skybluepink

at least that is what hubby calls me, and let me tell you, today i was in full form. i went to rite aid to print out a bunch of digital photos that one of my friends had burned onto a cd for me (my printer isn't working so i can't print them at home). well, since i know everything, i didn't ask for help when printing the photos on the kodak machine in the store. well, instead of printing out 89 photos (yes, i had a lot) i started printing out...oh...532. wtf!? luckily, the manager caught that, but unlukily for him, he didn't know who he was dealing with. you see, it wasn't MY fault that i didn't know what i was doing. i proceeded to get fussy with him and got all snippy. he got slightly snippy back, but for good reason. i was a total jerk. err...hardhead. as i slowly simmered down, he showed me how to use the machine properly.

side of crow? mmm. tasty.

luckily i had some photos of hubby hunting and the store manager was a hunter, so we had a good conversation and instead of charging me an ungodly price for all the wasted photos i had printed (somehow i managed to print at least 4 copies of each photo) he only charged me $10 for the stack of about 100. thank you, nice manager man! and since he had stopped the printing and showed me the correct way to work things, the rest of my photos only cost $16.

but don't think the day is over for princess hardhead, yet! oh no, there's more. as i was cleaning out the litter box (we use a flush friendly kind) i put WAY too much in the toilet. figuring it was fine, i flushed. it didn't work. it is now several hours later and we are waiting for the plumber to show up. oh yes, i totally and utterly clogged the one and only toilet in the house with cat litter. i tried to unclog it, unscuessfully, for about 20 at which time i called hubby. luckily, it was about time for him to head home for the day. he and i worked on the toilet for the better part of an hour and we finally gave in. he even made up a little song about me being princess hardhead.

yes, princess hardhead is home today. what a fucking idiot!

oh! i forgot to mention...over the weekend i finally found out what size bra i really should be wearing. (32C, for those of you wondering, and yes, 100% real, too) yeah, i know. silly that i don't know that. i'm always guessing and it seems like each designer has something different. anywho, we went to fredricks and i got measured, something i haven't done since college. i have long since given up on vicki's and i will never find out just what her secret is. anyhow, i totally recommend their stuff! it's not nearly as ranchy as it once was. and i bought some super cute sassy boy shorts, too. oot oot.

my darling friend, jacarandabush, just sent me some beautiful skybluepink photos from her current journey in canada.

aren't they loverly!?!?!

what a fun weekend i had. i left before the sun came up on friday and headed out for kansas. before i could click my heals together, it felt like i was already there. my girlfriend picked me up from the airport in her super cute convertible saab, and just in time too. it was sooo hot and humid! i don't mind the heat, but the humidity sure gets to me.

we cruised on over to her house and got out of the heat. she lives in the prettiest neighborhood! i asked her (kindly, of course) how much her beautiful 5 bedroom house cost and it was oh, about 1/3 the cost of most of the homes where i live. i just about fell down. gotta love kansas, right!?

she and her husband have two of the most adorable mini schnauzers...ever. the one above with me is lucy. she is a little doll. rerun is the other puppy and he is just as lovable. that's my friend, below, with the two puppies.

we loved the puppies on friday night and just hung out at her home. her folks were in town and it was great to see them. they are moving from ca next year and will be living close to my girlfriend. i haven't seen her folks since she graduated college, about 10 years ago! realizing that made us feel so old.

later that evening we took a drive to coldstone and had some delicious ice cream. it still hadn't cooled down, but since it the sun was down we had no problem sitting outside.


saturday we slept in a bit and had breakfast, made for us by her mom. i don't know the last time i had breakfast that consisted of more than a cup of coffee, so that was fantastic. her folks took off mid morning to head back to ca so we headed out for some pedi's and shopping. below is a photo of our feet.


we had lunch at a mediterranean place and it was delicious. then she took me to walmart. i was truly amazed at walmart. the ones in ca are awful, so i just figured they all were. um...okay..so maybe i'm wrong. i need to amend that. walmarts in ca are still awful, but in the rest of the country, they are just dandy. i mean, they are down right nice. and they have a full on grocery store, where our walmarts just have dry things and sometimes some sodas and bottled water. and they are way smaller. and are really trashy looking on the inside due to its clientele. anyhow, i now have a different viewpoint on walmart. walmart outside of ca, that is. i still maintain my viewpoint on walmart being trashy inside of ca.


here we are before we went out shopping for the day. we had coffee on her deck that morning and i felt like i was in the middle of a park, it's so pretty. people don't have that many fences to divide the property, and those that do, mostly have iron fences that you can see thru. the fence at the back of her yard is wood, but on both the sides, it's iron. and there isn't a fence in the front yard, which makes it even more park-like.



'she was duck raped by a large inmate...'
her neighborhood also boasts a lake with geese and ducks. as we were taking a walk one afternoon, we saw some duck porn and i had to learn her the ways of duck mating. as you can see, there are several male ducks on the look out while one male is having his way with the female. of course, at the same time we were walking by and i was explaining the ways....a father and young daughter were riding their bikes and the girl asked what was going on. dad laughed and said the ducks were fighting. :)

on the other side of the lake, we found a spot where there were lightning bugs. i was so freaking excited. i had seriously thought lightning bugs were made up. i never really thought they truly existed. we must have seen at least 10 of them and we were giggling like little school girls. it was so much fun!

here we are on saturday night out in front of her house. we went out to a german resturant downtown. but first, we had to stop at payless so i could be some sassy peep toe heals to show off my new pedi! hehe. like my dress? my girlfriend gave it to me because it didn't fit her anymore. i love girlfriend hand me downs!

all in all it was a great weekend. i am so glad i went to visit her. i picked up a few kitchen tricks so my hubby will be glad to know dinner has been taken care of for tonight. thanks to some tasty salsa (more like pico de gallo) crap! i forgot the red onion.....and marinated chicken that i've got going right now.

in a few minutes, i will start to get ready for my trip to visit my girlfriend in kansas for the weekend. i haven't seen her in a while...maybe over a year or so and i'm really looking forward to visiting her. she and her hubby moved out to kansas awhile ago ~ the used to live in so cal ~ so i'm looking forward to seeing her new place. we went to college together so i know we will have great fun this weekend! i just put a coat of chanel lily beige nail polish on my fingers ~ my new favorite color ~ and have left my toes kind of yuckie looking because we're getting pedi's this weekend.

i went out with a friend for lunch today and we sat at my favorite outdoor eatery. somehow i forgot i live in touristland, so it took forever to find parking. luckily my friend got there before me, so we had a table right out front. as we were finishing up, hubby's granny and two cousins came out of the same restaurant we were lunching at. we said our hellos and got back to our coffee. it was so nice to be out!

later i walked with my friend back to his office and ran in to chat with hubby's cousin ~ my friend and the cousin work together. we went for coffee ~ yes, more coffee. hey, it's better than drinking for me. that would be a freaking disaster. anyhow, i totally heart the place we went for coffee. the outside part has this little alley with a fountain and it's so pretty. and they gave me a nice big cup on a saucer. i'm a sucker for cups and saucers, i don't know why. anyway, we chatted for, like, 45 minutes. i really like hubby's cousin. he's the most normal of the bunch and i get along with him best. he had to get back to work ~ sucker ~ and i wandered around a bit, poking my way into fun little shops to do some light shopping for my weekend, because really? i have nothing to wear.

when i wandered into one shop, they had kitties on display from the local kitty shelter (the same place we got atty and finn from) and there was a mini atty in the cage! oh, he was sooo cute and tiny! he looked just like atty. i didn't let myself pick him up lest i come home with him.

after my busy afternoon, i had to take a nap, so thankfully the kitties obliged me in nap time and cuddled right up with me. hubby came home from work and woke me from my slumber, but i did get in about an hours worth, so i'm good for another few hours. heh.

hubby is taking his granny to the family cabin for the weekend while i am away and his mother will be coming by to take care of the kitties. every time we go away she asks for detailed instructions on how to take care of them. seriously? they're cats. they just need food and water. it's not hard. evidently, though, it is. and we have to write out the instructions or else she will freak out. oh, and did i mention she has pets of her own? right. but her pets are not really allowed in the house. well, they are, but are super limited on house time. the dogs live outside in a kennel and the cats have long since passed away. i'm okay with animals being outside, but they should have the total option of being inside whenever they want, too. i think it's sad to keep dogs locked up outside. especially in the winter! it's freaking cold here. but, i digress.

ooh...the gardner just showed up. i better get the trash cans out...tomorrow is trash day. i have to get up super early to get off to the airport and so i better get a'packin!

*john denver

1. forever by judy blume

2. the bell jar by sylvia plath

3. the catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger

4. the portrait of the artist as a young man by james joyce

5. lucy by jamica kincaid

6. where the red fern grows by wilson rawls

7. the giving tree by shel silverstein

8. skinny legs and all by tom robbins

9. cherry by mary karr

10. the woman warrior by maxine hong kingston

11. flowers in the attic by v.c. andrews

12. the velveteen rabbit by margery williams

13. are you there god? it's me, margaret by judy blume

omg. so i just went on craigslist to attemt to look for a job. well, the job i was just fired from was reposted yesterday. hmm. odd. i was told someone was already hired when i was fired (oh yeah, did i mention that part? yeah, who knows when they were going to tell me that detail. i guess they were figuring i would leave the day she started or something). well, my one friend from the job just got online and so i asked him what the deal was. he said the girl called and said she had a gut feeling NOT to take the job! that is fucking awesome. he said that someone in the office then commented "well, that's what you get when you misrepresent a job". i simply call that karma.

is it wrong that i have no desire to find a job? i feel so lost all of a sudden. i don't know what direction i want to go in nor do i know where to start. i don't even have an up to date resume. okay, so that's easy enough to fix and i am pretty good at putting one together so i won't have any problems there. BUT i still have no idea what i want to do. i think i need to get away from what i have been doing, as i no longer feel i can do the job well. seeing how i have worked the same type of job ever since i graduated college, all be it in various industries, i no longer have the desire to do that type of work. i am also really fed up with the lack of communication that people maintain in the workplace. i know that knowledge is power and all, but hell, if the knowledge is never shared, then the whole situation is screwed. i have often tossed around the idea of starting my own business, but i don't know what that is.

i talked to a few girlfriends today and did feel better, as they too, are going to thru similar circumstances. maybe it's a sign we're all getting older and are all trying to find our way. who knows.

this weekend was up and down, emotionally, that is. saturday was great -- hubby and i took our kayaks to a nearby lake and spent the late morning splashing around. it was great. there were so many birds i had never seen before; greves, mudhens, petaluma mallards and coots, that it was so serene to just float and watch them all. there was a blue heron who fished along the shore and a hawk that circled the never ending blue sky. we relaxed for the rest of the day, which was great. since i had most of last week..er...off, i cleaned the house so it didn't need to be done over the weekend.

sunday, well, sunday was a different day. i woke up blue and just couldn't shake it. hubby went into work around 10 because he had so much to do, so i was left at home to stew. and stew i did. i'm just in such a weird place right now. i couldn't shake it. i tried getting motivated, but nothing was going right. i took a drive and went to target...ah...consumer therapy. i had to buy something to get rid of the awful pee smell in the house. finn has decided it's a good idea to pee on fresh laundry or the couch. but, on a positive note, atty is no longer pooing in the house. in fact, he hangs out by the door each and every time he has to go, so there's nothing in the house. but finn, finn, is a teenager now and is trying to show his standing in the house. they've both been fixed, so the vet thinks it's finn trying to show his dominance. sigh. anyhow, i found some febreze and surprisingly, got out of target spending only $40. i did stop in sephora, and well, i wasn't so frugal there...getting out at about $80. oh well. a girl's still got to look pretty, even if she's unemployed, right?

by the time i got home, i wasn't feeling much better. i sprayed the house with febreze, which did help, and continued to sulk. hubby came home around 4:30 and i suggested an early dinner of juicy hamburgers and fries and the place up the road. he actually agreed and we headed out. it was a great afternoon so we munched on our goodies and felt like old people dining so early. i am really, really thankful that hubby is being so nice and understanding right now, though. because seriously? that would be THE LAST thing that i would need right now. he only has made one comment so far about me looking for another job, and it was more along the lines of 'have you applied anywhere' and not anything rude or insensitive, so i was just fine with that. and it was much more of a passing comment than anything else. plus, i have been doing a lot around the house, so as far as he knows, i haven't been napping my days away. and what he doesn't know....hehe.

finn has just made his way on our roof and hubby has been calling for him for a while now. i don't know where atty is, but i don't think he is foolish enough to get up there with finn. silly kitties!

i'm trying to wind down for the day - that tough day that i had - because i'm getting up at the ass-crack of dawn so i can go to the fleur market with miss fleurs. i have to be at her house by 4 am. ugh! that means my alarm is going off at the ungoldy hour of 3:30. holy crap. that's in 6 hours. i will be napping a long time tomorrow.

so today was a very bizarre day indeed. i got up at 8 am then drank coffee on the couch, watched bad daytime tv and chatted online for a few hours. around 11 i started my day. i cleaned the house, did laundry, went to the store, went to the bank and ran a few other random errands. i went and got my eyebrows done - hey, just because i'm unemployed, doesn't mean i can't look good - and ended up getting them done for free because my girl likes me that much. see, it does pay being nice to people. then i got my bangs trimmed and got those done for free as well. my guy does complimentary bang trims and the two salons are next door to each other so that worked out well. it did make me feel a whole lot better, too.

by the time i was done with everything, i was beat. my head was still going a mile a minute, so i know that didn't help much either. i decided since i was home all day, the least i could do was make dinner, so i made some chicken fajitas and the house smelled delicious.

hubby came home and we headed to an aa meeting, which i so very much needed. ever since this whole ordeal happened yesterday, i have been a bit of a wreck, mentally, that is. i have been craving a drink, but i called my sponsor yesterday and talked with a bunch of friends since, and have no desire to pick anything up. i know what a drink will do to me and i don't want that at all. i just have to be strong, but i am so glad to know there are others there i can lean on as well. i'm going to dinner with a girlfriend tomorrow night and i'm looking forward to that.

i have no idea what i am going to do now, but i do need a break from things. hell, this all came from so far away, that i don't even have a resume put together. i mean, that's how unprepared for all of this i was.

and as kate pointed out, thankfully i have hubby to support me right now. while we will have to scrimp and save, luckily, his salary can carry us for the interm. the saddest part to me, is that i now have to cancel our trip to sedona that we were going to take for our 4th anniversary in 2 weeks. i'm really, really sad about that, but we just can't justify the cost right now. the flight, car rental and fancy hotel would add up to quite a bit. so instead, we are going to his family cabin up in the sierra's. that will be nice, but it's no sedona, that's for sure. he was really looking forward to going to sedona too, so i know he's bummed out as well. i suggested that we go to sedona over thankgiving, so we'll see if that happens.

i'm trying to keep positive about things but everything is just so confusing right now. i put new sheets on the bed today to make it feel fresh and new. a gently breeze is playing with the bedroom curtains and i am calming down for the night.

i hope tomorrow will be a better day.

oh internets, today was such a nutty day. and not even with good nuts. i didn't want to get out of bed, as usual, but still was able to make it to work relatively on time. it was the same as always when i got there. then things got nutty. a girl i know from another office mentioned to me that there was a job posting on craigslist that looked like an add for MY current job. holy fucking shit. it was for my job. and it was posted on june 28. wow. i didn't know what to do. i asked a colleague what they thought and they said they were sorry. i called hubby and he thought i was overreacting.

i finally went over to our HR guy and asked him. he took me into the conference room and told me the bosses wanted to let me go a while ago and in fact, they had my check ready last week. he said the bosses decided i was not a good fit. well fine, but wouldn't it have been better if they would have talked to me aobut it? hell, i don't know, let me work on things to improve?

this was a disaster. if i hadn't been tipped off on that posting, i would still be in the office right now, thinking nothing was wrong! good god fucking damnit! when i left, no one even said anything to me!

i never cry and for some resaon, the tears just keep coming. the valuim i just took are helping calm me. and my friends have sent some nice messages in IM.

what the hell am i going to do now!?

so here it is. the recap. yesterday's party was a smashing success. well, at least to me, hubby and our guests. his mother, well, i'll go into that in a bit.

the weather was perfect and the yard looked amazing. i had rented a few tables, chairs and fun 'ocean blue' table cloths. i had miss fleurs do the fleurs, which were phenomenal. she did 10 arrangements, all tropical. it was so pretty. each one was a bit different and in a different vase. it was perfect. i set up my ipod by the front gate so the theme song from magnum p.i. could be heard upon guests entering.

it was lovely. we had almost 50 people show up over the course of the afternoon. it was so great to see everyone. it was the first party we had were there were so many kids. kids that were our friend's, and not our parents friend's. it was definitely something different for me. and three of my girlfriends who were there were preggers. one of them with her third child and one with her second child.

everyone stayed and ate, drank and had a great time. cake was brought out and was gobbled up quickly. everyone has happy. well, everyone that is, except for my mil. not only has she been freaking out about this party, she was a mess the day of. and by mess, i mean so wound up it was ridiculous. everything was fabulous, but all she could see were the things i had done wrong. luckily, she had the decency not to say anything until people left, but i could still feel it whenever i was near her. she would say through her teeth "when are they all leaving!?" and "isn't it time for people to go home". and when i was helping her pass out the cake, she had more slices than i was able to hold, i said, jokingly, "i better get a move on!" she nodded her head and said "yeah, that would be nice if you did something" good god, lady. it was only a few hours! then when people did finally leave (the party started at 2 and the last guest left around 8) she took me aside and read me the riot act saying that i didn't help out enough. WTF!?

i put the whole fucking party together! i got together the invite list. i made the invitations. i did all the shopping. i put every fucking detail together. oh yeah, and i paid for everything. oh no, wait. i did not pay for the cake. sorry. my mistake. she paid for the cake. but still. i paid upwards of $1,400 for the party. how dare she say i didn't do anything! then she had the audacity to tell me that we should have talked about food quantities. um are you kidding me? we had enough of everything! is it my fault that some people brought things? NO! and i'm sorry i didn't buy diet soda. we only had everything else. and i didn't see anyone dying for a diet soda. i wanted to loose it on her, but i was too tired and i have tact. and valium.

then she went into how she was sick all day and wanted to cancel the party but didn't. how she had diahriha and threw up all day. um..and somehow that was my fault? no. i don't think so.

i was so fucking pissed i couldn't see straight. then, when we were in the kitchen with the rest of the family, she had the audacity to say i had done a good job. um...what? after you berated me for doing a shitty job? i hate two faced people and i will never, ever do another event at her house again.

oh. and the kicker is she had said she would help out with the cost of the party. yeah. um. she offered me a mere $300. i almost crapped myself. this woman has serious money, and for her to only offer me $300 was just as bad as slapping me. then she brought up how she had paid for the cake. riiiiight. because that was expensive. it was like $100. whatever. i'm just done with it.

thankfully, hubby is on my side. he knows how psycho she is and knows that on some sick sad level, she was competing with here friends -who weren't even there. and the fact that he told me comments she had previously made about my party throwing skills didn't help one bit either.

and really, talking about me not having kids yet just doesn't help at all. i know i am almost 32 and i don't have kids, but good lord lady. grow the fuck up! stop fucking competing with your friends.

but enough of that. i'm still really so angry, but i know i need to let it go. eventually.

so this morning, you would think i could sleep in. but no. some wacky part of me decided it was a good idea to get out and run. so hubby and i got up at the ass crack of dawn to run a race.



hubby ran the half (13.2 miles) and i ran the 10k(6.2 miles). hubby's dad dropped us off at our respective start lines. it was cool and foggy, which was nice, but the sun came out about the time we started. hubby started before me, at 7:30 since his race was longer and we were running the same course. i started at 8:10 and took an hour and 10 minutes to finish. he caught up with me with 2 miles left to go. he finished before me, though. i did much better than i had expected since i didn't train to much and i was still beat from the yesterday's party. but i was so glad i got up and ran. i ran pretty well up to mile 4, then crapped out and walked most of the final 2 miles. but i was totally fine with that. i was just proud of myself for finishing the race in at all.

we got home around 10:30, where i took a quick shower and promptly fell back into bed. i took a delicious 4 hour nap and am now hanging out on the couch with atticus. hubby is in clean the house mode, which i am not taking part of no matter how much he pesters me. i may do the dishes, but that's it. he has offered to take me to dinner tonight, but we'll see if that actually happens.

* so mil just called. drunk. i had left a message for hubby's dad and she called back instead. well, actually, she called his cell phone. anyhow, she called to apologize for 'acting like a witch' yesterday. she must have said it about 12 times. i do feel better, as she made me really, really mad. and she said she was going to give me double what she said she was, so that makes me feel better, too. i guess sometimes things do work out better when she is drunk....she is forgiven, but this will not be forgotten. i have a mind like a steel trap. heh.

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

1. made cool hawiian style invites

2. downloaded the theme song from magum p.i. so i can have it play at the front gate when the guests arrive

3. bought fake leis so everyone can get leid

4. bought water guns that people can shoot at each other. because after all, magnum had a gun.

5. bought toothpicks with fabric hibiscus flowers for the appetizers. we're going to have sausage and pineapple skewers.

6. bought 2 large somewhat sparkily palm trees for decoration

7. bought several stuffed parrots for decoration

8. bought a replica mini ferrari just like the one magnum drove

9. bought a replica mini island hoppers helicopter just like the one t.c. flew

10. did a huge costo run to get all the burger and hot dog fixins. plus all the beverages.

11. ordered a delicious fruit cake from the local bakery

12. rented some furniture; 20 chairs and 6 tables and 6 ocean blue tablecloths

13. enlisted several friends to help with things like rolling plastic-ware into napkins, picking up rental furniture and picking up the cake

14. calmed down my mil numerous times because she has gone freaking psycho about this party, even though all she is doing is providing the location.

i have a headache. it could be because i start my period tomorrow. it could be because i'm at work. or, it could be because i just got of the phone with my mom. most likely, it's a combo of all three.

i had a great weekend with jacarandabush. we met up on the central cost in a darling little beach town. we stayed at the sea otter inn, right on the shore. it was foggy and cool when we got there, which was so great since it has been so hot where both of us live. friday night we had dinner at al ittle place down the road from our hotel. we sat outside watching the water. the place gave everyone blankets so no one was cold. it was so cute.



we slept in late saturday and headed into the town where i went to college. it was so great to go back, but i felt so old! we were called 'mam' a bunch, which was really odd, especially since we both look really young. i guess we don't look 19-years-old-young anymore, though. we really helped out the local commerce with all the money we spent and were beat by the time we got back to our hotel.


but before we went to our hotel, we wandered up the coast a bit and checked out the elephant seals. if you haven't seen one before, they're quite the sight to behold. they are huge, enormous seals that hang out on the central coast. they make funny noises and throw sand all over each other.


we decided we were too lazy to go out to dinner, so we ordered in pizza to our room. it wasn't that great, but it was cheap and easy. on sunday, jacarandabush got up at the asscrack of dawn but let me sleep in, which was so great of her. we finally headed out about 10 and went into town and had english tea at a proper tea house. it was quite loverly. we took another walk along the shore before hitting the road.

oh, i almost forgot. when we got back into town on saturday, we wandered by an antique store, where i purchased my first piece of art. you see, there is a gallery i grew up going to called the huntington library. i have been there a ton of times and fell in love with two of the pieces. pinkie and blue boy. they are by two different artists at two different time periods but are across from each other in the same gallery. anyhow, i found this giclee print of pinkie and i knew i had to have it.


so you see, i am quite pleased with my purchase. i just don't know where i am going to put it, or for that matter, how i am going to break it to hubby. (i left it in my car when i got home yesterday because i was too tired to take it inside). i am so glad i got away and feel so refreshed. i must get to the coast more often!

i still have a gnarly headache and i am trying to will it to go away. i have to go to costco after work to get everything for hubby's party this weekend. i just want to go home and nap! ah, well, at least it's already 4:30!

1. it is over 100 degrees outside and my house does not have air conditioning.

2. i have new sparkly shoes on and i somehow keep managing to kick the inside of my left ankle with my right heal and it really hurts.

3. the iced raspberry mocha that i just bought at starbucks is still slightly warm from when they made it.

4. there are too many crazy old people on the roads these days that cannot drive. i almost got hit by two different old people on my way to starbucks.

5. my mil called me earlier this week when when she was drunk. i don't like her sober and i really don't like her drunk.

6. hubby is still being an ass. he's gotten a little bit better, but i feel him slipping back again.

7. i am overdrawn in my checking account because i am spending so much money getting ready for hubby's magnum p.i. birthday party next weekend and i don't get paid until next friday.

8. my boss has been in a pissy mood for about 2 weeks now and he took off today for about a month. one on hand it's good that he's gone, on the other, it's worse because it makes him increasingly more fussy when he is out of the country and 8 hours ahead of us here. somehow everything REALLY becomes my fault then.

9. my bosses old assistant, who is in town for an undetermined amount of time, keeps taking away my job responsibilities because for some reason, she and my boss no longer think i am capable of doing them.

10. instead of telling me things, my boss chooses to talk behind my back. it's petty, childish and rather annoying. i have tried asking him about things, but he has pretty much taken to ignoring me, so mostly i sit here trying to look busy.

11. i am tired of not having girlfriends to hang out with here. all my good friends live elsewhere. is it so much to ask to have someone to go out with for coffee every once in a while?

12. hubby won't put me on his car insurance because he says it costs too much. i'm tired of driving my old saturn. i want to drive his trail blazer with all the bells and whistles.

13. i'm lacking a good book to read. i keep buying books that sound good, but suck once i get into them. besides the nora roberts book, that is, but i finished that one in about 2 days. why is finding a good book so hard?

well, for me it's lazy. sort of. we got up early to run a footrace in kenwood this morning. i opted for the smaller race as i did not get to train as i had hoped and there was NO way i was going to be able to finish the gnarly 10k in any reasonable amount of time. the 10k route was quite grueling with hill after hill after hill. so, i ran the 3k. that race only had one steady grade and one hill. i finished in just over 20 minutes which isn't too bad for just under two miles and not having run in over 2 weeks. but, while i feel good for running the race, i am a bit disappointed in myself for not running the 10k. however, i have another chance, as i have another 10k coming up next sunday, on the 15th. hubby ran the 10k and finished in 56 minutes. since i was done quite a bit before him, was able to get a free 10 minute sports massage. now, that was delightful.

and i'm also glad i ran the shorter race as i had a um...bit of a spill earlier this week. in the middle of safeway. yeah. good times. i was walking down the middle of the aisle, when all of a sudden, my ankle gave out and the next thing i knew i was sprawled out on the middle of the floor! and since i hadn't zipped up my purse, everything was all over the floor. the kicker of that was when a man down the aisle had seen me fall and ran over to me asking me " mam! are you okay!?" since when did i become a mam!? *sigh* i mumbled that i was okay and sheepishly got my things together and hobbled sightly over to the checkstand. so anyhow, my ankle was still a bit sore today so the shorter race was definitely a good thing.

after the race we headed over to hubby's parents house where we sat in their hot tub for a while ~ luckily they weren't home. we got home shortly before 11 am and i promptly fell asleep on the couch for two delicious hours. when i work up, both kitties were cuddled up against me. we've been lounging ever since. it's over 100 outside, so we're not doing anything but laying low inside. we don't have air conditioning, but we do have a window unit in the living room which works pretty well. we have the rest of the mini house closed up, so it's really not bad in here. i just had a big bowl of ice cream and am going to make some popcorn. don't want to spoil the holiday by eating something healthy, now do i!

i've been in a bit of a posting lull lately, so when i was checking out cece's site, i knew i had to steal her latest meme...

1. IF YOU COULD BUILD A HOUSE ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD IT BE?
in the coastal redwoods of california.

2. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING?
right now it's a super soft comfy pair of shorts from jcrew and and old soft tank top from banana.

3. FAVORITE PHYSICAL FEATURE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
eyes. especially colored eyes. i melt with pretty eyes. and a good smile. they've gotta have good teeth. and nice legs......

4. THE LAST CD THAT YOU BOUGHT?
the rolling stones rock and roll circus.

5. FAVORITE PLACE TO BE?
the redwoods.

6. WHERE'S YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PLACE TO BE?
work.

7. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE MASSAGED?
all over. ;)

8. WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT, STRONG IN MIND OR STRONG IN BODY?
strong in mind.

9. WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE IN THE MORNING?
somewhere between 7/7:30 am.

10. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE?
the coffee maker!

11. WHAT MAKES YOU REALLY ANGRY?
being disrespected. i totally agree, cece.

12. IF YOU COULD PLAY ANY INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
the flute or the piano.

13. FAVORITE COLOR?
skybluepink.

14. WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SPORTS CAR OR SUV?

15. DO YOU BELIEVE IN AFTERLIFE?
i'm not really sure.

16. FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK?
the giving tree by shell silverstein.

17. YOUR FAVORITE SEASON?
the fall.

18. If you could have ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
the ability to fly.

19. IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO, WHAT IS IT? WHY?
well, i have 6. i have a cowboy mickey mouse on the lower part of my back, on the right side. i have a flower fairy below my belly button. i have a plumeria on my right foot. i have a lady bug sitting on two flowers to the left of the fairy. i have a shooting star on the inside of my right wrist. i have 3 cherry blossoms on the inside of my left arm.

20. CAN YOU JUGGLE?
well, i juggle a lot of things in my life...does that count?

21. THE ONE PERSON FROM YOUR PAST YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK AND TALK TO?
patricia. she was a girlfriend from grade school that i always had so much fun with. we lost contact before high school.

22. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE DAY?
sunday. it's usually nice and lazy.

23. WHAT'S IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR?
an overcoat that never made it to the cleaners, a starbucks travel mug, a few pens and pencils and a thomas guide of sacramento.

24. WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SUSHI OR HAMBURGER?
cheeseburgers.

25. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CARTOON CHARACTER?
dory, from finding nemo.

26. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEAL?
bread, cheese, butternut squash, sparkling water.

27. WHAT/WHO DO YOU REALLY LOVE?
my friends, my kitties and my hubby.

28. PAPER OR PLASTIC?
the paper bags tend to last longer, so i usually go for those. unless they don't have handles, so then i go with the plastic.

29. CASH, CHECKS, OR CREDIT CARDS?
i really try not to use credit cards, but my debit card instead. i hardly ever carry cash on me.

30. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR LIFE?
for the most part.