Sorry

'What am I supposed to be doing here again? Because I'm really not sure anymore."

Today was not a great day; IF you dillegently answer someone's questions for months (since October) and then they report to their manager that they've been trying to get you to give them information since November (couldn't he at least look through his mailbox to get his dates right?? oh, no, because then he'd see that I ANSWERED HIS QUESTIONS), and what they want is not at all what they've been asking for... welll, THEN you might be a programmer. Or someone lucky enough to work with them.

(To all my geeks, I still love you, I'm just having a bad day...)

question := (2B != 2B )

(yes, I'm just making that up, I know it's a mishmosh and probably wouldn't compile )

Photo by me, on the way home from work.

To my darling babies

Do you see that white stuff, that's falling from the sky? It's called s-n-o-w.

When it snows, people wear things called b-o-o-t-s. Not sneakers. The point being, to not get the cold, wet snow all over your f-e-e-t. And yes, you DO have to. Really. Now.

PS: Mommy loves you even when you're grumpy.

For no other reason

than that I like this shot (saw it on Perezzzz) and love this song, here's a little P!nk for your Saturday night.

Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?
Close your eyes and trust it, just trust it
Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?
Have you ever looked fear in the face
And said I just don't care

It's only half past the point of no return
The tip of the iceberg
The sun before the burn
The thunder before the lightning
The breathe before the phrase
Have you ever felt this way?

Lucky?

I had to be up early after a late night that was only late because of a little issue involving a tow truck (sigh...). I was Not Happy about any of that.

I had to go to school to cook, but first I had to go buy buttermilk(to make dressing, we use mayo, buttermilk, and powdered ranch dressing mix). So I went to the local convenience store, because for some reason they carry TONS of buttermilk. I dunno. I never would have thought they would have that crap.

I used the ATM there... and got an extra $20. I told the clerk he needed to call and get the machine serviced. (Knowing that atm's track whether or not they successfully distribute bills in a transaction, and other stuff... I wasn't as excited as someone else might be. I know I'll have that $20 deducted from my checking account balance in the end.) He tried a "Oh, I know who that was, she was just here and didn't get her money" on me, and I gave him the hairy eyeball and said "tell her to call her bank". (For the record I did call my own bank to see if I could straighten it out sooner rather than later, but no, because it wasn't our ATM.)

I got to school and started working. I have a team of myself plus four others.... ONE person showed up a half hour after I got there. Me, not happy. Tons of work. Work of my own at home not getting done. Family members driving me up the wall via cell phone.

Today has been a lost day. It's almost dinnertime and I managed to get mix into my bread machine, so there will at least be nice bread for dinner. ... dinner which I get to cook for myself, because I am home alone, and clean up the mess myself... which is ok, even though I'm So Tired, mainly because I am not At Another Freaking Basketball Game. This one was literally 45 minutes from here and the directions from our coach were so sketchy, I wonder if the guy can find his, you know what, with both hands. Google maps can't help you if you don't have a street address for a place out in nowhere land.

So, in short: Tired, overworked, cranky. Feeling only semi lucky. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Oy and Vey with a yawn on the side

I am exhausted and crazy busy. Every day this week I've had somewhere to go in the evening. Yesterday I went from work to pick up my daughter to the market to basketball practice to a school meeting to choir practice. ::::thud::::

March is looking like torture because I have yearbook stuff I've been seriously neglecting to plow my farm on facebook, and I have a raffle to run, and a dance to prep for. Oh, and the kids have honors band rehearsals and there will be a couple more basketball games (frowny face) and the basketball banquet.

And there is no long weekend this month. Soooo wrong.

Please, send Pepsi Max. (side note... I gave up soda and wine for lent. Yesterday at work I was so tired I thought "I'll have a small soda, I need to taper down my caffeine consumption to make this easier" (a thought I shoudl have had last week, but whatever). Then I got home from choir and Mr. C said "hey, I got some wine...." (I usually drink a glass or two while I watch office/ greys/ etc... last night was no exception.... sigh...day one, F-. )

The elephant in the room

Yesterday morning, I woke up and fought with you again, about all of the things that I guess we will never agree on. Of course, it was all in my head, after I hit the snooze button. I didn't know why I was arguing with you at length; for some reason it had just bubbled up, as though from a broken watermain in the street. I assumed it was a byproduct of my new timewaster of looking up everyone I've ever known, on facebook.

And then there you were, after all this time. I turned around in a very public place, started walking away from the counter with my purchase, and almost smacked right into you. Damn. I could see that you were with other people that I don't know. So I just walked on by. I don't think well on my feet. I hate confrontations.

What is there to say, that I didn't say a thousand times, back then? You didn't want to hear it.

So I sat, hands shaking, listening to another friend, and trying to focus on the here and the now. It all seems so long ago and far away. Do I wish we were still friends? I guess I'd have to say I wish I was still friends with the person I used to think you were. And that I will spend the rest of my life wondering whether I saw your true colors THEN, or now.

Lyrics

From Phil Vassar, on my Sirius this morning...

Life takes its toll on the heart and soul, but I'm doing the best I can..Lord hear the prayer of a Common Man.

I'm not looking for charity, I just need some clarity.I've got people counting on me. And I'm tired that's all. I'm up against the wall. Lord hear me when I call


Carly(via Blackberry)

Hello, Cupcake!

I bought Hello Cupcake the other day... I was in the megahuge bookstore that just opened in the mall near me, and I flipped through the book and loved it.

There is a page that has cupcakes arranged to look like a plate of pasta (see, at left? it's CAKE.... with frosting "pasta", strawberry jam and chocolate covered candies...)

This is a clever book with more cute ideas that I will probably never get to try, but given that I've been decorating cakes for almost 15 years, leafing through this book is entertaining for me, if I'm snowed in the house... and there is wine.

I will be making this particular project when I make lunch for my brother in law. He wants a ruben with steak fries. (This is from our Superbowl squares bet, winner at halftime got to pick anything at all for a lunch that the other family members to cook for him, and he went easy on me. The final score winner gets dinner - my nephew won that -- and so far I have him sold on fettucini alfredo with shrimp and broccoli. )

Two frosting covered thumbs up!! It's available on Amazon.

More oscar complaints

Oh look. Jessica Biel rolled out of bed and dragged the sheet with her! Hem it, sister!!!

Beyonce's Grease thing? Hurts me. Hugh can't dance. Vanessa looks Bad, like Beyonce dressed her to look that way. Who are some of these people?? Ah look, here's the guy responsible for this schlock.

Carly(via Blackberry)

A tiny little Oscar commentary

Robert Downey Jr looks pretty damn good tonight. Poly, can he be my new boyfriend?

Sarah Jessica Parker, not looking good !! Like a cracked out, over the hill tooth fairy. Blah. How lame that the male ABC red carpet interviewer didn't recognize her husband! Geez! (Who the eff is he?)

(PS - nevermind him - look at Robin Robert - gorgeous orange dress!!)

Miley Cyrus got attacked by one of my grandmother's old doilies. Egads there's so much wrong with that dress.

I am noticing that a lot of actresses are NOT filling out the tops of their strapless gowns. Too much dieting. Bad. Amy Adams / Anne Hathaway, if someone tall keeps standing RIGHT behind you, he's looking at your jumbelies. Just saying.

Carly(via Blackberry)

Yankee Mural... now even MORE done

So I added a few things... touched up the white lines and foul poles, worked on the dugouts, and added ONE more thing...can you spot it? Just a tiny detail - click on the photo to go view the notes in Flickr.

The SCARY thing is... yesterday we went to Michael's. My son has to make a volcano. We bought plaster of paris type stuff and a can of brown spray paint to finish that project... and a can of clear matte sealer for MY project.

Well, I'm sure you can see where this story is going... the WRONG CAN ended up with all of my paints for this project. More than once yesterday afternoon I picked up the can of brown paint without realizing what it was, shook it a little, and debated starting to "coat & protect" my mural. With dark brown paint. ::::thud::::

But because I am a picky pain in the you know what, there were things I didn't like about the mural, and I kept deciding "I'll just fix this", or "I'll just add a little more on that part"....and then I didn't want to spray while any of it was wet, so....

After dinner Mr. C went out to the car to bring in a few things that hadn't been carried in the house when we first got home, and we all realized the sealer was in THOSE bags.... and that I had been THISCLOSE to using the brown paint all afternoon.

I can't even imagine what I would have done, if I had sprayed a blast of brown all over this.

Time is running out

...on the basketball season. I'm about done with it.

I want to have normal weekends where we do something besides get ready for the game, drive to the game, watch the game, go home and clean the uniform for tomorrow's game... which I guess I'd better do right now... since he is out with one of his teammates, at batting practice.

Anything to tire them out!!!

Stick a fork in it

I think it's done...

Carly(via Blackberry)

Shopblog

...What you do when you wait for a cashier.

You start by noticing the woman with her coat half on, half off (split vertical) who is posing and sighing, and has no idea that black tights (with endless tiny white polka dots ) really DON'T go with those shoes.

Then you notice the girl with the grey knit beret who looks a bit stoned and has no idea this isn't france. Or even Canada. It's on.

Carly(via Blackberry)

Good parenting gone horribly wrong...

So my friend talked about her parenting style, and how she prefers to use humor when her kids misbehave.

Hmm. When I get mad at my kids I don't stop and think "I should use humor here". I just tell them I'm mad, and why.

And when I want them to practice honors band music, I simply announce that "at seven o'clock you guys will practice".

It seemed like a good idea an HOUR ago, but now they're still doing it...

Carly(via Blackberry)

Almost

...Almost done... Crowd and foul lines tomorrow

Carly(via Blackberry)

Mural progress

Today I FINALLY got some more work done on D's mural... it's not done, but I fixed the outfield stripes, and started the infield and the grass around home plate.

I'm hoping to get it done this week. (famous last words....)

Overheard

Mr. C , to the boy: "are you ready?"

D (sings): "I'm ready to go right now, ready to go right now..."

Last night he was sleepwalking and tried to put the salt grinder into the microwave "to get a drink" . Hmmm.

Valentine's dinner

Well, my sister in law and I cooked last night. Or, all afternoon and half the evening, I guess you could say. We were shooting for 5:30 and we ate our entrees at 7:15... but we had a blast.

We had some cabernet that we used in the sauce for the hens, (meaning we had to TASTE IT before using it), some Merlot that I don't think I tried, but .... Greg Norman makes wines??? ... it was my sister in law's bottle... and later with dessert we had an ice wine that tasted like hard apple cider.

I made sourdough bread to go with the spinach salad.... which is rather ugly here but tasted wonderful with raspberry walnut vinaigrette.

We let everyone eat salad while the hens were getting to a temp that wouldn't kill us all... it took much longer than the recipe indicated it would. Perhaps because the little buggers were still a wee bit frozen. We didn't actually stuff the hens... part of our delay was thawing them in the microwave and we decided to sacrifice presentation for safety.

The stuffing was onion, celery, cornbread, sausage, shrimp, and some regular bread crumbs (which I think I made too soggy by adding too much chicken broth, but OH my gosh I could have just sat down with a fork and eaten a plate of stuffing and gone away happy). Whoever edited down the restaurant-quantity recipe for the magazine article we were following was NOT really concentrating... we had enough stuffing to fill a roaster pan that you would make your holiday turkey in. For 8 tiny little hens with a body cavity smaller than my tea mug.

Live and learn. It's in gladware now, and we will all eat more one or two days from now with new, decidedly less glamourous chicken. We saved the extra (red wine/ blackberry jam) glaze by freezing it in an ice cube tray, so we can pop one or two cubes out to make a boring dinner a bit less so. My brother in law helpfully compared the glaze to blood at every opportunity.

(We gave the kids just plain boneless chicken, with a pile of stuffing on the side, and they complained about ewwww, lemon juice on the beans. Tough crowd.)

And, you've seen the cupcakes, but here's one more.

You can see a few more photos on my flickr/feed if you're still hungry. Exciting things, like the cheeses we had (one was brie with apricot jam... but we didn't bake it... we have learned to focus on one or two dishes and not try to compete with a top chef finalist in making an over the top menu... ), the stuffing in preparation, and so on.... and the roses. What's valentine's day without overpriced roses ? (Mine, haha. I instituted a ban on $75 roses several years ago.) OK, now I am just being mean, because my sister in law has only been married a few years, and she loves her roses. I'm sorry.

We joked about having our own cooking show, but each episode would be more of a miniseries. (This would be why we serve so many snacks while our family patiently waits for the big entree. )

Well, I'm late for stuff so I've gotta get going.... will someone help with the dishes??

Yummy

...It is taking ALL of my willpower not to taste test!!!

Carly(via Blackberry)