Shackleford Banks

A friend came to visit last weekend, and on Saturday we ventured into the breezy bracing day to explore Shackleford Banks. We drove to Beaufort and took a water taxi over to the island. She's horse crazy, so a significant reason to go was the herd of wild horses that live on the island.

We didn't have to wander far to find them - there were several right over the dunes from where we unloaded.







Eventually we decided that we'd tried their patience enough so we cut across the middle of the island to reach the Atlantic side of the island. I love the ocean. I can spend happy hours just staring at the waves.


But there were dunes to explore and shells to collect and mysteries to contemplate...

What do you suppose happened to him?


Is there a lost and found for mermaid purses?


I thought that boat was pointed the other way when we were on the way here?


Pardon me, sir, but which way to the boat home? As the gull flies is fine - there really isn't a trail anyway.


A different group of horses was kind enough to lead us in the right direction back to the pick up point. (Hint: Don't head for the Fort. That would be the wrong way. Point yourself roughly between the hotel and the water tower.)


And see that we continued on our way.


We returned to the mainland tired, hungry and sunburned but well content with our respective treasure troves of shells - which took both of us to haul back across the island. They don't seem heavy when you find them, but it adds up fast!

These are mine. (I collected enough last time that I felt I could afford to be choosy this time. Also, I gave my friend her choice of our finds.) The one I am happiest about is the Scotch Bonnet (top row, fourth from your left) - it's the North Carolina state shell, the critter involved lives in deep water and I'm told it's rare to find an intact one of any size.



These are hers. She was very happy about the whelk shells. We found a good selection.



All in all, a lovely day!

A Hard Battle, Lost.

She beat the odds for longer than anyone expected, and fought harder than anyone I've known. I'm not sure she did herself any favors, because it hurt. It hurt her, and her husband and all who knew her and watched the struggle and the pain, the small victories and the gradual defeats.

Today, though the spirit was still willing, the flesh had finally had enough. My friend's wife died today. You first heard of her last fall, when the doctors said that she wouldn't see Christmas. She did, and she was still fighting when we went back on a rainy January day and took the outside lights back down again.

This morning, she told her husband that she loved him and she'd like some juice. She was gone when he came back to the room. I hope she's finally stopped hurting.

Belated Pi Day Salutations...

It's weird how some people don't celebrate Pi Day. What's wrong with them?? Cool numbers and PIE - what's not to love??

Since 3.14 fell on a Saturday this year, my coworkers and I combined St. Paddy's Day and Pi Day into one really yummy lunch. Corned beef, cabbage, mashed potatoes, and pie. Yummy!

I've been hungry for derby pie. (It's like pecan pie, but with chocolate chips and walnuts instead of pecans.) So that's the pie I made, in my special pi plate... I'm such an uber-dork sometimes.

The only problem? I had meetings all freakin' day and I got one tiny little sliver of pie. After my meetings, I came back to collect leftovers and found this:


Bastards ate the whole thing. I'm thinking about making one just for me. What's slowing me down is dread of dealing with the crust. I do NOT use store bought crust, but heavens I struggle. My mom has the touch with crusts - they come out perfect every time, blast her. Me? I struggle and curse and mutter. Ugh. Wretched things.

Anyway, happy pi day!!! (If you missed this one, the European Pi Day is July 22 so you have another shot at it this year.)

Shallow As A Dry Creek Bed...

You know what's pissing me off about this recession? Well, lots of things but the one right now is that my job is brain-numbingly awful. I literally come home and curl up in a ball in the corner. And I have no one to whine to because everyone here is insane and everyone else is unemployed, so anything I say about my job gets "at least you have one" in response.

This crap needs to end. One, so I can whine again. And two, so someone is hiring and I can get the hell outta here.

Lessons Learned While Traveling, Part 1

No matter how tired and medicated you are, DO NOT write "chicken" on the documents they give you on the plane when you're returning to the States from Mexico... even if what you are talking about is a small clay statue of a chicken. Those border people have NO sense of humor about livestock.

An Easy Mystery

What am I?


Perhaps a clue?


Or two?





The jig is undoubtedly up by now.





I am... affection. Very determined affection.

A Lovely Day

I was up at 8:00 this morning. Yeah, I'm having a hard time believing it too. By 9:00, I had stopped at the gas station for two of their largest coffees (yes, both for me) and was making my way to my friend's house. By 10:00, the coffee was gone, which made me sad, but the auction was underway!

I made it home without a table, but only 'cause I lost that bid. Darnit. But the one that got away were 6 of some of the most beautiful dining room chairs I'd ever seen. Those are bugging me. *sigh*

I'll post pictures soon, but I didn't leave empty handed. I got the cool antique desk chair I wanted. Also, I wanted a milk crate full of beautiful little chunks of oak and I ended up getting the whole blasted shelf o'crap. Some stuff was trashed (several feet of cracked hose), some was claimed by my friend (like the weather stripping that is the perfect size for her garage door) and some was set aside for goodwill (an assortment of pet food bowl, lots of stainless steel boat bits, some phallic looking THING that was called a 3" long test ball, etc). I got the whole shelf for $20, and one of the router bits in the new toolbox is worth about double that, so that works out but I actually managed to only pay $13 for everything 'cause a couple of guys came over and offered a couple of bucks for the whatsits that they were hoping to get off the shelf. One guy gave me $2 for a huge pulley, and another guy gave me $5 for a couple of covered plastic buckets. I love auctions, I really do.

I wanted another crate of wood, but it was on a rack and they sold ALL of the stuff on the rack as one lot. Of course the wood was all I wanted so I let it go. Bonus: the person who won left the crate of wood when he hauled off everything else! Yes! So my friend and I nonchalantly picked that crate up on our way out. (Realistically, "nonchalant" means you should be hearing the spy hunter theme as we skulk nearby, scurry over - looking very guilty - to our target, grab the crate (and nearly jerk our arms off picking it up - wood is HEAVY) and scurry away again. Master spies? Not so much.)

One other thing I got for free? A slight sunburn. The day was perfect - sunny and clear, right around 70 degrees - a beautiful, beautiful day. It was a bit chilly in the shade, with the breeze, but I wore layers and was fine. I spent the day with a good friend, kicked back enjoying the day and the really fine people watching opportunity. You know, until I moved here, I didn't really understand why they'd call a color "Carolina blue." There wasn't a cloud in the sky all day.

Then we went back to her house to feast on cresent rolls, New York State wine and really yummy homemade soup. Dessert was some pastry thing that J. makes that is SO good, and the cap to the evening was playing their PS3 - the Star Wars Lego game, which I love.

So, it was a very very good day. Hope yours was wonderful too!

The Centipede

This guy was lonely and so he decided life would be more fun if he had a pet.

So he went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy an unusual pet.

After some discussion he finally bought a centipede, (100 leg bug), which came in a little white box to use for his house.

He took the box home, found a good location for the box, and decided he would start off by taking his new pet to the bar for a drink.

So he asked the centipede in the box, 'Would you like to go to Frank's place with me and have a beer?

But there was no answer from his new Pet. This bothered him a bit, but he waited a few minutes and then asked him again, 'How about going to the bar and having a drink with me?'

But again there was no answer from his new friend and pet. So he waited a few minutes more, thinking about the situation. He decided to ask him one more time. This time putting his face up against the centipede's house and shouting, 'Hey, in there! Would you like to go to Frank's place and have a drink with me?'

WAIT FOR IT......

A little voice came out of the box: 'I heard you the first time! I'm putting my fucking shoes on!'

Everyone Should Have A Duck...

Sharon, over at the Birdchick, found this clip. The duck chowing on a banana made me laugh.

Wordless Wednesday - What Lies Beneath...

Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique

This exhibit was at the Cleveland Museum of Art until January 18 and words cannot explain how totally bummed I am that I missed it. This is the first exhibit I've missed for years at the Museum, and it's one that I've been looking forward to for AGES. *sigh*

But, starting February 7, you can find it in San Francisco, at the Legion of Honor. I just happen to have a cousin in San Fran, who just bought a house... so all hope is not lost for me. If you find yourself in Northern California, you should definitely go!

From the Detroit News:

Antique lovers won't want to miss this breathtaking exhibition, which includes rare loans from public and private collections worldwide and is the first comparative study of the work of three of the 20th century's greatest designers. More than 50 international lenders include Queen Elizabeth II of England and Prince Albert of Monaco. Santa may not have tucked one of these masterpieces into your stocking, but don't miss the chance to see them up close in Cleveland.

Considered the "Big Three" of the decorative arts world at the turn of the century, Peter Carl Faberge in Russia, Louis Comfort Tiffany in the United States and Rene Lalique in France enjoyed a spirited rivalry that resulted in the production of some of the world's most beautiful jewelry, decorative arts and other luxury goods. This opulent exhibition of more than 300 objects provides plenty of eye candy and reunites many of their finest masterworks for the first time since they were on view together as part of the legendary 1900 Paris World's Fair.

Highlights include five Imperial Easter eggs by Faberge, one Imperial egg by Cartier and an Imperial Basket of Flowers by Faberge, all designed for the Russian Tsars and their family and later sold by the Bolsheviks; the American debut of Louis Comfort Tiffany's "Magnolia Window," a stained-glass work purchased in Paris in 1901 for a Russian baron and only seen in Russia; Edward VII's cigarette case, on loan from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; and glittering jewelry featuring diamonds and rare gems by Tiffany & Co. Other treats include the "Autumn Leaf Globe Lamp" and "Adam's Vase," on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and former star of the 1900 Paris World's Fair, both by Tiffany; Faberge's "Kremlin Tower Clock"; and Lalique's "Frogs and Lilypads" vase.

Wordless Wednesday - SNOW!!

Really?

This is funny. I only have to go into work if I want to tomorrow 'cause the weather people said it was going to snow so they shut down the factory. At the time, it wasn't even cloudy.

And the stores are out of bread, milk, beer and toilet paper - the necessities, you know.

I have a very important supplier meeting tomorrow with people who are leaving to return to Germany on Wednesday, so as long as the weather doesn't totally suck, I'll be going in. *sigh*

Last weekend, I went to Chicago. There was like 4 inches of snow on the runway, and a couple more had fallen by the time I got to the rental car. No one really paid attention. Just in case you weren't already aware, the south is different.

Well, It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time...

Remember a while ago, when I alluded to working my nerve up to do something? And I blamed the tequila and my friends?

Well, that something was letting a nice lady named Allison, who had many tattoos, large holes in her ears and three studs in her nose grab my tongue in a clamp and add a metal barbell to my oral landscape. It actually didn't really hurt. It ached, which was weird. The strangest part? They dry your tongue out before doing it, and that feels very very odd. Your tongue is not meant to be dry. Really. When I asked her if it was going to make me talk like an idiot, she responded that if people wanted to sound like idiots, they would with or without the tongue ring. Then she stuck out her tongue, and holy smokes! she had THREE studs in her tongue, in a triangle that matched the one in her nose!

Why did I do this? I'm not sure how it all got started, but I went out at Thanksgiving with friends from college. It was the first time since college that we'd all been together again and it certainly didn't take us long to regress. One thing led to another and somehow we were all (all 10 of us) trooping to the conveniently located (next to the bar) tattoo/piercing place to each have something done. The first one to remove it pays for the group trip to Vegas. I will not be losing this bet. Now it's down to an endurance test. I was hopeful at first 'cause one friend is a banker and she got her eyebrow done. I was sure that she'd walk into work on Monday and they'd be all "Get that metal OUT of your face!" Turns out, they thought it was so cool that two of her coworkers went out at lunch and got theirs done too. Well, dammit. There went that idea.

So at Christmas, I went back to the store and got new bars with acrylic balls, which are much less likely to hurt your teeth. Also, the light doesn't glint off them when you talk and you're much less likely to have people notice it.

It's actually been fun to play with - if you put ice on the top of your tongue, you can feel it underneath 'cause of the metal conducting the cold. Neat! Interesting and unexpected - talking on my cell phone outside the other night and it was really cold out, and it felt remarkably like I'd stuck my tongue to a flagpole, but INSIDE my mouth.

Pretty cool: I've lost 10+ pounds since Thanksgiving. Crunchy, which is a personal weakness of mine, is a bit of a problem now.

But yesterday, on my way home from work, I realized that the bottom ball had worked its way loose and was floating around my mouth. For whatever reason, I had a hard time getting it screwed back on - no, not while driving, after I got home. And today, damn thing did it again! On Allison's advice, I have an extra barbell in my purse, just in case it comes loose and I swallow it or something. Apparently, the acrylic balls have a very finite lifespan. I'm going to go reattach the stupid thing and if it escapes again, I'll move to a different colored one. *sigh*

Parting thought: Have you ever tried to take a picture of your own tongue? With a newspaper? Proof of life pictures are a major pain.

Wordless Wednesday - Ah Vacation, July 2008

Leading Me Down The Garden Path...

Or... my Garmin suddenly went apeshit crazy yesterday and I need it to come back to me!

I had to drive to Indiana yesterday to visit a supplier - yay! - and the device that I've come to depend on totally dropped the ball. OMG. I'm so traumatized by this, you just have no idea.

First, heading for 71 and the Garmin tells me to head for Cleveland. Okay, 'cause it's not like I checked a map to verify her accuracy before leaving. I drove several miles up 71 and she told me to get off at 18 AND THEN GET BACK ON 71 HEADING THE OTHER DIRECTION. WTF???

Second, heading into the wilds of Indiana, and she tells me to exit the highway at a spot that says the correct city. Okey-dokey. Then I traveled 40+ miles in circles on gravel roads past cows (and fields, old cemetaries, REALLY cool houses and other things I wished I had a chance to explore) to get back on the same damn highway, one exit down. Awesome! I'm so glad a coworker was waiting for me at the hotel! Oddly, he chose to drive to and from the supplier's yesterday.

Then today, she tried to get me to turn off the highway into a lake for almost a quarter of a mile, pulled those "get off here, go aways, turn around you idiot, you are going the wrong way" things TWICE and then the battery died. My brother calls her the "bitch in a box" and today, I must agree. Bad Garmin! Bad!

What is wrong with me?

I've been having a real problem with the whole Christmas spirit thing this year. I did send out Christmas cards, and the ones I've received are taped around a doorway, but that is the only hint of Christmas at my house. I didn't put up a tree, didn't hang a single garland, or string a single light. There's not even a wreathe on my door. My house is the single dark spot in the neighborhood - everyone else is quite festive.

It's worse than that though. I had the whole weekend to get ready to leave for home this Christmas. Did I clean the house? Finish shopping? Wrap gifts? Pay bills? Unload random crap from the jeep? Do laundry? Anything productive?? Nope. Not a damn thing. I curled up on the couch with a bunch of books and didn't move, unless I was getting more coffee.

I did manage to get some stuff done this week. Shopping's done. Laundry's done. Then I got home last night from work, found "The Bourne Supremacy" on TV and curled up on the couch again. And, instead of being ready to leave when the alarm roused me from slumber first thing this morning, I smacked the alarm, rolled over, and went back to sleep. When I finally crawled out of bed this morning, I started cleaning.

Here's the thing though... Before I leave to start the 12 hour drive to get home, I still have dishes to wash, the main floor to sweep, trash to take out, packing to do, wrapping to do, unload the jeep, reload the jeep, clean out the cat box, gather together everything to take home, organize bills to pay sometime this week, etc etc etc. And am I doing it? Nope. Sitting here playing online.

I just don't want to go. I don't particularly want to stay here either, but I have never been so unenthused about a holiday before. What is my problem?

But to everyone out there who's a bit more into the season, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Leverage...

I really like this show, with Timothy Hutton and a bunch of other people. For the next while, Tuesdays at 10 pm are booked.

But, am I the only one wondering about the parallels between the first episode and John Sandford's book, "The Devil's Code?"

Speaking of Being Watched...

I'm not sure whether to be completely fascinated or utterly horrified. This is the image of my house available on google when you type in my home phone number, then click on the map thing then go to street view. Check it out - Jeep's in the driveway, I'm home!

You can turn around and check out my neighbors across the street, or stroll up and down the block. Of course, I completely freaked out over people driving around taking pictures and then linking them online for anyone to stumble over. Then I spent an hour looking up everyone I knew to see if their houses are online too. Ahh, the wonders of modern technology!

Wordless Wednesday - They're Watching You.

So This Is Random...

We got an email from the powers that be last week. For Christmas, they're giving all of us microwaves. Brand new shiny microwaves for all! Even with all of the layoffs lately, that's over 1000 of them so I can only conclude that the microwaves are selling about as well as all of our other appliances and they're trying to offload them before the New Year.

Still, I wish they were handing out Tassimos. *sigh* Now I have to figure out what to do with an extra microwave.

Blankets Away...

It's done! It's done, it's done, it's done! Finally! It took forever, but I am finally ready to mail out the blanket I made for my friend's new baby. (Okay, new in October, but still small enough for the blanket.)



It's still not perfect, not by any stretch, but I think I made fewer mistakes this time. It's much more of a rectangle than the last one, although somehow it ended up being wider than it is long. Not sure how I managed that one. And again, I managed an entire row when I either knit instead of perled or vice versa.



The colors don't show up very well in the pictures. The yarn (Red Heart Baby Clouds in Tutti-Fruiti and White Swirl) is marbled with soft colors - pink, yellow, green, pale blue and lavender. And the blanket is very snuggly and soft - it got even softer when I washed it.



Now all I have to do is get it in the mail...

Special picture bonus: my lovely dining room table.

Cookie Exchange

Today was our second annual cookie exchange at work. We did it every year at my last company so I started one here last year. Last year, we had nearly 30 people, which I think was maybe too many. This year, things are so crazed around here that I had a lot of people tell me that they just didn't have time. At 6:00 this morning, when I stuffed the last bag and stumbled off for a nap before work, I had to agree with the sentiment. We ended up with 8 of us exchanging. Maybe next year, we'll find a happy medium between the two.

I've done the same cookies for the last several years. They're a drop cookie, but a frosted one. I got the recipe from Taste of Home - I have many of their cookbooks and love every one. The cookies are spiced apple drops, and they're really yummy. Guys especially seem to love them.

Of course, presentation is very important, so I broke out the Christmas stamps and the snazzy border cutting scissors for the recipe, and of course I color-matched it to the bags... 'cause I'm like that.



In my world, frosting is to be treated like spackle. This frosting really makes the cookie, too. Doubling the recipes for the cookies and for the frosting allowed me to fill 12 bags with 5 cookies each and still have enough left over to mostly fill a cookie jar.


One thing that gets me every year. I get the part where I bake the cookies, package them prettily and haul them into the exchange. The part that, for some reason, I always manage to block is that I will be bringing an equal number of cookies back home with me. (Sometimes? Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.) One good thing about haveing fewer people participate - I have a larger pool of people to feed these things too. Last year, no one really touched the ones I brought in on a plate 'cause they all had their own. This year, I was nearly attacked when I walked across the plant floor. Anyway, here's how to make your own:

Cookie Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup apple juice
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup finely chopped peeled tart apple
1 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 - 4 tablespoons apple juice

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and apple juice. Combine the dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Fold in apple and walnuts.
Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 - 14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.
For frosting, cream butter, sugar, vanilla and enough apple juice to achieve spreading consistency. Frost cooled cookies. Yield: about 3.5 dozen.

Notes:
* For drop cookies, these things are kind of a pain. Definitely grease the cookie sheets 'cause they will stick. I use 3 cookie sheets, and after I've removed the cookies to the wire rack, I just wipe the cookie sheet down with a paper towel and re-spray it. It helps.
* Also, things are much better if you stir remaining dough/batter briskly every time you leave it for a couple of minutes.
* I've used granny smith apples and gala apples - the cookies worked both times so don't freak over the apple type. Also, I've used apple juice and cider and both are fine.
* This is probably just that my oven can be quirky, but I find that 365 is better than 375. I bake them for 6 minutes then turn the cookie sheet around and bake for another 6 or so minutes. Look at the edges - when they get a bit darker, the cookie is done. The top may stay kinda shiny but trust that they are done.

All dressed up and ready to go:


Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesdays - Bar Signs

Room O'Attack Packing Paper

Over a year ago, I said something about posting pictures of my room o'attack packing paper and I'm finally getting around to it!

When I was unpacking, it seemed perfectly logical to me how to go about things. I broke the boxes down and neatly stacked them in my entry. But then I had to figure out what to do with the paper... and I just happened to have an entire room, complete with a door, with nothing in it! Clearly not a coincidence, right?

So I kept unpacking, and hauling paper up to the room and unpacking and hauling and I've mentioned how carefully packed EVERYTHING was before, I think. Next thing I knew, I could barely get the door open and I seriously feared losing a cat in there. But still, nothing terribly unusual.


Then the nice mover men came and collected all the cardboard. And one of the guys followed me upstairs, took one look at my room of paper and went dead silent, staring into the room with his mouth hanging open. I started to suspect that once again, my idea of perfectly logical didn't exactly match other people's. This was reinforced when he called his friend upstairs and they called other people at the company, and then took a bunch of pictures.

One of the guys that they called came to see the room, and brought big leaf bags with him so they stuffed all the paper into bags and hauled it away. As they stuffed and carried, one of them asked me what in the world made me fill the whole room with paper. I got a strange look when I said that it had made sense to me. Stung, I asked what I should have done. He replied that most other people fill up the empty boxes with the paper. Oh. But then you can't break the boxes down and make a tower out of them! Anyway, next time you move, probably you shouldn't follow my example. (But it was a lot of fun to play in...)

Wordless Wednesday - Die, Evil Bug, DIE!

I love the South. And the Raid Company loves having me live here too.

Wow, I Needed That!

Last week started with the typical work crap, and Tuesday was capped off with six fun filled hours of a communications workshop where they tried to get me to be "empathic, sympathic and maintaining their self esteem" while dressing down some idiot. Yeah, whatever. You want sympathy, do not hire an engineer. Plus, it was stupid. Our problem isn't communication. Our problem is the lying, back-stabbing @$$holes that we work with - that's the problem. I never know whether to give them credit for trying or be sad and scared that they're so clueless. At least this year they didn't try to force me into doing trust tests - yeah, 'cause that's my best thing!

Anywho, Wednesday, I got up early, cleaned, packed, etc etc etc. I thought I'd get out of here early which, given my history, is absurd, but I remain hopeful. Just the oil change took over an hour. So it was 4:30 by the time I left. (It means nothing that I also took time to blog.) The drive was long and boring - which is good. Exciting drives are typically bad. Finally, finally, I made it and by 3 am I was cuddled into bed at my aunt's.

The remainder of my week rocked! I knew that I really really wanted to come home, but until I was there, I didn't realize how much I needed to spend some time at home. Hanging out with the family, and as many friends as I could pack into a couple of days was exactly what I needed to gird myself to come back here.

And I did something that I didn't really ever think I'd work up my nerve to do. The bet helped. So did the tequila. But it really deserves a post of its own, so I'll leave it at that.

I drove back here on Sunday, and again the drive was boring. Well, mostly. The pouring rain and the stupid/crazy drivers livened things up a bit. And, now I'm back here. Total buzzkill. But it's only a month 'till Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday - Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Thanksgiving First

Somewhere in edit land I have the beginnings of some long rambling post about this, but I just read it and I have NO idea where I was going with it, so I'm just starting over.

I just saw a Kmart commercial that was proclaiming that they were "saving Christmas!!" And how were they doing this? By being open all day long on Thanksgiving. Nice!

Okay, I broke out the decorations a bit early this year, but I had a good reason. On the whole, however, I wish people would just slow down. I don't have particularly religious reasons for it or anything. I just remember the holiday season as being a magical time, and it isn't anymore. Yeah, some of it is undoubtedly that I was a child and didn't have anywhere the same stresses or pressures but I think a lot of it is that Christmas has just gotten diluted.

Human nature being what it is, the more you can have something, the less special it becomes. I'm already sick of carols because they've been playing in our stores for more than 2 weeks. I don't want to be assaulted by red and green lights and bells and trees and sound when I walk into a store at Halloween. I resent having to root through santa hats to find stuff for "Talk Like A Pirate" day. (Okay, exaggeration. But only just.)

Maybe I'm just being a grouch, but by the time Christmas eve rolls around anymore, I'm just ready for it to be over and I think that's just tragic. Please, folks, give Thanksgiving time before the Christmas season comes roaring in to take over.

Also, I like Thanksgiving. I like the idea that at least once a year, we specifically set aside time to look at how lucky we are. Every now and then, it occurs to me just how truly blessed I am to be me. I live in one of the few countries in the world where I, as a woman, am free to be whatever I want to be and I'm happy to be when I am too. The technology, the medical care, the education, the sheer knowledge - it's a good time to be here. My parents, after 40+ years, not only still like each other, they still chase each other around the kitchen. I've never seriously wanted for anything, and I am very aware that as a college educated individual, I'm more fortunate than most of the rest of the world. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, sometimes that gets... not forgotten exactly, or taken for granted, but set to the side, to be noticed later. So I'm glad that we've made it a holiday to give thanks, to whomever may be listening.

I'm not into the current attitude about it either. Stuffing ourselves stupid and then collapsing in front of football is not wrong, but it isn't the point either. Take a moment to appreciate how very lucky you are to be you, living where and when you are. And put Thanksgiving First.

Wordless Wednesday - Wild Roses

Like That's Going to Stop Me...

My toes are cold. Also, my nose. Cold, cold, cold.

And even though it was 76 and sunny here yesterday and my parents have already experienced snow (bwahahahahaha!), I'm still going to whine 'cause I'm cold.

Someone told me that it's supposed to drop down into the 20s next week. I hope they were confused and didn't actually mean around here. If so, I'm really going to b*tch and moan! The mild weather is about the only perk this pit offers so I'm not going to be happy if winter actually hits here too!

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In other news, I found the idiot last Monday. (He'd been hunting me on Friday.) He pulled me into a conference room and shut the door and I thought, "Sh*t. Here we go again." (Our relationship is rocky at best.) And he apologized for the email he sent that had me so pissed off for 2 days, and told me again what an excellent job I'm doing and how I'm such an important and valuable member of the team. This is the second time he's done this now. He's a two-faced jackass, in addition to being an idiot, so I take this with a grain of salt, but it is interesting.

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On a somewhat related note, I've decided that now is not the time to be the last person into a company, so I've slowed the job search way down. If I find something that is exactly what I want exactly where I want it, then we'll see. But I've stopped looking too hard or talking to recruiters, 'cause they're scum. So for the time being, I remain trapped in the pit. Yay.

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I had myself all set to make potato chowder today and I discovered that I'm out of onions. How can this be?!? So I put everything away and ordered a pizza. Screw it. I'll go to the store tomorrow.

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I spent five hours on Friday basically working on the assembly line. We had a prepilot build of our spiffy new product. It was cool, 'cause I learned a lot about where my parts fit into the machine, and at the end of the day, I could see that I had actually accomplished something, which is a rare thing indeed in my world these days. But my feet were sore, and my thumbs hurt from connecting those devilish connectors (owie!). I called my parents Friday night to thank them for the whole college education thing 'cause I do not know how people manage on an assembly line doing the same thing every day. Five hours, and I had different things to do 'cause we were forcing these things to come together, and I was DONE.

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That's about it in my world. I need to go find a sweater or something. Brrrr!

Wordless Wednesday - The Peanut, Lounging

Test Taking... How Not To Make Honor Roll

The one with the elephant just makes me laugh and laugh. Enjoy!

Ahhhh Weekends...

Last Monday, at 9:30 am, after being hit with yet another sh*tstorm, I looked around and thought, "This week is going to suck." Just once, I'd like to be wrong about these things. Friday, while dealing with a supplier, the idiot (my boss' boss) popped in to say he needed to talk to me for a couple of minutes and to find him when I was done. I went looking for him after, but he'd escaped for the day, so next week is going to start out well. He never wants anything good.

So I left work yesterday, went over to a friend's house and then we went to some little Irish bar here. It was mostly deserted, which I think is perfect. I sucked back a shot of cuevo (ahhh) and then we played darts and then pool. I really like pool, and wish I didn't totally suck at it. *sigh* I'm actually not completely terrible at darts. Aside from a small difficulty removing the darts from the board - I had some aggression to work through and the poor little things ended up embedded to the point that the whole tip was buried, and the rounded part made a bit of a dip in the board - it was good. We played a bastardized form of cricket and I actually won two games! Go me!

Today, I hit the bookstore pretty hard, and found several new books by some favorite authors, which makes me very happy. Then I went to the local art supply store for a clay date with the same friend as friday. We spent two hours playing in the mud - learning to use a wheel. I made two lopsided bowls, she made three. The class was $35 for both of us, and includes everything - the class time, the clay, and the after stuff - once the clay dries, they'll trim and fire the pieces then call us and we can go glaze them for refiring. (They'll glaze for you too if you want.) After they're done, we can go pick them up again. Pretty cool. They offer classes, and now that we (sorta) know what we're doing, we can just rent studio space from them too.

Now I'm home again, and have most of the clay cleaned off - except for the stuff in my hair - and I've got candles burning and music playing and fresh hazelnut coffee by my side and I'm about to dive happily into my new books. Ahhhh. I love weekends!

Hope yours goes as well as mine has!

Unusually Erudite Graffiti

Seen on a walk last week...