An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

I went out with the boys yesterday and well, we just plumb tore it up. Margaritas, beer, shots...I was actually the one drinking the least which is quite unusual. Despite downing lots of water throughout the night, taking four Ibuprofens and getting some McDonald's grease in my stomach this morning, I was still a hurting pup until about lunch time. And, the thought of going out tonight does not appeal at all. Unless someone calls me with an offer, of course. I used to recover a lot faster...

A guy at work said to me today, "I saw pictures of the Parrot Head Cruise on the internet." My mind immediately starting racing...which pictures could they be? Are there any incriminating ones of me out there? Did I at least look somewhat sober? I'm sure I had a 'deer in the headlights' look on my face when I asked him "Which cruise?" He said, "The toga one." Whew! What a relief. He had been looking for directions on how to make a toga and found pictures of the Atlanta Parrot Head Cruise. They have a toga party night on one of the formal dinner nights. So, good news that he didn't find any pictures of me. Bad news is that I'm going on that cruise in March so there's potential for me to end up on that site eventually.

I have lots of friends who've met their significant others at work. Heck, I've even dated a few co-workers in my time (usually with disastrous results). But, there have been no possibilities at my current place of employment for years. There's only one (available) guy that I've drooled over but I don't know him well and I'm keeping it that way so the dream isn't spoiled. Sure, there are several unavailable guys whom I would jump on the second they became available. Of course, my attraction to them might be completely due to the fact that they are unavailable and I'll never have to deal with the reality of dating them. Lately, however, the times, they are a'changing. We've gotten two new employees, both young (but just in my preferred age range), good looking and seemingly intelligent. It's downright distracting, I tell you! It isn't easy to stay productive when a tasty morsel cruises by and sends my thoughts into naughty land. Clearly, I ...

I just saw this article on Rafael Palmeiro. In it he says he still doesn't know why he tested positive for steroids. I sooooo want to believe him.

Man, it's been dead at work. We had the option of taking either the Friday before or the Monday after each holiday. I worked last Friday and about half of the department was gone. Monday, only four people were there and they ended up going out for breakfast to kill some time and yesterday and today we had nine in our area. Let me tell you, the day really drags when there's no one around to break up the sometime monotony. Unfortunately, we had some minor crises to work on so I was kept busy with them. I guess I should have said "fortunately" because I don't have a lot else to work on since all of the players are out of the office for the week. I imagine this Friday is going to be slow as well. I'm taking Monday off which I may regret since it's the first day of the fiscal year which pretty much guarantees I'll get called with some problem from year-end processing.

I guess I have to accept that Pabla is really leaving since she's heading off on her road trip to her new life in GA. Think I've been in denial a bit. We've had so much fracking fun over the years...and, though I'm sure we'll have lots more fun in the future, it just won't be as convenient. I mean it's not like we can just hop over to a cowboy bar in Cave Creek when the urge hits. It's going to take some planning and some travel. Oh well, we both like travel and we're both planners so we got that going for us. I am very happy for her and her new opportunity. Everyone's life is so much better when they really enjoy their job and it sounds like she's having a blast at hers. Here's to a safe trip for Pab and the menagerie!

I've clearly been spending a lot of couch time lately. Shark Tale: Eh. War of the Worlds: I thought I was getting the Tom Cruise version but it was the one from 1953. It was hard to take it seriously since the hero and heroine spent most of the movie wearing their Square Dance clothes. Honestly, it was a pretty good flick for its time and was probably really creepy back then. In Good Company : I wasn't expecting a lot from this one but ended up pleasantly surprised. The previews made it look like it was all comedy but it was actually a rather sweet story about personal growth and a lesson on corporate greed. Topher Grace and Dennis Quaid were excellent. I think Topher's going to make quite a successful jump to the big screen. I also liked Scarlett Johansson's acting job but I don't get the whole "she's a hottie" thing. The Cooler : Man, I dig William H. Macy. He is one of my absolute favorites and he was great in this flick. It was one sick story bu...

I can actually see the carpet in my guest room. After unpacking 18 boxes over the past few days, it's starting to look a lot better in there. Man, I've got a lot of crap...but, I'm almost done. Of course, I've lost interest today so who knows when I'll actually get done. Watching reruns of the World Series of Poker just seems so much more appealing than opening more boxes. BTW, still haven't found my Christmas cards yet.

Since I still haven't finished unpacking, I can't argue the sloth thing. I kinda wish I'd scored higher in lust, though, just to keep up my bad reputation. I saw this on both El Capitan's and Pammy's sites. Greed: Medium Gluttony: Medium Wrath: Low Sloth: High Envy: Very Low Lust: Medium Pride: Medium The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com > still

While it may kill me, I'm going to stay offline until Monday (OK, maybe Sunday night). Going to the parents this afternoon to set up the luminarias, have chili for dinner and open presents. Yeah, we're a Christmas Eve opening presents group. And, it may come as a big surprise, but I'm actually unpacking today, too. It's not so much that I'm into it. The big motivating force is realizing that Pab is moving over a month later than I and going half way across the country with a full house of furniture and she'll most likely be unpacked before I am. That's sad. Tomorrow, it's back to the parents for dinner with the extended family and friends and maybe a movie. Have a safe and happy holiday (whichever holiday is your choice to celebrate)!

This book, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, is a collection of anecdotes, thoughts, musings, etc. from the the author's life. It's organized by alphabetical key words. Some of the entries are short, some are a few pages long. I've read a few reviews of the book and one of them said this was a self-indulgent work. Hmmm, a series of short entries about one woman's quirky thoughts, stories, feelings...sounds a lot like....well, my blog. Yes, I guess you could call it self-indulgent. I give her props for getting paid for her self-exposure. I really couldn't help but think I was reading a blog instead of a book. It had the same feel of "you thought this was interesting enough to write about, why?" that I often think about my blog entries. Yet, it was oddly compelling. Something, I don't often thing about my blog. Here's an entry from the book that I could totally see me writing: Cream Rinse Cream rinse always gets stuck in the upper rim of my right ear. Not my ...

I finally got the piece to fix George's filter so he won't sound like a pot of boiling water . I tried to take just the top part of the filter out so I wouldn't have to drain the whole tank. As I was pulling on it, it went snap . I had broken the water tube inside the filter, effectively making the filter useless. Great. George had been sharing an electrical outlet with the answering machine since the move so he'd been limited to either the filter or his light. I told him, "Well, at least you can have your light back on." I switched it on and he looked pleased in his happy fish way. I left for the store and found upon my return that the light had gone out. It's busted. I'm now waiting for the tank to spring a leak. Poor George.

Does this even remotely look like me? Here's my caricature from our Holiday Party . OK, I do have blue eyes but other than that I don't think it looks anything like me. As a matter of fact, I had to go identify that it was supposed to be me because no one else could tell.

I adored Lynn Truss' first book, Eat, Shoots & Leaves. It was a great rant against the deterioration of our grammar skills. As someone who cringes every time she sees people use 'loose' instead of 'lose', 'you're' instead of 'your' or 'irregardless' in any fashion I found myself agreeing with every word of that text. Truss' new book, Talk to the Hand - The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door , is another rant. The topic is how good manners seem to be leaving our society. She talks about cell phone use, the commonality of being told to eff off, the declining use of 'please' and 'thank you' and a myriad of other examples of civility becoming a thing of the past. Truss is really quite witty and, though I found a few chapters a bit overdone, this was another book where I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the message.

I polished off the latest James Patterson/Andrew Gross collaboration, Lifeguard, last night. It's the story of a Boston guy who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and who tries for the big score with some of his childhood friends by robbing some art from a tycoon's place in Florida. It all goes horribly wrong with lots of killing, some sex and many plot twists. Typical read for a Patterson; lots of short chapters and characters who aren't quite what they seem. I had the whodunit figured out for the most part but didn't get it all connected before the authors' conclusion. It was a good way to spend the evening.

Sugar Daddy has been quite domestic lately. He baked pumpkin pies over the weekend and gave me one. I had pie for breakfast yesterday and today and pie for dinner last night. One would think I'll be pumpkin pied out by Christmas but one would be wrong. I loves me the pumpkin!

My boss and I decided a while back to go out to lunch once a month. The purpose is to give us time to just chat about personal stuff and relax away from the office. It's nice. She offered to buy today if I picked the place. That was a good deal for me. I think it was her way of saying "thanks" for the time I've put in lately. I picked the Coronado Cafe in Central Phoenix. It's a little old house with wood floors and the chairs are refurbished school chairs, circa 1950s or so. The food is always great. I had a turkey sandwich that was quite yummy. Lots of turkey and cheese, a thin slice of red onion, fancy lettuce and cranberry sauce on multi-grain. She had 1/2 of a chicken salad sandwich and a bowl of their chicken corn chowder soup and she thought it was pretty darn good. It all seems to be good stuff, Maynard. The highlight, however, was the dessert. We split a Bailey's creme brulee that was to die for. Awesome!

Sugar Daddy, our buddy Dave and I left work a tad early today to go to Applebee's. They were going for an extremely late lunch. I just went for beer. When I ordered my Miller Lite, the waitress asked for my ID. Sugar Daddy told her, "Oh, she's going to love you for asking. She's way past that age." I didn't think that was very nice of him. She looked suitably surprised when she checked my birth date which pleased me to no end. Someday, this is going to stop happening and I'm going to be so bummed...

I’ve been recording a lot of movies on the DVR and watching them while wrapping presents, addressing cards and avoiding unpacking. (Pretty much haven’t opened a box in over a week now.) Here’s what I’ve watched so far: Elektra Boring…could have been so much better but it was just dull. The only good thing was seeing Goran Visnjic all scruffy. Yum. Ocean’s Twelve Actually made Ocean’s Eleven look entertaining in comparison. I thought the plot dragged, Catherine Zeta-Jones was wasted since they made her part so not sexy, Julia Roberts looked haggard and there was not nearly enough George Clooney. George Clooney. Yum. Waiting for Guffman The only Christopher Guest/Eugene Levy/Catherine O’Hara/Fred Willard/Parker Posey/etc/etc that I haven’t seen. This was very funny. Guest was hilarious. Not as good as Best in Show which is my favorite from this group but worth watching. The Cat in the Hat Ohmigod, this movie was bad. Mike Meyers just rehashed some tired schtick from Austin Powers t...

Sugar Daddy used to have a BMW convertible. I loved that car. We had a deal for when he went out of town. I'd give him a ride to the airport and I would get to drive the car while he was gone. I took that car to happy hours, to Tucson, to Prescott, out on dates. And, I looked good while I was driving it. He sold it to buy a Mercedes E class that he got online. I hated that car. It looked like a 70 year old man should be driving it. And, it replaced my car. I never drove it. The E class was a lemon and he replaced it with a Mercedes C55 that he's still driving today. I've never liked that car, either. It does have a lot of gizmos that are fun but it's totally impractical. Despite being a four-door sedan, the back seat can only comfortably fit midgets and every trip to the shop is at least $500. I didn't hate this car, however, until this week. I had picked out the perfect Christmas present for Sugar Daddy. I was going to get him signed up for Sirius. I'd seen ...

Thanks to Pab, I've got them all. I just handed this out in our bi-weekly IT meeting so I've probably killed any productivity for the day. 1. OCAYF - Oh Come all ye faithful 2. HYAMLC – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 3. GRYMGLNYD – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 4. ICUAMC – It Came Upon A Midnight Clear 5. SNHNAICAIB – Silent Night 6. OTFDOCMTLGTM – Twelve Days of Christmas 7. TFNTADS – The First Noel 8. DTHWBOHFLLLLLLLL – Deck the Halls 9. YBWOYBNC – Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 10. JTTWTLHC – Joy To The World 11. YKDADAPAVCACADAB – Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer 12. ISMKSCUTMLN – I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 13. CSBSDIHS – Silver Bells 14. HTHASGTTNK – Hark, the Herald Angels Sing 15. GGROBAR – Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer 16. OHNTSABS – O’ Holy Night 17. AIWFCIMTFT – All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth 18. DTTSIAOHOS – Jingle Bells 19. WTKOOA – We Three Kings of Orient Are 20. IDOAWCJLTOIUTK – White Christmas 21. CROAOFJFNAYN – The Christmas Song ...

As usual, I let me gas tank get really low yesterday. The light came on at lunch time and I had planned on gassing up before going to dinner. Of course, there was a minor crisis (they're starting to not even phase me anymore, it's been that bad) at work so I got out late because I had to fix some data. I decided to risk it and I prayed the whole time, "Please let me get there without running out of gas." Then, as I got closer, "Please let there be a gas station near by when I leave." Fortunately, there was a station just north of the restaurant. I pulled in after dinner and got out. The weirdness began. There was no card swipe on the pump. That's just archaic. I figured I was going to have to pay first at the window and started over there when a guy said, "I'll be with you in just a minute." That's when it dawned on me, it was a Full Service gas station. Wow, I could get into that! They pumped my gas, cleaned all of the windows and put ...

I went to dinner with the O'Malley Babes, the Chelius sisters and their Moms last night. If I'd known it was BYOM, I would have brought mine. During the afternoon, I was thinking about how long I've known these wonderful people and calculated that it's been 2/3 of my life. That sure seems like a long time and kinda made me feel old. I offered up the fact at dinner and no one else seemed to be as impressed as I was but they did agree that we're going to start saying we met each other at age 10. Except for Cheryl, who was 8. We were all good with the 'about 30' age calculation. The Moms agreed that they'd be happy to be 50 again. Guess it's all a matter of perspective. The reality is that I met Mary and Cindy in my Freshman year of high school. Kathy was a year behind us and Cheryl was two years. Cheryl wasn't allowed to hang out with us until she got her braces off (a Cindy edict) so I didn't know her as well back then. We were all part of a...

Tommy sent me these and they're driving me crazy...I've got them all figured out except the ones in bold so help me out. I'll post the answers I have tomorrow. The following are the initials of the first words of the first lines of popular Christmas songs. The first one is an example for you. 1. OCAYF - Oh Come All Ye Faithful 2. HYAMLC 3. GRYMGLNYD 4. ICUAMC 5. SNHNAICAIB 6. OTFDOCMTLGTM 7. TFNTADS 8. DTHWBOHFLLLLLLLL 9. YBWOYBNC 10. JTTWTLHC 11. YKDADAPAVCACADAB 12. ISMKSCUTMLN 13. CSBSDIHS 14. HTHASGTTNK 15. GGROBAR 1 6. OHNTSABS 17. AIWFCIMTFT 18. DTTSIAOHOS 19. WTKOOA 20. IDOAWCJLTOIUTK 21. CROAOFJFNAYN 22. IBTLALLC 23. OLTOBHSWSTL 24. SBRAYLITLSIG 25. IBHFC 26. WWYAMCWWYAMC 27. IHTBOCD 28. FTSWAJHS 29. JOSNLYETW 30. GKWLDOTFOS 31. UOTHRPOJGOSC 32. JBJBJBR 33. IHABCWY 34. WUNWTAGC 35. JHTSBRTT

Every year since I’ve known him, Sugar Daddy has taken me Christmas shopping with him. It’s actually more like I do the shopping for him and he pays the bills. His list consists of his Mom, sister, a couple of stepparents and two friends and their kids whom he considers his pseudo niece and nephews. It starts out the same. We hit a major store and, within 10 minutes, he’s asking, “Are we done yet?” and “Can we go now?” About 5 minutes after that he starts in with, “My feet hurt.” and “Let’s take a break.” 5 minutes after that, all the flashbacks of prior years’ excursions start flooding into my memory and I wonder why I agree to do this year after year after year. That’s when I start making deals with him. “Once we’re done with this store, we can stop for a break.” I try to pack as much into that particular shopping segment because once we stop, momentum is lost and it’s just as likely that he’ll want to quit as get back to shopping. Even though we have lists, there are still many cal...

After a couple of hours at Chandler Fashion Center and Mervyn's, I've managed to get a lot of the old Christmas shopping done.  Whew, I feel better.  Yesterday, I was freaking out that I was way behind the 8 ball this year.  Don't know if it's just Retail Therapy in general or checking off my list that made me happier but I'll take it.   Does this ever happen to you?  You're out shopping for everyone else in your life and you come across something that you want/need and it's on sale.  A little voice in your head says, "No, you're Christmas shopping and you need to spend your budget on gifts."  Then, another little voice says, "But, its a really good deal and you want/need it so you might as well buy it now."   The second voice is usually louder in my head.  Last night, I bought a new pair of tennies (which I really did need) and three bras for myself.  Bras are surprisingly expensive and one of those things where, when...

I guess my cool holiday cards from last year's sale will be my cool holiday cards for 2006. Sugar Daddy and I made a lunch time stop at Bookstar today where I purchased what will be this year's cards. I plan on signing and addressing them tonight and mailing them tomorrow...or maybe Saturday since I'm going shopping tonight. Man, how did Christmas sneak up on me? It's only a little over a week away and I've purchased a total of 6 presents. I gotta get cracking!

Grandpa came over tonight to assemble the pieces for my entertainment unit. There's a base unit with six shelves underneath, two side tower bookshelves and a two-shelf unit that rests on top of the towers so the shelves are above the base and the TV. We got the base assembled pretty quickly. We're almost a well oiled machine on these projects which is somewhat scary but it was done and looked great. We then started working on one of the tower bookshelves. Grandpa was eyeballing it all and he asked me if I had measured it. See, the whole thing has to fit between the fireplace and the wall. And, taking away from some of the space is the switch for my patio light on the wall. I told him I had measured it and, though it would be a tight fit, it would work. Frack me, I was wrong...by about 1/2 inch. Even if we took the light switch off, all of the pieces weren't going to fit. Son of a... Of course, by the time we confirmed it (though Grandpa already knew but played along because...

I am scared, actually more like anxious, to answer my phone at home. It has been such a bad few weeks at my job and, every time my phone rings, I'm really afraid it's someone from work calling to tell me about yet another problem. No, I don't have caller ID and if it is work, I can't let it go to the machine as they'll then call my backup...who is Sugar Daddy and you can imagine that wouldn't go over all that well. I was actually happy to find Shorty on the other end of the line the other night, despite having to answer the question, "Do you have your tree decorated yet?" with a "No." It will get better...it will get better...it will get better... Update at 9:52...the phone rang, I answered and it was Sugar Daddy with another problem. And you thought I was just being dramatic.

I love sending Christmas/Holiday cards. Every year, I get several different styles and specifically choose who gets which one. There's usually a somewhat politically incorrect one, an adult humor one and a cute one that's sweet enough for your Grandma. I usually try to send them out the weekend of Thanksgiving. It's nice to have the task off my place and I just know people are dying for my annual letter. Last year, after Christmas, I picked up a bunch of cool cards at Barnes and Noble on sale. I put them away for this year so I didn't buy any new cards. While I was packing, I thought about just where I had put them. I couldn't remember. Fortunately, I did find them and put them in the top of a box that I was sure I would be opening soon. Of course, since I've developed unwillingtounpackitis, I didn't find them. Tonight, I actually cut open almost every box (except those labeled books) to try to find my cards. No dice. I did stab myself with my pocket knife,...

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova was touted as being the next DaVinci Code . I bought it for Shorty for Christmas last year but I doubt he got through it as I struggled with it a bit. The story is the search for Dracula and it switches between three generations of historians and their search for the evil, powerful, undead one. I'm really into the vampire thing and there were some creepy parts to this book. I think, however, it was just too long to sustain any long term fear. It goes 79 chapters and 641 pages in hardback. If it were a Harry Potter book, 641 pages wouldn't be enough. Here, it was way too much. I was willing to put in the time but the payout was disappointing. It was like a Stephen King book - King writes 700 pages of story then tries to wrap it all up in the last 5. Leaves a lot of holes and makes the reader wonder if it was all worth it.

I've been thinking about getting a turtle. They seem like low maintenance pets and I could put his/her tank near George so they could hang out together. I'm rethinking that thought now. I was at Petco today getting George his food (he still will only eat one specific type) and I cruised by the turtles to check them out. The label on their tank said they could live 20 years. 20 years! I can't even date someone for more than six months. A 20 year commitment seems completely out of the question.

I knew living near ASU was going to be different than living in the burbs. Going to the grocery store is a completely different experience here. Out in BFE, the store was filled with family folks, towing their whining children and overflowing their carts with bulk items. Not so in Tempe. I went to the Safeway on Baseline and Rural Friday night. The first thing I noticed was how young everyone was. There were a couple of older people (and I mean 60s or 70s) but everyone else looked to be in their early 20s. The next thing that popped out was that almost everyone was part of a couple and holding hands. It's been a long time since I was an Undergrad and I'd forgotten just how much, and how easily, people hooked up. Finally, the grocery selection was completely different that I was used to. While I was stocking up for the week, they were picking up one or two items to make just one meal, or they were buying stuff for a party. There didn't seem to be any other purchases made.

Several years ago, I went on a summer vacation to the Midwest with my friend Cheryl and one of the O'Malley Babes (Blondie). We spent some time with Cheryl's Aunt and Uncle in Oshkosh, WI. What a great trip! We toured the Holy Ground that is Lambeau Field, played 9 holes of golf on the course they built behind their house, got stoned on Benadryl (that we took to combat the mosquito bites we got while golfing) and Miller Lite, took all of their money playing Poker while stoned and just had a heck of a great time. Memories of that trip always come pouring back on me when I hear the song, All I Want For Christmas Is You. You may ask what a Christmas song has to do with a summer vacation. Actually, you may not care at all and just chalk it up to a bad join in the database that is my brain but there is a connection. In addition to all the aforementioned fun, they took us to a Casino for some gambling and to see a show. They kept talking about this goofy guy who wore his hair in a po...

I read several of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series years and years ago until I finally got tired of getting literarily bludgeoned with the Christian symbolism. Somewhat ironically, I went to a sneak preview last night of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as part of a church fundraiser. They’d booked the big screen at Cine Capri for the special showing, the previews looked pretty good and it was going to charity so I plunked down $25 for the show. As we were walking out, I heard a woman say, “This is going to be a Masterpiece.” I respectfully disagree. It was no Lord of the Rings , which, as many know, is my penultimate fantasy classic. It was, however, a good movie. There was some exceptional acting on the parts of Tilda Swinton as the White Witch and Skandar Keynes as the Judas-like Edmund. For a youngster, he did a great job of portraying the range of discontent/selfish/guilty/repentant/heroic emotions that his character goes through. The special effects ...

Every year, it's the same question. What to do for our department Holiday party? We can't do anything after work because the people with kidlets want to go home to them. We can't go out in the afternoon anywhere far from the office because the people who live way in the other direction complain about their long drive home. Then, there's all the ideas that cost a ton of money that we don't have in the budget. And, the ideas that appeal to one or two people but everyone else hates. So, it ends up with my boss and Sugar Daddy deciding what to do. My boss is the planner of that duo so she ends up with all of the leg work, and the busy work. Poor thing. This year, her first idea was to go horse back riding. Uhm, no thank you. Horses are dangerous, they bite and knock you down and step on you or kick you. You're not getting me near one of those mean creatures. I know what you're thinking, I'm a girl and all girls love horses. Not this one. I'm probably th...

The Arizona Parrot Head Club has been volunteering to work the Bunker Golf Tournaments for a while now. Each tourney benefits a different charity which is way cool. I've worked almost all of them and played in a few. Mostly for altruistic reasons but with the added potential bonus of meeting up with some cute boys with disposable income who like to golf and support charities. At first, we worked the "Use the Pro's Shot" hole then moved on to the "Buy a Birdie" hole. That was OK, except for one major issue. Since the guys were driving, they had gloves on their left (hello! Married ring finger, very important) hand so I couldn't tell who was available. There's no sense in wasting flirtation time with unavailable guys so I pretty much didn't work any of them. (I know, a ring isn't a 100% indicator of availability but it does weed out a good portion of the population.) We finally moved in to doing registration which was great because I got to se...

Our last book club was about Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. There's a lot of interest in this book now since they've made a successful Broadway musical based on it. One thing that was interesting to me was that so many people I've talked to have tried to read this book and given up. I picked it up years ago and, partly into it, went ugh and put it down. Andrea convinced us to get past the first 60 pages and stay with it and I'm glad she did. This turned out to be a really interesting book. It's the life story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz and, well, she really wasn't all that wicked. Granted, this was author Gregory Maguire's interpretation, but it did a great job of weaving in L. Frank Baum's original story with some very original political/social/religious commentary. Glinda the Good Witch is pictured as a spoiled socialite who develops a conscience, the Witch is shown as someone who's trying to...

There's a fire in my new fireplace, I've opened a lovely bottle of wine and am curled up on the couch watching A Charlie Brown Christmas . Life is very good.

It is so dang cold out! I haven't resorted to mittens yet but it's getting close. The lows have been in the 30s and I can only guess at the wind chill. I would guess about 15 on Saturday night. I know there are some of you out there who are thinking, "30s are frickin' freezing? Try that for a high temp and throw a couple of feet of snow into the mix. What wimps these Phoenicians are!" But, I have a theory. We're not wimps, we just don't have time to adjust before it gets to these temps. In other parts of the country, they have these things called "seasons" which I vaguely remember from my youth in America's Dairyland. There was one called "fall" which led from the heat of summer into the cold of winter. I recall it was quite pleasant. You could leave your windows open all the time and at night you maybe threw on a sweater. In the Valley of the Sun, our versions of seasons are "frickin' hot" and "frickin' cold...

I realized at lunch today that I hadn't set up Arrested Development to record tonight. I was so bummed because I have book club tonight and really didn't want to miss the best show on TV. Then, it occurred to me. I got into work at 8 so I could leave at 5. Book club isn't until 7. I could actually go home in between! In the Chandler days, that wouldn't have been possible. I used to work until it was time to head to book club because there just wasn't time to go home then drive back into town. It was also have been a huge waste of gas. So, I'm home now watching last night's Desperate Housewives and I'll still have plenty of time to get to book club. I'm digging this new locale, big time!

Shorty had a picture of Steven and me at work. One of the guys recognized Steven as being Shorty's grandson but didn't know me. He told Shorty, "Steven's got a nice looking girlfriend." Shorty did tell the guy that I was Steven's Mom. Man, that just made my day. Ignoring the creepy part of someone thinking I'm my son's girlfriend, it's definitely fuel to feed my delusion that I can still date guys in their 20s.

Anecdotes from my Sunday morning and afternoon… Shorty finally got to see my house again Shorty and my Mom came over in the AM and checked out the new furniture and saw the big mess that’s still looming over me. They really like the couch that Sugar Daddy bought me. Shorty also raved over what a good job Grandpa did on the shelving unit. Whatever. Grandpa and I are never going to date again so there’s no need to talk him up. It does look great, I will readily admit. Tactical error number one I took the parents to Theo’s, a nice Greek place that’s a half block from my house. They loved the food and the prices are really reasonable. Our bill came to $22 for three big breakfasts and drinks. I think taking them there was a mistake, though. I can just picture it now, every Sunday morning getting a call saying, “We’re thinking about going to Theo’s, do you want to join us?” or “We just got done eating breakfast at Theo’s and thought we’d drop by. Is that OK?” It’s also entirely lik...

We played our trying-to-be-monthly Chick Poker game last Saturday. I felt like Jen Harman out there. Now, if I could only get the hot, Italian husband... This was the first time that I felt like I successfully played the players, not the cards. We play limit poker so it's really hard to bluff people out of the pot when they only have to throw $.25 in to stay in (we buy in at $20 for the night). So, you almost have to get good cards to win big. I was fortunate enough to have good cards, enough to make it look like I was playing tight though I didn't always. We have your standard group of players. There's the one who stays in on every hand regardless of her cards. There's the tight player who knows the game pretty well. There's the wild card who changes gear often and plays tight for a while then starts going in on a whim. There's the tentative beginner who can play good hands well, but gets scared out with medium hands. There's the uber-competitive player wh...

I called Shorty and told him that my place is still a mess and he said "I don't care, I want to see it with your furniture." My response was, "The furniture isn't even all assembled." Didn't matter so I invited them over Sunday morning to take a look see at the clutter then I'm taking them to breakfast. That should keep him happy for a while.

I stopped in at Cost Plus tonight too see if they still had these cool, no assembly required bookshelves that I bought there a while back and to look for decorative pillows for the couch that Sugar Daddy bought me. They didn't have the shelves and I didn't like any of the pillows. So, I bought 9 bottles of wine instead.

Shorty is driving me crazy. He’s sooooo excited about my new place and, while I appreciate that, he’s bugging me every other day about coming over and checking on the status and anything else he can think of to talk to me about. I knew he was going to act this way, too. Way back when I put in the offer, I made a mistake in telling him about it that same day. I’d given him a rough idea of the location and the next morning he called me to get the specifics so he and my Mom and their pansy dog could go check it out. After giving him explicit directions (“Do not knock on the door. Do not peak over the fence. Do not talk to anyone. Try not to get out of the car at all”), I reluctantly gave him directions. The guy hadn’t accepted my offer yet and I didn’t want to spook him with my crazy parental units barging in on him. I have no idea if they followed any of my commands, but since the guy accepted my offer eventually, they apparently didn’t do any damage. After the offer was accepte...

One of the main reasons I moved out of my last, rented, condo into Sugar Daddy's was my upstairs neighbors. I'd been there a couple of years and never had a problem. Then, some new people moved in and they were, well, really, really loud. All of the time, day or night. The guy seemed to work second shift because he would take a shower every night around midnight...and sing while he was doing it. Since he was in the master bath right above mine, I heard it all. From the sounds, I think they worked out on some apparatus which sounded like they were just dropping bowling balls and letting them bounce on the floor. The last straw, however, was the 2 AM sex. Every night. Right above me. Bed squeaking and knocking against the wall, moaning, the whole shebang. Thank goodness he didn't seem to last very long but it woke me up every time. Not only was I bitter that someone was getting lovin' and I wasn't, I was literally losing sleep over it. So, one of the criteria for my n...

Yeah, so this unpacking thing sucks. I'm not excited about it at all. So, I've decided to put myself on a schedule. I have to unpack 5 boxes a day. That should get me done over the weekend. Of course, I've only done 4 tonight and it's not looking to good for the 5th to get done. Maybe, I'll be finished next weekend...

I had heard the rumor that Rick Springfield was going to be reprising his role of Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital and it was confirmed in the paper today.  I might have to record it...he was so dreamy on that show.  I was bummed when he left.  Then, the show got really stupid with the Luke and Laura saving the world stuff that I stopped watching it.   I don't watch any daytime soaps today, but back in the day, I watched several.  General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, Guiding Light and One Life to Live were all on my must-see list.  And, when I say back in the day, I mean it.  The article said Springfield left the show in 1983 and I'd been watching it for a while before that.   That's 22 freaking years ago!  That makes me feel really old which everyone knows I don't like.  Maybe, I'll mentally translate that to 11 years in my head to make myself feel better.    

Grandpa came over tonight to assemble my furniture. I was bummed that IKEA is still out of stock of the two shelves that go with my entertainment unit but I shouldn't have fretted as we didn't even get to that stuff. We started on the dining room hutch/shelving unit and that pretty much took all night. There was only one misassemble that required a complete do-over on one of the drawers but otherwise, he did a great job. He also hung the new curtain rod over the big window I have by my front door. Seems the boys took the existing hardware down when they painted then Steven and Garrison had a sword fight with the rod pieces. Ergo, no way to hang my curtain. It's been freaking me out, too, as any old axe murderer could peek in on my living room (albeit by going out of their way). We're going to schedule another assembly session soon to finish up the entertainment unit pieces. I originally bribed Grandpa with Bud Light to do the job. Sugar Daddy thought I'd have to swe...

Sugar Daddy's been enjoying the peace and quiet since I moved.  However, he's in denial that I'm actually gone.  At least, that's how I'm interpreting it.    He was sitting around Sunday night thinking he had to find someone to go to lunch to on Monday.  Apparently, my absence in the house has been construed by his subconscious that I'm just on vacation and not really gone for good.

I'm finding that I dislike unpacking almost as much as packing. I've been using the internal excuse that I don't have any of my shelves up yet so I have no place to put my books and 437 knick knacks so what's the point in opening all of those boxes? I do have the bathroom and kitchen pretty much in order, though. Grandpa's coming over tonight to assemble my shelves. The only bummer is that IKEA is still out of the two side shelves for my entertainment unit so he's only going to have the base to do on that. Once he's done, I will have space to unpack to so there goes my last excuse. In the meantime, I've found stuff to distract me. First, it was a book (I know, that's not so surprising). We're reading Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West for book club so that took up parts of Thursday and Friday. Once the DVR was hooked up, I recorded a bunch of movies so that took care of Sunday afternoon. I watched Scooby Doo 2: Monsters U...

First day's commute at 7 AM:  20 minutes!   Life is good.

I saw Harry Potter with Sugar Daddy, his friend Mike and Mike's wife Theresa. SD said this was his favorite of the four movies. Mike and I didn't agree. Mike's read each book about 10 times (he's my idol - I wish I could find the time to at least read them twice) and he felt they left a lot out of this flick and it felt rushed in some parts. I agreed. It was a dark film, but not as dark as the book was. It was still pretty darn good, though. The special effects were awesome, especially in the dragon fight scene. The kids are turning into really good actors, too. Emma Watson was superb and Daniel Radcliffe showed a great range of emotion. Thumbs up on this one (like you expected me to give it anything else?).

I'm writing this post from my new living room. My cable, DVR and internet are all set up. Finally. I know some people think I'm kidding but I hate technology. Especially when it doesn't work right. The Cox people were supposed to turn on my cable/internet on Wednesday. They said they wouldn't need access to my place. Yeah, right. When I got here with the movers on Wednesday morning there was a note on my door to call and reschedule as I needed to be here. The installer came back on Friday. Three hours later, he had completely replaced the cable wiring and I was supposed to be good to go. Not so, however. When I called in to set up my DVR (I already miss TiVo), it was a half hour spent with tech support before they could get it up and running. Sort of running - I have a series of faint, dashed lines running through the screen. They said to check the connections...I fear they will have to come out again. I worked on the internet today. Another long tech support call but i...

I'm picking up my laptop and a few miscellaneous things that got left behind in the move. I left the laptop until last since I don't have my internet set up at the new place yet. Hopefully, tomorrow. I feel a little sad leaving...but it could be that I'm just tired. I slept at the new place last night, all by my lonesome, and I woke up every hour or so to see if an axe murderer was skulking about. I plan on getting liquored up tonight so I'll sleep like a baby. Plus, we moved George in today. I'm sure an attack Beta will scare the bad guy away. Happy Thanksgiving!

It's 7:30 AM and the movers are due at 8. I'm ready. Sure, there are a couple of minor things like my coolers and tool belt but everything else is packed and ready to go. I'm going to get moved, stop at the Cox store for my modem and DVR stuff then head into work. I'll probably get there just in time for a department lunch. Not going to get a lot of work done today. Most people would head home after work to unpack, but not I. We're having a going away Happy Hour for one of my co-workers (I am very sad to see him leave) then Sugar Daddy and I are going to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He already saw it on Sunday but I was painting and watching Jimmie crash instead. I can always unpack later this weekend...

The movers are coming at 8 AM tomorrow morning.   I am not done packing.    I hate packing.  I do a few boxes but then allow myself to get distracted by anything shiny.  Last night, the shiny stuff was two reruns of Friends and a new episode of King of Queens .   I justified it by saying I would get up early this morning and pack.  I usually wake up at 5 so I told myself whenever I woke up, I'd start packing.  So, I woke up and it was still dark out.  I figured it was close to 5 and looked at my clock to verify that.  It was 2:50.  No way in hell was I getting up then...especially to pack.  I got up at 5:30 or so and did manage to pack my bathroom and the rest of the kitchen stuff.   Am I worried?  No, though I probably should be.  I just figure whatever isn't done can be finished up on Thursday.  I have to move George then anyway as I need someone to hold him while I drive so I'm going to ...

Grandpa! I gave a great hint in my post on IKEA as to whom my intended target for assembly work was. Grandpa's about the only one who still drinks Bud Light. Most of the rest of my friends have seen the light (light/lite, I'm being punny, get it?) and switched to Miller. I practiced trying to sound sincere when I asked him but it still came out like I was just sucking up. I was sincere, though, in saying that he will do it perfectly. I waited last night until he had about 7 beers in him then hit him up. He agreed to come over next week and assemble. I think he has no idea how much I have for him to do.

Grandpa suggested getting together to watch the final NASCAR race of the season. Since I usually watch them all alone in my office (NASCAR is banned from the big screen TV), I thought it was a grand idea. It’s definitely more fun to watch the races with someone. I suggested a Famous Sam’s that’s between our houses and we agreed to meet at 2. I got there a few minutes early and, while I was scoping out a big screen for the race, heard someone yell out my name. Turns out, that Famous Sam’s is a hangout for the Crime Dog and he and TFMCD and Ladybug were there finishing up lunch and watching the Cowgirls…I mean Cowboys. That Ladybug is sooooooo darn cute. I sat down with the Dog family, ordered a beer and Grandpa got there a few minutes later. I was lobbying for NASCAR on the big screen in the area we were sitting in but there were a bunch of loud, football guys in there so I lost out. So, we decided to go to Grandpa’s neighbor’s house. Pete lives just down the street and hosts the game ...

After dropping $500 this past week at Lowe's I really wish I got some sort of discount for being a Jimmie Johnson fan. It seems reasonable to me. Lowe's sponsors Jimmie and I promote Jimmie every chance I get. I advertise him on my car, I wear my Team 48 Lowe's cap whenever I can, I mean I'm there for the guy! The least they can do is give me a percentage off.

Well, all those people who thought my paint color choice was going to be too stark, too medicinal, too white will be happy to know that it's not very white at all. The color actually seems to be influenced by the lighting. In bright sunlight, it appears to be yellow-ish ( shudder ), at sunset it appears rosey and at night it's beige. In no light, however, is it the bright white that I wanted. So, at some point down the road I'll probably repaint but for now it's good enough...and it's actually a pleasantly warm color so I'm OK with it.

And by nickel and dime, I mean $50 and $100. This moving is eating away at my savings account. It's actually more like gorging on my account. I've had two visits to Lowe's, one to K-Mart, one to Wal-Mart and one to Albertson's, so far...I think it totaled out to $500 or so. I'm afraid to add it all up. I'm also up for deposits and set up fees for electric, cable and internet and home owners insurance. All this before I even start paying a mortgage! There's still more crap I need to get, too. Oh, and I have to pay the carpet cleaners tomorrow and the movers on Wednesday. Oy, I'll definitely be sticking to a budget the rest of the year. And, I somehow have to fit in paying off the rest of my March cruise assuming I decide to still go. There's also some holiday with presents that I'm refusing to think about at the moment. If anyone needs me, I'll be buying lottery tickets with my last few dollars...

You scored as Officer . Officer, you're the brass. The leader of the bunch. You have leadership qualities, or you have a really big ego. Most likely both. You know how to get things done, and don't care who you have to kill to get them done. You're a man/woman with a mission and to stand in your way means pain. You have gumption and intelligence to back it up. Hold the line!!! AND SOMEONE GET ME COFFEE!!! Officer 94% Medic 75% Special Ops 69% Civilian 63% Combat Infantry 63% Support Gunner 56% Artillery 50% Engineer 44% Which soldier type are you? created with QuizFarm.com I got this from El Capitan . I actually thought I'd be a civilian what with my near phobic feelings about guns. Guess being bossy put me into Officer status. BTW, there were typos in the description that I felt compelled to correct. I supposed that means I'd be a nitpicky Officer.

I drive by IKEA twice a day and it's been on my list of things to check out at some point since it opened. The weekend I left for Florida, they were having an anniversary sale with pretty much everything 15% off so I went on Friday when I left work early. Holy crap, there's a lot of stuff in that place! I wandered around the upstairs which is the furniture floor for about an hour then started going through the downstairs houseware area when my brain just melted. I called Sugar Daddy and told him I was overwhelmed and couldn't make any decisions on what to buy. He told me he'd be there in 1/2 hour so I got a Diet Pepsi and hung out. We ended up spending another 3 hours in the store. I think we sat on every couch and nearly every chair. We also looked at all of the bookshelves, TV stands and coffee tables...more than once. See, I have very little furniture and need to fill my new place up. Here's what I currently have: dining table and four chairs three bookshelves dr...