tart.
Chateau LaFayette Reneau Seyval Chardonnay 2002 - from Seneca lake, if you know why that's funny. We liked this one the best but Ted said it has an "apple tart finish".... mmmm okay.
Glenora dry Riesling - NY state, 2002... I didn't like it - my first impression was the glass didn't smell clean. Apparently a GOOD riesling has a slight smell of Petrol according to the snootie tootie people.
Snacks were provided - a french cheese that was vaguely like string cheese, and a sheep's milk cheese that was semi soft and had a flavor like cream cheese or cottage cheese. I liked it, Mr. C did not. He frowns on things odd or unfamiliar. (More for me!) The sesame bread was good too.
We bought two bottles for when we cook (sister in law and I try new recipes together often, we're doing a French country cooking sort of pre-Valentines thing with brie in pastry, followed by scallops, eggplant/cheese/rice casserole, etc next weekend.)
- Chateau de Chasseloir Muscadet Sevre et Maine 2002.... about $10 or $15 for snacks/ main course
- for dessert, Robert Pecota Winery (California) 2001 Moscato d'andrea Muscat Canelli... a Napa Valley wine.
That's all for now. Cheers!
Groundhog Day
Why, if that furry little rodent SEES HIS SHADOW, which means the SUN is out(you remember, that big yellow ball that used to be in the sky), WHY does that mean six more weeks of winter?
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Beadz
Here is a necklace I made last night, and wore today.... it's actually purple, but didn't scan well. It's not as dark as it looks here. The end is driving me crazy because I made it, checked the length, and when I went to add to it, the wire was creased and I should just re-string it, which I will do before I wear it again. So much for playing with beads as a way to relax. HTML is apparently not my friend either!!
This one has a fish on it that I've had for a while, it is made of multiple segments, so it bends (hard to explain but cool) and I finally found the right beads to put together with it. Again, slightly brighter in person... like me... blahahah
Thanks, Shammy.
This one has a fish on it that I've had for a while, it is made of multiple segments, so it bends (hard to explain but cool) and I finally found the right beads to put together with it. Again, slightly brighter in person... like me... blahahah
Thanks, Shammy.
Post, schmost
I've got nothing, really.
I'm in THAT mood again. Midwinter, Christmas is over, and this time of year sucks. I can't go tanning either because on the one hand it's bad for you, skin cancer, yadda yada yada, and then when I got past that and started doing it anyway, Mark had to go and point out how gross it is to lie on a tanning bed. If I can't lie there and fall asleep, when am I supposed to get my nap? I'm not going to stand in the wind silo, hanging on for dear life. So I'm cold and pasty pale, yee haw.
Job satisfaction... not high today. It's hard to be dazzled when you're basically arranging projects for other people all day long. Other people on my team build Things. I merely arrange for them to have a task on their time card to write down how long it took them to build Things. Oh, the glory. Couple that with someone who doesn't seem to understand that a client's question or problem is NEVER going to really come at a convenient time, and yes, we KNOW you have other things to do but it's not like you're really taxed.... oh, it's a rocking good time, let me tell you.
Tonight we at least have another wine class. I'll let you know what wisdom Bob Newhart passes along this time.
I'm in THAT mood again. Midwinter, Christmas is over, and this time of year sucks. I can't go tanning either because on the one hand it's bad for you, skin cancer, yadda yada yada, and then when I got past that and started doing it anyway, Mark had to go and point out how gross it is to lie on a tanning bed. If I can't lie there and fall asleep, when am I supposed to get my nap? I'm not going to stand in the wind silo, hanging on for dear life. So I'm cold and pasty pale, yee haw.
Job satisfaction... not high today. It's hard to be dazzled when you're basically arranging projects for other people all day long. Other people on my team build Things. I merely arrange for them to have a task on their time card to write down how long it took them to build Things. Oh, the glory. Couple that with someone who doesn't seem to understand that a client's question or problem is NEVER going to really come at a convenient time, and yes, we KNOW you have other things to do but it's not like you're really taxed.... oh, it's a rocking good time, let me tell you.
Tonight we at least have another wine class. I'll let you know what wisdom Bob Newhart passes along this time.
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