Dumbfounded

I am floored. Completely. Never in the four seasons I have been watching Dancing With The Stars has my jaw actually dropped. I think I have a bruise on my big toe from it dropping on my foot. There are plenty of weeks I am disappointed in who was eliminated and other weeks when I felt the celebrity did not deserve to be voted off. But always I could figure WHY they had been. Last night I had nothing. The voters sent Sabrina home before Cameron?!?!?! What is that all about? I have not voted for her, it's true, and in not doing so you may think I contributed to the astonishment that was the results show last night. You may in part be correct. I am also part of the problem I complain about so much - people needing to vote on actual dance ability rather than personality. I admit it. I did not vote for Sabrina. I felt that she was a ringer put in because Disney owns ABC and wanted the publicity or something. (Shows how well I can play the politics game.) However EVERY one else in the whole world loves the Cheetah Girls AND Sabrina was the best dancer so I don't understand who else did not vote for her. And leaving Cameron behind? And Jane? Did you see how excited Tony was when they were saved? I thought the man was gonna back flip off the stage. It really is any one's game after last night. I hope Melanie wins it. I will be REALLY upset if through some bizarre series of events Julianne and Helio make it through so she can win back to back. Really upset. Really. Upset.
On the other hand, it was a great night for the professionals. Barry Manilow is a great guest to have on this show. His music is hip-ish and it matches so many dance styles. Cheryl and Louie's samba(?) was awesome - I swear the man's father was Gumby - and Anna and Jonathan's waltz was gorgeous.
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Oh yeah...HAPPY HALLOWEEN everybody!! I kinda forget about it with the bright sunny day and it being 75 degrees outside. And my not having any kids to make/buy costumes for. Or trick or treaters coming by the Jungle so no candy to buy - at least until tomorrow when it all goes on sale for 75% off. Check it out Miss Cheapskate! What are you dressing up as? Tarzan and I made costumes when we were in college for some dance number and we liked them so much we kept them to use again and again...well pretty much every time we have to dress up. We go as hipsters. Yeah man. Check the groove out on this shirt baby. Really groovy jeans with huge bell bottoms and floral stripes down the side. Tarzan has the paisley-est shirt you have ever seen with huge butterfly lapels. We draw ginormous sideburns on his cheeks and then he puts on the bling. Gold chains and rings. Add the shades and he's so hip it's sick. Mine is similar with a paisley shirt, animal print headband and I wear a big peace symbol. We get a lot of "OMG, I TOTALLY had jeans like that when I was younger!" comments. It's pretty fun. And way comfortable.

This is me, considering that spellcheck does not mark ginormous as unusual...

Wife Of The Year

Contrary to popular belief we do not wear just loincloths in the jungle. It would certainly cut down the wear and tear on the washing machine and dryer. And it would be SO. MUCH. EASIER. to decide in the mornings. Save me at least 20 minutes. But there's all these dress codes in offices and schools and then the weather and whatever. It's really a great loss. Tarzan looks hot in a loincloth. (I know, I know, TMI)
The point being, I found the fortitude on Saturday to attack the mountain of clothing, sheets, towels and socks - oh the socks! - that had grown to encompass the entire west side of the bedroom. It was moving along smoothly enough after the sorting exercises. Do (originally) white hand towels go in with the whites? Or with the other towels? What exactly is the protocol for jeans? When does Tarzan find time to wear so many pairs of socks?! There's only seven days in a week. It never fails, no matter how carefully I look and gather, there's always one white sock and one dark sock that don't make their respective load so I have run them through with other stuff and then they get tangled and sometimes folded into the fitted sheet and...it's a real ordeal. But after all the sorting it was a fairly easy routine. Dirty load on the dryer, dryer load in the basket, washer load in the dryer, dirty into the washer, soap, Bounce, set and they're off! Dump the clean load on the bed, pull out the wrinkly stuff to leave on the ironing board for a month, and forget about laundry for an hour. I was in the zone. I was an efficient machine. I was groovin'.
Then Tarzan came home from work (poor boy has to teach on Saturday mornings)...and the needle jumped the groove. It was *ahem* glorious but I forgot about the laundry for a little while. Rushing to get it all done before the descent of night and knowing the next day was Sunday I was not as diligent as is my usual when emptying the pockets of the pants Tarzan had worn that day. I noticed nothing amiss until I was putting the last load in the washer, pressing start on both machines and there came a horrible thumping sound from the dryer. Weird. I expected maybe a shoe or slipper had ended up in the basket? Cats do weird things. No. I wish it had been. No. I am ashamed to say it. I WASHED TARZAN'S CELL PHONE. Oh yes. I got his wallet and his keys out but I missed the cell phone. Oooops. Needless to say it was pretty soggy. It wouldn't even turn on. The good news is his SIM card was okay, but he had to go buy a new phone yesterday. Sorry honey...

This is me, the laundry expert.

Weird Dream #20

I am sure I have dreamed sometime since June, but I can't remember any of them. Especially after all the initial craziness first thing in the morning here in the office. Not sure why these emergencies always come up in the middle of the night and are screaming for attention by 8am but there we are. I guess the conditions were just right for me to dream Saturday night because I did. We were in church and instead of leading the music as usual, I was in the congregation. We were lead through the first three verses without any issues but in the fourth the guy leading seemed to realize that what we were singing was not what was on the page. (This had not bothered anyone up to this point so I felt we could just keep going.) He decided to "fix" it. The hymn had a weird time signature so he called up four people to the stand to lead each part of the verse. He was all busy arranging them and we, the congregation, seemed to be all okay with waiting. I woke up before we ever got to finish the song. I also woke up all tangled in the bed clothes as Tarzan had gone to sleep between the sheet and the comforter. I wonder how that affected my dreaming brain?
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Is anyone else upset that Sarah and Joe are splitting up on Brothers & Sisters? I reeeeally wanted to like them. And SO bummed about Justin and the drugs. Kind figured that's where they were going when he met the dude at physical therapy but I always hope. DWTS is pretty much a given that Sabrina will win. We're just biding time to see in what order everyone else goes home in. Did I tell you that Tarzan got me the Dancing With The Stars book? (Can you believe they have a book?!) It's quite interesting. I'm hoping to find out who chooses the music and creates the partnerships. SOMEone does a really awkward job of it all. *****************************************************************************************
USC lost to the Oregon ducks so that's that in terms of a decent bowl game. We've fallen to #19 so whatever. And despite my loathing the sound of these words...it is a building year for the team. And yet, Saturday was a good day. Tarzan was a darling and we had a good afternoon. *****************************************************************************************
I feel like a total idiot for not even considering there were fires burning all over the state. Nope. Not me. Living in my own little world. Never mind the devastation being wrought on others. Even some sweet old people I know. Thankfully they are okay and they got the important stuff out - birth certificates, insurance, photos, etc. But the house is all gone. How was your weekend?

This is me, as always.

World Of Warcraft

Aaaah, yes. Love The Back Porch people. Love you long time!
Onesome: World--Wide Web resources? Is there one particular area of your life, personal or professional, where you use the web as an informational resource? Knitting? Medical? Research?

• Google is all kinds of the bomb. I so should have bought stock in that company a few years ago. Seriously, I Google EVERY-thing. People, restaurants, quotes, lots of work stuff. Just lately - like yesterday - we had to look up flip-up grab bars for bathrooms. Where did we find the company? Google. Natch.

Twosome: of-- the 168 hours in a given week, how much time do you spend on the computer? No, we're not looking to plan an intervention, just curious...

• Hmmm, working on the computer? Prolly...40+/- but this month it's been closer to 55 each week. AutoCAD, emailing, PDFs, it's all computer related. I should probably be blind by now all the time I spend staring at this thing. Playing, blogging included, a few fewer than that. Maybe 3?

Threesome :Warcraft-- games? Poker games? Role playing games? Do you play games on your computer? Really? What kind of games?

• When I get the chance, I love to play Heroes of Might and Magic, Civilization, Lemmings, lots of little games like Virtual Villagers, Alice Greenfingers and Azada. How often do I get the chance? Like once in every few months. Top of the list of things to do next year, right after sleep in and not go to work any more.

This is me, thankful for an easy posting day.

My Thumb Hurts

So, one would think that staying at the office until 9:00 at night would give me MORE time to blog, not less, but it does not seem to be working out that way. In response to dear Rocketgirl and others who have inquired - I am not withholding entries just to have stuff to say in November. Although. That's not an entirely bad idea...:-) Kidding kidding. The office is killing me slowly right now. Too few people doing too much work in too little time. The story of this profession. It sucks the big one. But lest I violate my vow, I will refrain from mentioning anything further. No excuses!
I strained my thumb a week and a half ago. My left thumb. Naturally, seeing as I am left handed. I did not realize until now exactly HOW MUCH world domination actually depends on opposable thumbs but it does. It REALLY does. Pulling the lever that will launch the missile to destroy the planet unless they deliver $1,000,000,000? Needs a thumb. Seriously. Tarzan has to open all my jars, bottles, caps, tops, wrappers, DOORS, which he is kind of liking. Me - Tarzan. You - Jane. Kind of stuff. It's tough on him driving to the office every time I need my water bottle opened though. It's also partially annoying because it only hurts when I exert pressure on it (I know, don't exert pressure, genius) so it's way easy to forget. Like when I'm driving. Or picking things up. Or typing. Answering the phone. Putting on my shoes. My thumb is very busy when using AutoCAD, banging away on the space bar. Writing! OMG. SO cannot use a pen or pencil. Which totally gets in the way of all those autographs I sign on a daily basis...Brushing my hair or my teeth hurts it. This may be a little TMI but I can't get my bra off or on easily right now. My wrist is starting to hurt now too and I suspect it's because I can't NOT use my left hand but I AM trying not to use the thumb. Some days it feels a little better. It was highly amusing Wednesday when I told Tarzan about my thumb. He proceeded to kiss it all better. And the next day, it actually kind of was! Wonder if I could patent that and make a million?

DWTS Update: Poor Marie. Take a deep breath once in a while honey. And Sam? Jeepers. Show a little compassion. Sabrina is going to run away with the trophy. Pretty sure this season was biased that direction. And finally, was it just me or did Jonathan look a little chunky last night? Just asking...

This is me, checking in.

Warm Fuzzies

Awww, isn't she so sweet? Blushes all over the Jungle today. As the only sister of Tarzan there was all kinds of room, and justification, for Rocketgirl to be jealous and annoyed at me. Coming to family events, being all opinionated, taking her brother away at other times. I AM kinda stubborn AND oblivious and there WERE some times in the early years when we disagreed (never over how awesome she is - it's a fact) but she is totally understanding and loved me anyway - we're so over it. Thanks Rocketgirl! Read her intro too - how a-MAZE-ingly cool is that? She gets to play the national anthem at a hockey game! Her. Right there, that's my SIL. Rocking out the rink. We will now adjourn this meeting of the Blogging Mutual Admiration Society...:-)
It's true, NaBloPoMo starts soon. The weekends are going to be hard. I don't sit in front of the computer on Saturday and Sunday like I do at the office. And then there's the whole substance issue. Like, will I be able to have some every day for a month? My life needs some variety so I don't bore you all with the same ol' office complaints and whining. Sadly that is not likely to change in November because I certainly don't feel like doing much when I leave the office at 9pm other than drop into bed and sleep for a long, long, loooooong time. My camera is still busted - we're likely to get a new one soon-ish but do we get the exact same model? I want to, I think. I really liked it. It was big, bigger than most casual digital cameras, but I liked it. Anyway, until it's fixed or we get the new one there will be no cop-out picture postings. I will have to be witty all on my own, with no assistance. Erk.
What are your plans for the weekend? I'm going to spend some time with my two youngest brothers. They've been in town since Wednesday night but I've barely seen them. I think Tarzan sees more of my family than I do. Whenever someone needs to be picked up or dropped off or something passed between families, who gets to do it? Me, who works until 6 or 7pm (8-9pm lately), or Tarzan, who gets out of school at 3:30? Two guesses. One more reason to love the boy with everything I am. And I do.

This is me, getting all mushy.

::A to Z::

Not that I am looking for a reason not to blog, but I AM looking for a reason not to think too hard. Here we are:
Onesome: A--round this time of year? What's happening with the weather where you are? Ch-ch-changes? ...or are things still 'Summery'?

• We live in The Jungle. Other than being darker sooner than it was in July, the weather is pretty much the same. Sunny, +/-80 degrees, light breeze, it doesn't get any better for me. I've lived in The Frozen North and I've lived in The Real Desert and I'm good with it here. The trees are pretty when they change color, sure, but who wants to rake all those leaves and shovel snow before Halloween? Not me, thank you.

Twosome: to-- inventory your place for insurance coverage, what would it take? Too much work? How about ideas for the gang: is videotaping with a voiceover the way to go?

• We have So. Much. Crap. It's likely we could be burglarized and not know it. Ever. Seriously, one of the main things on my to do list next year is sort through, rearrange, clean out and throw out a lot of "stuff." Most of what we have isn't worth much anyway. The TV (it's a nice one - also way hard to transport because it weighs a ton), the laptops, but we mostly take those with us when we leave everyday. And how does one put a price on the picture albums and journals from years back and the programs from all seven of my trips to

Wicked?

Threesome: Z--one coverage? ...better than "man"? Are you following any football teams this year? How are they doing?

• As with all things, it depends. Depends on how the teams line up, depends on how fast the guys are, how many points need to be made up and how good their hands are. It depends. My teams are the USC Trojans naturally - Fight On! - and the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers are at 3-3 so we'll see how that goes. The guys in the office don't give them much hope. Whatevs. The Trojans are 5-1 but the BCS ranks us at #14 so we'll see how THAT goes as well. We'll have to DESTROY Notre Dame this weekend. And pretty much blow out every other opponent for the rest of the season if we want a Bowl game of any notoriety. Stupid Stanford.

This is me, with the weekly meme.

Ode To A Rocketgirl

There are goods and bads associated with this Ode tradition I have started. It's good actually knowing the person, much more personal stuff to say. Of course, if that person then reads the blog, I have to be more circumspect about what I put down...Whatevs. No worries today, this chick is fantabulous!

Happy Birthday Rocketgirl!

My, my, what to say about Rocketgirl...She talks about how freakishly happy her baby is - and it's true - but Sunshine certainly gets her attitude from her mom. Rocketgirl is such a high energy girl. Very passionate. Highs are to the moon and lows are the depths of despair. (Kind of Anne of Green Gables-ish in that regard) She's always up for anything, unusual and crazy though it may be. She's also an interesting mix of caring what others think of her and not giving a hooping funt (thank you Tarzan for that epithet) about what she may look like whipping out her violin to play in the middle of a foreign country's train station. Rocketgirl does not have a steady level of self esteem but she IS awesome. She's a highly spiritual person, devoted, loyal and very quick to sympathize with others. She is intelligent - she has a Masters degree in music pedagogy - she's pretty and she's talented, a triple threat. She attracts a wide variety of people and we all count ourselves lucky to be considered her friend. She gives herself whole heartedly and holds nothing back. Rocketgirl is 100% pure.

This is me, wishing my first sister-in-law a very Happy Birthday!

Plus One

Had I thought about it completely I would have started this blog before my last birthday so my first birthday post could be for my 30th. And then I considered that, really, 30 is a milestone. So it worked out - this is the end of my first year-beyond-30. It's been a good year, a busy year. In a Rocketgirl-esque moment I will summarize it for you. At least as far as my brain remembers.

• I became head of the Primary (little squirts) at church.
• I went on a cruise with Tarzan to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary.
• I planned and executed the church Christmas party and Christmas Eve program, delegating and requesting as necessary.
• I handled a wedding and the Christmas party on the same day.
• Tarzan and I visited his family in The Rockies and introduced more people to the joy that is Wicked.
• I went to Middleton for Cogent's graduation from St. John's College.
• I visited a Military Camp for the first time.
• I have done a massive number of schematic and design development drawings for projects in the office
• I have learned how to better deal with annoying people.
• I made the goal, and we seem to be accomplishing it, to leave the work force at the end of this calendar year.
• I adopted a sixth cat.
• I got a digital camera and broke it. (Haven't replaced it yet, which is why there are so few pictures lately.)
• I started this blog! Thank you faithful readers!

I think those are the highlights. As for the party, the celebrations started Saturday with USC winning the football game. Not by much, true, but then LSU lost! (They had been #1 in the AP poll). That was a present in and of itself. Then Cal lost (they were #1 for about two hours) - ungrateful punks, after all my self sacrifice to support them despite they being a huge rival. The BCS rankings came out on Sunday and despite all the losing we are only ranked #14. Stupid system. But happy stuff on Saturday: There was an impromptu dinner with some friends at The Stinking Rose. Good food, good times were had by all. The office took me to lunch today - and there will be cake. Tarzan has promised presents when I go home too. Sweet!

This is me, 31.

Political - Sort Of

Driving to work I saw this bumper sticker on a car:

"Dissent Is The Truest Form Of Patriotism"

I think I understand what the author was trying to say and I agree with the intent but not the execution. I think it should have read:

"Dissent Is The Truest Form Of Democracy"

Because the point of democracy is we, the people, decide who is in charge and if we don't like the way it's going we, the people, can vote him/her out of office. The Bill Of Rights allows us to speak our opinion about a leader or authoritative figure without fear of recrimination. So yeah, the ability - our right even - to "disagree with the methods, goals, etc., of a political party or government; take an opposing view" is part of the Democratic system. (Thank you dictionary.com)
On the other hand, Patriotism means "love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it," "Love of and devotion to one's country," and "devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty." This is more about the emotion and less about the organization. I definitely believe that supporting the Bill Of Rights, The Constitution etc. is patriotic. No question. And I think one can love, support and defend the country while also not agreeing with the leaders. (Hellllooo, the last eight years maybe?) But in this case I think the phrasing of the bumper sticker suggests it's more a love of talking back or bad mouthing others the author supports and not the democratic process. What if someone supports the powers that be? Is that person not patriotic? Obviously SOMEone likes the government, or they wouldn't have been voted in. Am I not patriotic if I like the President? We should "question everything" but we don't have to DISAGREE with everything.
It's nit picky true, maybe it's just me, and maybe I'm reading more into it than intended. But then, that's what makes this interesting. Comments?

This is me, thinking hard on a Friday.
We welcome Dan to the Jungle! Thanks for commenting!

Bang The Gong

We interrupt your Thursday meme for this special announcement: Thank you to Anonymous and the ever faithful rocketgirl for commenting! Love the commenting. And I have been trying to comment on all the blogs I read too. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program:

Onesome: Bang--ing your head against the wall? What haven't you been able to get to this week that you really wanted to? ...any hope for next week?

• Heh. Heh. Ha ha ha hahahahahahahahhaaa! Funny. No, no. The plans MUST be revised completely this week so the consultants can have them Monday morning so they can get on the Construction Documents because we have to be in the Building Department by the first of December. It must be done this week. There is no try.

Twosome: the -- other side of the coin: What have you seen this week that was just really so cool/neat/tight/pick your own buzzword that you just had to describe it to someone?

• There's some weird dude walking the street outside the office right now in a Grim Reaper costume...This week has been one of working and more working - see above - we're going to The Stinking Rose for my birthday though. That'll be groovy. Looooove the sauteed garlic cloves that are so tender you can spread it like butter on the bread.

Threesome: Gong-- Okay, do you have one of those cute little gongs in your house? ...or a larger one in your garden? Just askin'...

• Not sure what you're asking...a cute little gong in my house? or my garden? Well, first I'd have to HAVE a garden. We have a postage stamp of lot in the center of The Jungle. There's no garden here. Not a one in my house either. We DO have a Mayan calendar though - from Brazil. It's awesome.

This is me, taking a short break and now it's back to work.

This Season

No doubt you're tired of me whining about Dancing With The Stars. I kinda feel like that's all I blog about. So. Suffice it to say that Wayne should have gone home weeks ago, Albert should still be with us, and likely Helio will win so Julianne can claim back-to-back championships like Cheryl and let's talk about the other shows we're watching this fall.

• Pushing Daisies is not a show we had planned on watching but when the trailer showed Kristin Chenoweth was in it, we HAD to see the pilot episode and wouldn't you know she's a regular cast member! (Love that her character name is Olive Snook) Plus it's a way cute show in a fairy tale kind of way with the sets and the narrator aspect, and the girl - Anna Friel - looks a lot like Karen Carpenter. Lee Pace is adorable, very dry delivery and Chi McBride is surprisingly funny. All excellent reasons to check it out.
• Big Shots was vetoed for it's adult and highly revealing content. Too bad because it had a good plot and some great dialogue. And Michael Vartan is amazingly hot.
• Journeyman is really intriguing. Very sympathetic character. Not sure where its going to go but I think we'll watch to see. Interesting that the other female lead's real name is Moon Bloodgood. Who were her parents?
• Heroes is aMAZing of course. We are hoping it doesn't get too confusing with all the characters - it's like a TV War and Peace - but it's really exciting. Loving the Irish angle right now. It's been an Irish kind of year with The Black Donellys, it got cancelled, then The Pirate Queen and Grania, the book, then The Wind That Shakes The Barley (was a very good movie - LOVE Cillian Murphy) and now this show too. Pretty cool. Gotta represent yo'.
• Cane is not a period piece as we had hoped so don't know if we will stay with it. Jimmy Smitts is an excellent choice for the part. He's the "good" guy but when the good guy starts killing people I don't know how long he can remain the good guy. Maybe we will keep watching it. LOVE that Rita Moreno is in it.
• Law & Order: SVU is way cool still. Loved the season opener.

Guess that's all. Haven't even seen ER yet, which is way sad...

This is me, lovin' the Irish.

Saturday

As I was saying, this weekend was a variable of emotions. Tarzan and I were back in each other's good graces so that was all kinds of happy.
The USC Trojans lost - yes LOST - to Stanford - yes STANFORD - the loser-est team in Division I football. Except for Notre Dame perhaps, and the Fighting Irish beat UCLA on Saturday! What is that all about? This fall has been a conglomeration of major losses and upsets in college football. Really, I think we should just count the year as a learning experience, not play any Bowl games and just start over next fall. It was sad, really sad to watch the game. Not as many penalties as last week, but interceptions, dropped passes, lack of conversion on 3rd down, all kinds of ugly. And there was a large drop in the rankings because of it. #1 to #10 overnight. Now. While this is all kinds of disappointing (do you like my new phrase? it amuses me), if we HAD to lose we should have picked a team that has a chance at the National Championship - like Cal - though frankly it irks me to no end that I have to support the Golden Bears for the title now - not the Farm of all things, I am not one of those nay-sayers calling for Pete Carroll's resignation. The man lost one game people. Really. Cope. If you're gonna wager that much money you have to have it to lose. Jeepers.
An interesting thing happened to me while at the grocery store on Saturday. The cashier discovered one of the bags of chips was open as she was ringing me up and asked if I wanted to get another one. Well duh, of course I do. Did she want me to run over now or wait until I've paid? Oh you can wait until after and just pick it up on the way out. I actually thought in my head as she said that "THAT won't look like I'm shoplifting will it?" But in my naivete I believed her so I paid for all the groceries, walked with my cart full of BAGGED groceries down the junk food aisle, made my selection and proceeded toward the exit. Yeah, that went a long way. I've written of my love for Albertson's and this experience just enhances it. No screaming alarms or buzzers, no "patron with pilfered items leaving the store!!" announcements, no. Just a quiet little "excuse me ma'am" from an authoritative but not aggressive security guard. He was very nice and totally understanding when I explained what had happened and when he checked my receipt. It was well handled, and though I felt stupid for not bringing the possibility up to the cashier, the guard did not make me feel like a dork head. So I continue to love Albertson's and will check my purchases more intently in the future...

This is me, not-a-fugitive.

Adventures

Ha ha! Fooled you didn't I? Promising to stay home all week long...As if I could ever stay away from all the joy that is the office and all the beautiful people that work here. Silly peeps who read my blog - all three of you.
Did you notice how subtly I mentioned that? That my stats are up. Yeah, subtle: my middle name. This statistic counter thing is turning up some interesting information. Coolness is I can check and see the most popular pages (Ode To A Block - didn't I tell you she was wonderful? As recently as Satruday someone came here looking for Stephanie J. Block - p.s. she gets married this month) and where the individuals looking at them live. I have had an epiphany. I now know why there's such a to-do about de-lurking (it has a week named for it: January 8-14th I think) and why people beg visitors to comment with such fervor. It's really frustrating to know that someone is reading your site and not know what they think of it. I confess I am a huge lurker. There are a dozen blogs I read, and have read from their beginnings (all the archives and stuff) with nary a comment. I apologize peeps, I really do! I will be better starting today. A-commenting I go, A-commenting I go, hi-ho the dairy-o...well that's a song I haven't thought of in years. Weirdness is some of the amazing keyword searches that direct people to this site. Lemme list a few of the better ones:

• albert reed crotch (shame, shame on you)
• deedee magno (lots of theater people)
• stardust quote we've always known you were a whoopsie (hee hee)
• megan hilty natural hair color (ummm, okay folks)

But I digress, all kinds of digressing here.
So here I am at the office. I should have stayed home. Really. But the building wasn't put on the survey correctly so the boss spent all weekend working on that and I have to translate it to AutoCAD. All five floors. Before the week is over. Yay! Not so.
More about the fabulous weekend adventures tomorrow.

This is me tired of the office - it's 7:18pm right now. Bleah.

Women Or Men?

This is kinda ironic considering yesterday's post, what?
Onesome: Women-- buy more cars than men? True or false? Heck, I have no clue; I'm just curious about your opinions...

• BUY more cars? Dunno. Probably chicks because statistically girls don't tinker around with their cars/trucks like guys do and so if it breaks we go and get a new one. We also don't look after our cars like guys do so it liable to break more often and then we need a new one. Besides, what woman doesn't want to shop for shiny new things?

Twosome: or-- Jo~Ann or Michaels? Which place would you use to buy your crafty stuff? I mean, Christmas is coming and gift cards would be lovely; let's get the word out now!

• I have to go with Michael's for the variety. Michael's has EVERYthing in ALL the colors. Maybe it's just the individual stores I've been in. My mom loves Jo~Ann's though, and she's pretty crafty.

Threesome: Men-- are better chefs than women? Bobby Flay or Rachel Ray? True or false? Sure, you can go all Food Network if you'd like (Paula can make my dessert any day; butter, butter, butter!), but who's grilling your ribs?

• This one is strictly a matter of the individual and personal taste. Bobby Flay is awesome - but the man does use a lot of booze. Don't watch Rachel Ray. Cat Cora's pretty cool. Got to be the fence sitter on this one. It all depends on who and what they're making. For normal home cooked food, you can't do better than my mom!

This is me, quickly - it's been a long day. (It's 7:21pm right now)
P.S. We made up. :-)

My Joy Continues To Abound

Thank you TRB, thank you so very much. I had a tiny little cold at the start of September. Itsy bitsy sniffles. Barely even classified as a cold. SHE develops one the week following that hangs on and on and on, hacking like she's about to spew her lungs on her desk, touching everything and NOT WASHING HER HANDS! Where's the consideration? And despite my religious fervor in not going near her desk and not touching anything she did and washing my hands several times an hour, I contracted her cold anyway. I can feel it coming and it's not going to be pretty. So thank you TRB, thank you SO much.
DWTS totally blew. Well the professionals were awesome. Queen Latifah was awesome too. The producers suck. Firstly the show lasted two (2!) minutes past 10:00 so the DVR wouldn't record it AND Cane AND Law & Order: SVU so we had to watch it live. Normally this would not be a problem either EXCEPT that they didn't reveal who was leaving until 10:01 and the DVR switched channels or we had to give up the recording of one of the other shows. Bleah. So we did not find out about the SHOCKING and RIDICULOUS elimination of Albert Reed! until this morning. WHAT is that all about? It's pretty much certain that ABC has a vendetta against the supermodel. I mean really. At least the man moved his hips *cough* Wayne *cough* and didn't trip over his partner!! Gah! Yes, yes, yes, I realize that this is more a popularity contest than a real dance competition but seriously? Fake it a little better would ya?
And Tarzan and I are in a fight. It's a stupid fight - when are they not? - but it sucks. Does anyone notice that after a particularly good period of marriage there follows a not-so-good period? We had such a nice weekend and then Monday it all went down the toilet. I wish I could be a little less stubborn sometimes, a little less worried about being 'right.' The one voice asks "Does it really matter Jane?" And then the little voice on my other shoulder says "Yes, it does matter sometimes." If I don't defend my opinion and my feelings, where's the line where I stop being me and just acquiesce to whatever blows by? I don't know. Maybe I really *AM* crazy and make connections that no one else makes. Maybe I really *AM* imagining what I think he said. I pride myself on understanding people and being able to see why they do what they do. (I so missed the boat on what to be when I grow up.) So why can't I just recognize why I choose these behaviors and adjust? Maybe it's because I care so freaking much that I can't be all clinical and dispassionate when he and I disagree. This growing stuff sucks.
Eh...now my head hurts.

This is me, totally staying home next week. The whole week. Seriously.

The Plot Thickens

Do you sense a conspiracy? I was watching pretty closely. So was Tarzan and he is not influenced by personalities and attitudes the way that A and I are. Helio just did not do as good of a job as they scored him. Really. He was quick. He had one decent pivot on his heel. But the man did not move his hips. And when Julianne was doing her sexy look-at-me thing he was just standing there. Tarzan said so too. Now Albert and Cameron - who also have little in the hip department - at least TRIED to keep moving. This will be the first season Cheryl will not be in the finals because, sad to say, Wayne was not as good at smooth ballroom as I was hoping he would be. Bruno, you disappoint me. He couldn't keep up the whip cracking comments. They were all wordy and convoluted. The simplest was Cameron who "looks like Superman and dances like Clark Kent." Whatevs.
Short and sweet today because the office is wacked. Too many clients wanting things yesterday and TRB is out of control over her "new" apartment, the housewarming present (a stacked washer and dryer) and the DWP bill.
In addition I have cub scouts tonight and I need to finish the roster before I go. Oh yeah, and do some work.

This is me, harried.

It Could Only Last So Long

Well that was disappointing to the 592th degree. We certainly deserve to be #2 in the nation after the pathetic showing on Saturday against unranked Washington State. (Huck the Fuskies!) It was a weekend of upsets in the college football world and USC was almost part of it. Barely squeaked out with a 3-point win when we were favored by 20 or more. We haven't been Penalty U for a looooong time. 165 freaking yards man. That's a lot! Gah. It was as bad to watch as the National Championship game against Texas two years ago. Well almost. We didn't beat Texas. We won this game, true, and that is certainly better than losing. But it doesn't really feel like we won. Except maybe to Washington State.
In other, happier news, I had dinner with Cogent Friday night at Sushi-O-Zekii (dunno if the link will work for you - it only did 1/6 times for me) and it was goooood. We ordered the sushimi boat and it comes to your table in an actual wooden boat. And this is not some crappy use-once-and-throw away boat. This was a quality ship. The rudder actually moved and could be directed from the deck and all the masts came out to facilitate the reaching of the sushi. I even liked the miso soup and that is rare. Miso takes like rubber smells and that's just not appetizing. But this stuff was good. Thanks sugar!
But now it's Monday and I am back in the office I just can't not whine if today is an indicator of how the week is going to go. TRB (The Rabid Barracuda, for those who have a program) is driving me up the wall. Do you suppose she's getting worse or am I getting antsy because I'm leaving soon-ish? Seriously. It's one thing to not report a mistake in your favor to the company. (I would tell them, but some people wouldn't.) It is quite another to broadcast to the office how you plan on defrauding the Department of Water and Power by a factor of 10!

This is me, knowing the end can't come soon enough. Why is that *#!$%#^! turtle taking so long!?