Ms. Maladjusted

2010-11-01T14:00:00.004-05:00

We made it. We're on the upside of this ordeal. It's been difficult but her strength is simply amazing. I have a whole new level of respect for a kid I already loved with all my heart to begin with.

2010-10-02T19:40:00.001-05:00

We girls know how to throw down at tailgating. Great afternoon at the brand new stadium.

Hazards of living in the east, aka taking your life into your own hands

2010-08-30T16:58:00.004-05:00

So I reached my hand all the way to the back of the mailbox before I noticed this little lady. Can't tell from the pics really because she was too far in a shadow, but this was a black widow just chillin' in the mailbox door with her children to be.

Lots of spiders here that are pretty cool to see, if somewhat dangerous. This guy was hanging out on our porch by the front door. He was beautiful, but big and kind of scary.

No pic because he ran too fast, but the kidlet saw a wolf spider the size of a peach in the backyard last week. You'd think we live out in the wilderness, but nope. We're just north of the city chillin' in a normal neighborhood.

A girl's best friend

2010-08-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

Yeah, what he said.

2010-08-05T12:49:00.001-05:00

2010-07-29T11:37:00.011-05:00

Holy moly, I can't believe the summer is almost over for me. We're off to the beach this weekend, then have 10 days there starting August 6th, then I roll right back into my classes the week after. Throw in the kidlet's surgery shortly thereafter, a probable job change, and the usual life tasks, and it's shaping up to be a very busy fall.

In the meantime, here's some pics for you of recent shenanigans from this summer.

Sometimes, when I watch baseball and consume beer with friends, I get a little beligerant. Who woulda thunk it? And why does my arm and hand look so friggin' old and veiny?

A fun day spent going around to lots of Northern Neck wineries with more friends, the usual suspects, where they have some obvious respect for the Steelers (or maybe just use US Steel tanks...).

Where I am spending most of my weekends this summer.

And what I tend to be doing there.

How am I to be expected to say no to this face?

When I head down to the truck to go to the beach, he watches me from the upper deck, and hangs his lips over the edge.

On a positive note, I'm having quite a bit of luck with the job hunt and it's looking good I could be leaving the current one very soon.

2010-06-17T09:04:00.002-05:00

Well, the trip to Chicago was somewhat less entertaining than the last one to San Fran. I'm sure a lot of that had to do with the fact that I've been to Chicago more than once, whereas my only trip out west was when I was too young to appreciate it. I didn't even really take pics in Chicago, but some highlights included a White Sox game, a fabulous tapas meal outside on the sidewalk in the cathedral district, tons of walking around on the riverfront, witnessing a big rally complete with tons of cops on horseback, and being there for the Blackhawks game when they went to the Stanley Cup finals. Made the best of it, but the trip was just kind of meh. At least the next one is to New Orleans!

I'm reacclimating more and more to being back in Virginia. It's been over two years now and I'm really loving it here. Last weekend I felt my redneck roots, heading out on the river for the day, riding around in boats, drinking while swimming in the water, shooting my first firearm (an AK47!), eating steamed crabs on a newspaper covered picnic table outside, roasting marshmellows and eating s'mores around a firepit on the water, and generally being an ass. :)

Making it down to the beach a lot more this summer too. I am so tan already it's rediculous. This is my first weekend home in three weeks, then I'm back off to the beach again next weekend. I'm working flex hours this summer so I can have three day weekends most weeks. It makes for some long work days, but it's totally worth it for the long weekends.

Dropping weight still like it's going out of style. I've lost 37 pounds so far since shortly after the new year, and dropped almost three sizes since then. Weigh in is tomorrow, so hoping that number continues to be in the right direction. Having a free gym here is a definate plus, even if they don't really have classes to go to. I'm making my way around all the machines though, and really have increased my stamina and health.

That's about all I've got to report. Travelling, beach, work, gym... that about sums it up for this past month.

2010-05-26T11:43:00.017-05:00

Off to Chicago this weekend. In the meantime, here's some general photoblogging.

My recent trip to San Francisco. Damn, we really had fun!

Nighttime view from the bar at the top of the hotel.

You could order a case of Budweiser at our hotel for the low, low price of just $120!

AT&T park to see the Pirates vs. Giants.

Me and my girl at Roys. The hawaiian martinis are to die for!

The crew on our wine tour through Sonoma.

I think this might have been the second winery. Don't we look like we know what we're doing?

Lunch on the patio in Sonoma square. We had gone to three wineries at this point (did two more after) and yes, we are drinking obscenely large mimosas.

Me and the girls at historic John's Grill (where they shot the Maltese Falcon).

Grapevines at one of the vineyards.

This one should be obvious.

Oakland Bay Bridge, as seen from the Embarcadero.

On the flight home, there was pretty obviously a band on the plane. I finally figured out it was Papa Roach. I don't listen to them myself, but hey, they're on the radio so it's cool.

Just because I find this funny.

Say it! Say Car Ramrod!

2010-03-05T14:34:00.002-06:00

Wish I could find the motivation to write but these days life is so hectic that by the time I've found something to say, I've already forgotten it and moved on to the next thing.

The kidlet's surgery is currently postponed until August. The surgeon said that right now she's in her prime growth phase and could gain another inch or two (plus another inch or two after the surgery which would make her like 5'9!) and they don't like to do the surgery while kids are in that growth phase. There is also a slight chance they'll opt not to do it at all, if it's not worse then and not causing her pain. I don't cope well with unfinished business, so I guess while I'm glad she isn't losing her summer to healing, the thought of it still looming out there bothers me. Regardless, we will stay strong. We will do what needs done. We will be okay.

My dog, my 170 pound beast, is epileptic. He had another seizure last week and man, a dog that big with seizures is insane. Thankfully, they aren't very severe and they aren't very often at this point, so we just watch and log info on them and take it from there. Sometimes I feel like I'm running a hospital.

Oh, and I had a cold last week, my first in a long time. I forgot how much they are THE SUCK.

Anyhoo... in other news, I am down about 16 pounds since the new year thanks to my renewed diet and exercise vigor. I have to say, now that it's getting to be habit again, it's not too bad. The hardest part is starting to exercise, but after that it's pretty smooth sailing. I'm still hungry a lot, but somehow I'm ok with that right now. My pants are starting to fall off and I had to buy a (really awesome leather studded) belt. Crazy days.

Work is super busy. School is super busy. Next year I will be going to school FULL TIME for the year, that is in addition to the FULL TIME job I work. As part of my degree requirements, we have to do a "residency", which is one year of taking a full course load. Now, I've been taking two-thirds of the course load and managing to stay sane (well, as sane as possible), but adding yet another class is something I just can't wrap my head around these days. How am I going to do this? I guess the answer is "who needs sleep"?

I feel like there is so much more going on these days but at this moment my brain is just too full to actually think of them, so I guess I'll peace out here for now. Be good to each other.

2010-02-15T17:55:00.000-06:00

Transcript of my part of a conversation I just had...

No, the homemade fajitas didn't curb my craving for dollar tacos. Once you get a craving for something, something "like it" won't do. Kind of like those yogurt commercials. It's NOT boston cream pie. It's YOGURT that tastes sort of like boston cream pie. That is NOT the same thing. I call bullshit.

2010-02-03T06:42:00.001-06:00

It appears that my baby girl needs a pretty serious surgery. If ever I wanted to wish someone's pain and suffering on myself instead of them, this is the time. Please let me bear the burden instead of her.

The world's biggest wuss

2010-01-21T08:02:00.002-06:00

Oakley in his snuggie. He just gets so cold!

2010-01-20T11:02:00.003-06:00

The kidlet may be getting her braces off this afternoon. :)

ETA: Nope. Four more weeks.

2010-01-19T15:23:00.001-06:00

Squeeeeee!

Going to see Flogging Molly (for I think the fifth or sixth time now) and Dropkick Murphys (for the fourth or fifth) on back to back nights in February. Damn, I love being in a happening place! Now if Less Than Jake can swing through again so I can see them for the sixth (or seventh?) time, I'll be happy as a clam!

2010-01-06T12:08:00.002-06:00

Now that I'm back in "the real world" and trying to recover from the holidays, I finally have time to blog again. Here's how I rolled for the first real block of time I've had off in years:

1. One glorious week in the OBX. It was cold and raining a lot, but being able to spend holidays at the beach make me so happy. The ocean is beautiful this time of year, the beaches offer solitude, and the pace slows to a crawl.

2. Went to Ocracoke while I was there and it was deserted, which was very nice. Kind of eerie to see how the whole island shuts down for the most part in the winter, but we enjoyed a wonderful lunch and the drive was beautiful. I always like the ferry ride too. Reminds me of doing it in the summer as a kid.

3. Food, glorious food. Shrimp creole, seafood quesadillas, beef wellington, stromboli, fish tacos, mu shu chicken, BLTs made with pork belly... all simple amazing. I love having the time to cook and being able to do it with my mother. I'm no gourmet like she is, but I always enjoy standing in the kitchen together, chopping and chatting and sipping wine.

4. We went light on gifts this year (at least some of us, others didn't get the memo apparently). Wii fit for me (here you go fatass!) and a Coach purse. Kidlet got some new clothes (that she actually likes) and a few fun things. We do gifts pretty well in our family. You never really get anything you don't want but it's not extravagant.

5. I worked on contract for a DC-area firm that does government research work over the holiday to make some extra money. While it still meant I worked, it was cool to be able to do it at home (or in the OBX, as it actually happened) and on my own time. I am hoping that they'll ask me to do more work for them in the future.

6. A week at home with nothing to do! Super Mario Bros., Wii Fit, movies, TV, baking, cooking, and general hanging out was done with the kidlet. Very nice to have real down time for a change. We both needed it, though she was ready to go back to school this week and see her friends.

7. Getting things oriented now that we're back on the regular routine. So tired from having to get up early again (but not being able to sleep at night because I've been up late for two weeks). Eye appointments, dentist appointments, oil changes, all the fun stuff...

8. Classes start for this semester in about a week and a half. Doubling up again this spring, so another tough semester ahead I'm sure. Classes on two different nights instead of back to back on the same night. Commuting twice sucks, but it will be worth it to be home by 8pm on class nights. Still not sure how I'm going to manage the residency year when I have to do two semesters of three classes each, but I'll worry about that later.

9. Looking forward to a real vacation this summer, even if it won't be traveling far away. I have to use at least six vacation days and a floating holiday or I lose them. Nice to have a real excuse to take a vacay!

10. I'm feeling the usual January solitude right now. Maybe it's getting over the holidays, or the cold, wet weather but every year around this time I kind of pull in and hibernate for awhile. It's kind of peaceful really.

That is all.

2009-12-19T07:12:00.002-06:00

Morning update... they weren't wrong for once. 13 inches of snow at 7am and the little bit of sleet that's been coming down is now changing back over to snow. Another 4-8 inches possible today. Good thing we took this one seriously.

Plows haven't been down our street and probably won't any time soon. They are just starting to tackle the main roads and we're not only not on one of those, but are at the very end of a dead end street. I'm wondering if the guy down the road who has all the big toys like trucks, motorcycles, jet skis has a plow for his giant redneck pickup.

I'm going to have to go shovel out the back patio so Oakley has a place to potty, lol. He's up to his doggy knees right now and is hating life. I always tell myself, when life seems hard, just be thankful you don't have to go to the bathroom outside! I guess I will have to shovel the path to my car eventually as well, though the mail here is dropped on the street side, so no need to worry about the safety of the walking mail person like I used to have to.

The parental units are supposed to be driving down from Michigan tomorrow for the holidays. They should be fine east of here into the OBX, but I keep telling them that they'll be driving through 12-18 inches through much of West Virginia and Virginia coming from the northwest. They need a reminder that though they are used to driving in this kind of thing in Michigan, that's a state where they are prepared and handle it well. Here in our state, we're pretty bad about the roads and are just generally not well prepared to handle snow, much less this mcuh of it. People here also have no idea how to drive in it for the most part, so it's a little more hazardous because of other drivers. Hoping they can get down here safely.

I have my snow shovel handy, but as I look at my completely buried truck I don't recall where my scraper/brush has ended up, being a few years out of the midwest now. Glad we don't have to be anywhere this weekend. Hoping the propane tank holds out for the fireplace... we've been burning through it lately with the cold weather. Should be interesting.

2009-12-18T15:04:00.002-06:00

We are expecting a possible foot (FOOT!) of snow tonight and tomorrow and it's so different than the experience in the midwest. A foot of snow or less wouldn't stop things where I used to live, much less really slow them down. I remember so many mornings spent out shovelling the snow from around the car and practically screaming "I can't believe they are making us go to work in THIS!". Here's the biggest difference in how Illinois handled this kind of thing and how Virginia does: how they handle the roads.

Right now, we are under a winter storm warning. At this point, we'd have seen the faithful Illinois IDOT folks out salting roads, those frighteningly huge orange snow plows out and about, people with their personal plows on their pickup trucks. The noise from those machines was insane. I remember waking in the wee hours of the morning to the loud rumble of the plows coming down the road and I never could resist getting out of bed to watch the sheets of snow blasting out from them at heights taller than my head (trapping my car in the driveway, but that's another story). By the time we got up to check the school closings (they never did), the roads were clear and fairly safe, and off we went to work.

In Virginia there is no apparent pre-snow preparation. I'm honestly not even sure if we have salt. I've seen no evidence of the giant salt domes that were so familiar in the midwest. I don't see or hear the giant plows, I've seen a grand total of two pickups with plows attached. I'm not really sure what happens when it snows this much. Last year it snowed a couple inches and everything shut down pretty much. This was fabulous because in Illinois we would never have gotten a snow day, but what a pain to not be able to go anywhere because of the roads here! I've got 4wd, I drive for years in really horrid winter weather but I can't here because we don't clear the roads well.

So, in the spirit of the true "snowed in" scenerio (which is happening on a Saturday, of course, so no snow day. Thanks mother nature!), I present the O'Keefe household emergency shopping list:

cinnamon rolls
chocolate chip cookie dough
beer
cider
hot chocolate
jalepeno poppers
milk
pancake mix
beef roast
potatoes
batteries (for the weather radio or if we keep power, for the video game controllers)
movies
books

The plan for the next 24 hours is something like this... Bake. Eat. Sleep. Blanket. Couch. Fire. Video games. Movies. Read. Chill.

It's kind of nice to truly have nothing to do and nowhere to be and a real excuse to be lazy. Stay warm!

2009-12-09T12:04:00.004-06:00

Life has been so complex and busy for so long, I can't seem to not think in bullet points:

1. All work for classes this semester is complete and the last classes were Monday night. Six classes down, seventeen more to go (plus comps and dissertation, ugh) for my fancy degree. It's a ton of work, but I like feeling smart and having a purpose.

2. The tree and decorations are up. I now realize that the house is really that much bigger than the old one. The tree, which took up half the living room at the old place, doesn't take up the whole foyer at the new place. Yay for more space (even if I have to clean more)!

3. All Christmas presents, few and small though they are, have been bought and most have been wrapped.

4. The barrage of holiday gatherings has begun. Some are more fun than others.

5. I now realize that I truly have a teenager, and all the fun and not so fun and more stressful stuff that comes with that.

6. Work is nuts but I'm getting a ton of really solid work done. It's hard but I feel good about the work I'm doing. This job is far different than what I expected, but for the first time I feel truly needed and valued. What a difference from a year ago.

7. I am ready for 2010 to be better than 2009, like that was better than 2008 and that was better than 2007. There is no real criteria. It's just a general wish.

8. After Christmas, my fat ass will be working out again one way or another. Just walking a few days a week will be the first goal. Trying to rope in friends so there is accountability.

9. T-minus fourteen days and counting until winter break. Eleven days of nothing on the schedule, about half of which will be spent at the beach. I almost don't know what I'll do when I have nothing that has to be done.

10. On tap next week with the kidlet: dinner at PF Changs (thank you M&D for the late bday gift certificate) and an evening at the L.G. Botanical Garden lights display. Should make for a very nice, relaxing holiday mom and kidlet evening.

Thanksgiving in Ten Points

2009-11-30T06:37:00.002-06:00

1. Took a couple of very long walks on a very beautiful beach.

2. Had afternoon drinks with the locals while listening to reggae at the Lie. I could sit in there all day quite easily.

3. Ate and drank myself silly in the company of family and good friends.

4. Had dinner at the Galaxy on Saturday. Yay!

5. Put up my rediculously gaudy Christmas tree (decorating to come) on a sunny, 72 degree day at the end of November.

6. Watched the Steelers lose (again). Watched the Lions lose (again). Watched the Redskins lose (again). No Nascar until February.

7. Did more than my fair share of the group project due tonight. Four more assignments (one a major paper) due by the end of this semester (two weeks left... eek!).

8. Slept until 10am on Sunday (even the dog did!). Still need more sleep.

9. Applied for a data coding/analysis position for a faculty member's study in the Spring and next Fall. Would be a way better second job option than Target. Question is, how do I fit in another 10 hours of work in addition to this crazy job and multiple classes? Guess I'll figure it out. Need the deneros.

10. Speaking of second jobs, I'm super happy not to have had to work Black Friday and not to be working at Target through the holidays like last year. I probably should be, but getting the first real break from most of the stressful day to day things (work, classes) for the first time in two years is welcome. I've not had more than a three day weekend off since Fall 2007 and I'm way overdue. :)

2009-11-17T18:06:00.002-06:00

Am I the only one who is utterly annoyed by the onslaught of jewelry and car commercials at the holidays that tell you buy diamonds and Lexuses (Lexi?) for your "loved one"? Blech.

Born and raised, baby

2009-11-06T07:20:00.001-06:00

"Tough girls come from New York. Sweet girls, they're from Georgia. But us Virginia girls, we have fire and ice in our blood. We can ride horses, be a debutante, throw left hooks, and drink with the boys, all the while making sweet tea, darlin'. And if we have an opinion, you know you're gonna hear it."

-- Ashley Judd

Five reasons I don't like daylight savings time changes

2009-11-04T06:52:00.005-06:00

(1) It is still dark out when I wake up.
(2) Now I just wake up at the old time, which is now 4:30ish am, and stare at the clock annoyed for an hour.
(3) Dogs don't do DST.
(4) I lose and hour of productive time in the evenings because now I'm just tired an hour earlier.
(5) It screws up my meds a little. You wouldn't think an hour makes a difference, but it does.

2009-11-01T17:17:00.002-06:00

So Halloween is over. I spent it pretty much alone. Detached from old people I might have spent it with, too new here to get invited to anyone's here. Kind of weird. Kind of lonely. Heck, the kids in my neighborhood don't even trick or treat on my street (it's a dead end, which I actually like after living on a super busy thoroughfare the last couple of years). I see it coming now that the witching hour is over... two months of everyone around me celebrating with family, friends, loved ones... me, alone. It's going to be a very long holiday season.

I'm into the last six weeks of the semester. This semester I went more than half time (taking six hours, nine is full-time) because I had to do it to get financial aid, and I needed financial aid if I wanted to continue the work at school I've already put too much work into to give up on. Six weeks of hell. I hate (HATE!) one of my classes this semester. I have two papers, one in each class, due every other week through the middle of December. I feel way too overloaded in general to deal with this. I just keep telling myself I'll get through it. I always do, right?

The weather sucks. It's wet. It's cold. My fireplace that heats the downstairs of my house is broken and they can't get here to look at it until Thursday. I'm cold. I hate cold. One of the many reasons I left the midwest is because I hated cold, wet, gray days from October through March. It's supposed to be nice here. It's not right now. Last winter sucked. Cold, wet, long (though at least we got a real snow day). I need sun. I need warmth. I need, well, maybe something farther south.

I'm not sure how I'm going to hang on the next couple of months. It scares me that it's this early in the holiday season, this early in the fall/winter months, this early in the semester and I'm already this far into the blue funk. I'm not doing good. I'm struggling. I'm "hanging in there" and "trying to keep my head above water".

Honestly? I've never been so willing to settle in my life just to have someone reach out and take my hand and pull me out of the depths. But for now, I will tread water and hope not to drown.

2009-10-24T08:08:00.001-05:00

Loving this summer thunderstorm feeling this morning. I don't like cold or rain, and definately am a warm weather sun girl, but I do enjoy a good stormy day (as long as it's above 70 degrees or so). Feels like an early summer morning.

Going to take the kidlet to see Paranormal Activity this afternoon. Yay! Next on tap, Zombieland. Would you believe my mid-60s parents went to see that for their Senior Tuesday movie and loved it? And people wonder why I am the way I am...

The Inn at Little Washington trip

2009-10-23T08:12:00.010-05:00

Yesterday I had the extreme pleasure of a trip to northern VA to experience a dining experience to remember. We began the day driving up through the rapidly developing fall folliage, which is truly more beautiful here than anywhere I've ever been. The mountains were in the distance and the day was afoot...

The first stop of the day was Rappahannock Cellers in Huntley, VA for a wine tasting. We had a brief tour of the winery, including the destemming and pressing equipment and a glimpse of some of the fermenting grapes. The tasting was held on the deck and it was an absolutely wonderful, 80 degree sunny day. Eight wines in total were selected, four each of white and red, and while VA wines in general are not my favorite, they were very good. Inside afterward to a large room with plate glass windows that looked over the vineyard for cheese and fruit.

After the winery, we then made our way to Washington, VA to the Inn at Little Washington. The accolades for this place are amazing. Some of the too-many-to list include:

- The Inn was the first establishment in the Mobil Travel Guide’s history ever to receive 5 stars for its restaurant and 5 stars for its accommodation.
- The Inn was the first establishment ever to receive AAA’s highest accolade, the 5 Diamond Award, for both food and accommodation.
- The Inn at Little Washington, and Chef Patrick O’Connell, has received 5 James Beard Awards including: Best Service, Best Wine List, Restaurant of the Year, Best Chef in the Mid–Atlantic and Chef of the Year.
- The Inn has been rated one of the Top 10 Best Restaurants in the World by The International Herald Tribune.
- The Inn at Little Washington dining room is rated number 1 in America by the Zagat U.S. Hotel Survey.
- The Inn has been rated number one in all categories (food, dècor and service) of Zagat’s Washington DC restaurant survey for the past 14 years.
- The Inn’s dining room has been rated #1 in North America, and #2 in the World, by Travel + Leisure Magazine’s ‘World’s Best Awards’.
- The Inn has been awarded Wine Spectator magazine’s “Grand Award” for its wine list every year since 1995.
- The Inn at Little Washington is a member of Relais and Chateaux and their restaurant group Relais Gourmand. Chef Patrick O’Connell is the president of the North Atlantic Relais Gourmand and serves on the International Board of Directors.
- Robert Mondavi awarded Patrick O’Connell the Mondavi Award for Culinary Excellence and labeled him “the Pope of American Cuisine”.
- The Inn received Cigar Aficionado’s “Grand Cru” award for its wine list.
- The Inn received the “Readers Top Table” award in Gourmet’s Restaurant Issue.

It's almost insane how acclaimed this place is, nestled in a tiny town (seven blocks by two blocks wide or something like that) originally laid out by George Washington when he was 17 years old.

We were lucky enough to receive a tour of the kitchen. Oh, what a kitchen.

We were even served coctails in the kitchen, consisting of Virginia sparkling wine and passionfruit juice. Very tasty while trying to keep out of the way!

This, my friends, is but a portion of the restaurant's wine celler. WOW.

Chef Patrick O'Connell was in attendance and nice enough to meet us each. I gawked and told him what an amazing kitchen he had. Yeah, I'm a nerd.

We were then seated for the evening at our tables, assigned places across three tables in a lovely room of the Inn. Luckily, I had the cool people at my table.

The room had three large doors opening to a patio and expansive back area with a gorgeous view of the mountains and we were fortunate that the weather allowed us to eat with those doors open.

The meal began with amuse bouche on the patio while we all snapped pictures and sat in awe of the nature. I got a quick shot of the tiny treats being prepared. They included a beet/raspberry mousse over horseradish sauce and rock shrimp with guacomole (pictured here). Later added were the world's tiniest baked potato and risotto croquettes that weren't on the plate yet. Served on wee spoons for the perfect one bite, I had the shrimp and the potato. They also brought around cheese puffs which were consistent in texture with a cream puff but savory instead of sweet.

We moved inside to be served red and white wine (at the same time, a place after my own heart) from Barboursville Vineyards and began the meal with a demitasse cup of soup the chef called "essence of autumn". I didn't get a picture of this and in truth, it was quite simple looking, but the combination of rutabega, butternut squash, granny smith apples and maple syrup resulted in a sweet and creamy two sips of true fall taste.

The second course involved tune and is described on the website as: A Mélange of Spicy Big Eye Tuna with Mango, Avocado, Crispy Shallots and Sake-Yuzu Sorbet. It was amazing. The combination of tuna with small pieces of avocado and mange was a perfect match, and the sorbet added a sweet taste as it melted down around and over the food. Served with adorable shrimp crisps that melted in your mouth when you bit into them, this was quite possibly the best course of the evening.

Round three is listed on the site as: Fricassée of Maine Lobster with Potato Gnocchi, Green Grapes and Curried Walnuts. The lobster was perfectly cooked and soft and buttery. The gnocchi was very well done, not gluey like it can so easily get. My one argument with this dish was that the curried walnuts were a little overwhelmingly spiced, but the tiny pearl onions, the smallest mushrooms I've ever seen and the sweet grapes balanced it out to some extent.

The meat course wasn't on the sample menu, since so much of it is driven by what is seasonally and locally available. It was a perfectly cooked, tender spare rib over autumn risotto. The meat was like butter, but the risotto left much to be desired for me. It was hard to identify the flavors in it but I got an overwhelming sense of lemon, and the texture wasn't soft or fluffy enough. I ate the rib from this one and left the risotto and sauce on the plate.

Dessert was an apple tart topped with homemade ice cream. While apple desserts aren't my favorite, they are in season and this one was very good. The pastry was soft and flaky, and the tart had a nice coating of sugar syrup. The ice cream was rich and went well with the tartness of the apples.

The meal ends, we go about bathroom breaks before the two hour drive home, and return to the tables to find these adorable little paper houses on our plates. Inside was a variety of treats, including cinnamon cookies, candied citrus peel, some chocolate candy varieties, coconut biscuits. Most of us were too stuffed to eat any more so we took it home.

Overall, a very enjoyable trip with great weather, beautiful scenery and a very delightful and indulgent meal.

2009-10-14T18:00:00.002-05:00

I had a stupidly long and busy work day today (actually, been a really busy week in general) and I'm mentally beat. It's friggin' freezing out, and grey and cold to boot, so I'm in nesting mode tonight. Made fajitas for dinner, and am now sitting by the fire with a glass of red wine (from a box, don't fool yourself thinking I'm all fancy... red wine just makes me warmer). Can I just say how, after all these years of not having one, I <3 LOVE <3 having a fireplace? I also have on some of the world's most rediculous looking but exceptionally warm stripey socks.

It's only supposed to be in the upper forties and lower fifties the next few days, and rain every day. I'm fighting off the seasonal blahs already. Seems so early to be dealing with it this year. Last winter seemed so long, raining and cold way too long into the spring. Now we're getting the same thing and it's only halfway through October.

I need to figure out a better climate that doesn't annoy me for the next move. I want to be further south for the warmth, but I don't tend to like most states south of here. I'd love NC or maybe GA, but the places there where there would be jobs are just too far from the coast. Not that it's going to be soon... I committed to four years here so the kidlet wouldn't have to uproot during high school.

Anyhoo... things are totally busy but pretty good. School is really picking up now, work is pretty nuts and it feels like the time I have to spend with the kidlet just blasts on by. Overall though, things are ok. :)

Foodie happiness

2009-10-10T08:46:00.003-05:00

So, I'm a self-proclaimed foodie (as evidenced by my big, fat ass), so I am way excited about the news this week that I was able to come off the waiting list to go on a trip to the Inn at Little Washington on the 22nd. It's an all-day excursion, starting with a local vineyard tasting and cheese nearby and ending up at the Inn's five-star, one of the top 10 in the world restaurants, for a five-course meal with wine flight. I was looking through the sample menu (I assume it changes based on seasonal availability) and WOW. Now the big question... do I select what I know I'll love to eat (for example, on the sample menu I could eat lobster for almost every course) or do I take advantage of the opportunity to try some things that foodies rave about and I would never actually but or make (like fois gras)? So... safety to get a fabulous meal or going out on a limb to broaded my horizons? I am seriously torn.

Last night was Friday Wine and Dine again, and while it was way too dark at my table, here's the menu. The wines this time were a mix of California and Italian, culminating in a wonderful sparkling wine that honestly reminded my not-so-sophisticated palate of the time I got to try Dom Perignon. I could drink it all day and night...

After starting with cheese and meats, the evening proceeding with four courses, including mini Chesapeake lump crab cakes with chili tarragon aioli, cream of leek & wild mushroom soup, braised beef short ribs with stone-ground cheddar grits and wilted greens, and apple & toasted walnut galette with ice cream.

Another nice dinner and evening, and though I tend to be the only single at these events, I always meet nice folks from the university and community. Gotta love Second Fridays!

2009-10-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my hometown...

2009-10-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

2009-09-23T07:36:00.001-05:00

The boys lazing around this morning. Oh how badly I want to be doing the same thing.

2009-09-21T12:57:00.002-05:00

"Nothing is representative or symbolic unless statistically so."

-Kenneth Burke

The Sentries...

2009-09-19T15:57:00.003-05:00

I don't think anyone we don't want in the house will be coming in with these boys on the guard post.

2009-09-09T12:15:00.002-05:00

Moment of snarkiness directed at other drivers returning from their holiday weekend, in heavy traffic full of idiots who would nearly run into each other every few minutes:

"Are you blind or retarded? Because it's obviously one of the two..."

Yeah, not P.C. I know, but sometimes in a fit of frustration, these things come out (and then make your teenager laugh hysterically for 10 minutes straight).

2009-09-03T07:32:00.006-05:00

As I was driving home yesterday, I just had to pause and snap a quick pic of this piece of hotrod hotness. It reminded me of the Duke boys and Boss Hog. And just to show how classy this place is, the sign you see at the bottom right corner is for Sam's, which is a shack (seriously) along the side of the road that is kind of randomly open from what I can tell. The text at the bottom of this sign reads "home of the bologna burger". Mmmmm!

I'm heading back here for three days this weekend before the true chaos of the new semester starts up. I hope the weather holds up because I am ready for some sun, surf, sand and beer relaxing!

That's my favorite place in the world to be, for the record (in case you haven't gathered that already). When I'm there, I pretty much feel just like this:

Have a nice holiday weekend everyone!

2009-09-01T08:02:00.003-05:00

Holy crap. Six hours of class every Monday night. Oodles of projects and papers to do before the Christmas holidays. Doubling up on classes now so that I can hopefully be done, or at least done but dissertation, by the time the kidlet is off to college. I'm not sure how I'm going to maintain my sanity, but I've never been one to take the easy way out.

Full-time work that's way beyond 40 hours a week on average. Kidlet entering high school (who decided to have her friend cut her hair punky a week before school starts). The usual grocery shopping, school shopping, grass cutting, house cleaning, etc. tasks. Will it ever slow down?

I didn't win the $333 million lottery last week. Boo.

I did, however, pay my last payment yesterday on the kidlet's braces. I'm still not sure how I managed that one with the financial strain of the last couple of years, but we pulled it out and hopefully soon she'll get them off. Sure feels good to tick one more piece of debt off the monthly budget.

I didn't strangle the sibling in spite of her backseat driving for 11 hours this weekend or her fretting about where we were going to stay over our 36 hours in PA. For the record, the mountains are still beautiful, log cabins are fabulous and the wake was a very nice ceremony for a very loved woman.

A well-earned holiday weekend at the beach is afoot as of Thursday night. The kidlet is taking a friend, as am I and we'll all have the house to ourselves now that the folks have returned to the frozen north. Quiet, easy weekend... I can't wait.

Next weekend however, not so quiet. Really not quiet. Let's go racing! I'm not really "into" Nascar but have some friends who are really down with it and I've been going to the races this year and last and playing redneck for the day. It's loud (awesome) and fast (very awesome) and you just can't beat a day of tailgating before a giant sporting event (the awesomest). Races Friday and Saturday nights... gonna be tired on Sunday! Hope the weather holds up and we aren't dumped on like we were for the Spring race. Go Jimmy Johnson (who I root for specifically because my friends like other drivers and I'm a little competative- at least I backed a good horse!).

Off to do some work...

Our new pet

2009-08-26T18:05:00.002-05:00

They grow 'em big here in the south...

2009-08-25T10:20:00.003-05:00

Life always seems to work against the "good ones". My wonderful aunt, the one who was going to get me if something ever happened to my parents while I was growing up... the cool one who at points in her life lived in a log cabin on gorgeous wooded property, worked giving tours at the old Rolling Rock factory, introduced me to Great Danes, spoiled me rotten as a kid... a family matriarch, being only one of two long-term first and forever marriages among the old generation... is gone.

About six months ago Judy was diagnosed with an exceptionally rare blood cancer. She was in her early 50s and the illness was swift and severe. We all prepared for testing to see if we were a match, since they were attempting to try bone marrow transplants in fighting this kind of cancer. She got very lucky a couple times, the first being when they allowed her to be a recipient. Apparently after the age of 50, some people are pretty much just told that there's nothing further that can be done. She also had three matches for donors in her county, one of whom gave their marrow willingly as quickly as possible.

The first transplant happened about a month and a half ago. What a horrific experience. The chemo to bring the immune system down almost entirely so that her body wouldn't reject the transplant was bad enough. The usual hair loss, nausea, etc. was awful and pneumonia had to be fought as well. The first transplant appeared successful at first, and lasted for some time. We were very, very hopeful.

As quickly as things got better for a week or two, they then spiraled down in a matter of days again. Her body rejected the transplant and her spleen and other organs were failing as a result of being unable to cleanse her blood of the toxins and cancer. Another round of even harder chemo was rapidly followed by a second transplant attempt about two weeks ago. Her body never recovered. While it looked like it was accepting the transplant to some extent, pneumonia and secondary infection settled in and took her from us. She went on life support Sunday night and by Monday morning she was gone.

Her husband is devastated, as expected. They never had children and he is now alone for the first time in about 30 years. The family is shocked at the sudden loss. We never anticipated the one with the most life, the highest vivrancy, the best attitude, would be the first to go. It's heartbreaking.

I'm off this weekend for Judy's wake. She didn't want a funeral. A big Irish family, we do wakes well, but I think this one will be particularly difficult. Cancer and other reasons have taken far too many from me in the last couple of years. It reminds me to savour what I have, be thankful for my family, love my daughter every single minute of every single day. Goodbye Judy. You are sadly missed.

Puppy love

2009-07-21T12:50:00.008-05:00

Yes, he really sleeps like this in his crate about 90% of the time. Sure doesn't look comfortable to me, but he's not in there that often so I guess it works out for him.

He loves (LOVES) his girl.

He stays where you tell him to, like when we watched the rain from the front porch the other day.

But sometimes he's just SO sleepy from all the hard work being cute and sweet!

Foodie heaven

2009-07-11T10:58:00.006-05:00

As I noted in a post a couple of months ago, one of the huge benefits of working where I do now is that we get to take five free classes in continuing studies a year. This works out well for the foodie in me, since they have a culinary arts program. I blogged about my sushi class before, but last night I went to a new and absolutely heavenly (and free!) dinner through the program called Second Fridays Wine and Dine. It's a fabulous, fancy, multi-course themed dinner with wine pairings held once a month. All I can say is, WOW.

Last night's theme was buy local, eat local, so most of the food (about 90%) was bought locally within a day or two of being served to us. That which was unavailable locally mostly due to seasonality was still predominantly purchased along the east coast within a state or two (Maryland, North Carolina). The wines were from a Virginia vineyard called the Philip Carter Winery, and they were there to tell us about all the wines as we drank them (the wine master was 25 years old! how do I get THAT job?).

Dinner started with a social hour. There was a lovely selection of cheeses, including a hyper flavorful bleu, a manchego, a brie and something else I can't remember (a harder white cheese). Accompanied by kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and a summer sausage, this was a great start while we mingled and sipped the first wine of the evening, a Chardonnay. It occurred to me to snap some pictures of the food as we sat down for dinner, so no pic of the cheese offerings, sorry!
We began with a seared scallop appetizer, elephant trunk scallops that were huge and so sweet. Flash seared on each side for about two minutes, they were tender and soft and delicious. Served over locally grown and processed grits with roasted corn, topped with fried pork belly (omg, pig heaven!), I could have eaten this all night long. A light clarified lemon butter topped it all and it was served with a white wine that was a blend of Vidal and Seyval varietals called Falconwood. It was a nice, crisp, fruity light wine and complemented the scallops nicely.

Course one had me flustered enough that I totally forgot to take a picture of the salad course! It was locally grown Hanover tomatoes (right down the road from me) and fresh mozzerella, also local. Drizzled in a balsamic reduction and a little olive oil, dusted with chiffoned basil, and served with some fresh fancy lettuce, this is definately one of my favorite combinations of flavors.

The entree was a grain-fed, hormone free filet mignon from a local farmer who raised and slaughtered only about 30 head of cattle a year for the public. It was lightly salt and peppered and was served with sauteed fresh oyster, shitake and baby bella mushrooms (amazing!), sauteed zucchini, yellow squash, white eggplant, vidalia onions and garlic, and a lightly fried gold potato. The nice thing about most of the food we ate last night is that the ingredients were really respected. Everything was lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, cooked with good olive oil and mostly allowed to let the flavors come through. This is my favorite way of eating, but it's definately reliant on having good quality ingredients to start with. This course was paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Finally, we ended the evening with a dessert course from a local place that makes their own dairy products, and our selections for the evening included raspberry and cantelope sorbets. I'm not that big on sorbet usually, but these were so sweet and creamy and tasted just like the fruits they had in them. I never would have considered making sorbet out of melons, but the cantelope one was just delightful. Served with a plate of fresh fruit on the side, including red raspberries, blueberries, some of the biggest and plumpest blackberries I've ever seen, watermelon, and cantelope, it was the perfect combination making a light dessert that ended a summer dinner nicely. We were served a sweet dessert wine called Late Harvest with dessert, which I'd say was just ok, but I'm not really big on the super sweet wines, so I'm not a great judge of that one.

I really wish we had more than five classes a year because I think I'd do this dinner every month if I could. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is just another reason I LOVE living here!

2009-06-28T18:26:00.002-05:00

Another long day of unpacking and I'm beat. I'm backing up in the spare bedroom, holding a large box on top of the stepstool because I'm too lazy at this point to move them separately. I misjudge the placement of the bed in the new space and end up falling backward in what feels like slow motion, landing square on my ass, hitting myself in the face with all the stuff in my arms. I'm sitting there kind of stunned, assessing the damage. I have all my teeth and they aren't through my lip (though they feel like they should have been), glasses are intact, ankles are not broken. The kidlet is asking me frantically if I'm ok... if she can do anything.

I am overcome with giggles and ask if she has any spare pride or dignity.

Hehehe. Damn I love this new place.

2009-06-26T06:51:00.002-05:00

So the move is done and we've been in the house a week now, and I have to say, it already feels like home. We're pretty much living in what feels like a box fort, but the essentials are unpacked (we can eat, shower and sleep) and we're slowing digging out all the other stuff. Ran into a few issues, like the boxsprings don't fit up the staircase (we cut one in half and fortified it to get it up there and plan to do the other next week) and the sofa is so big and deep that it is so close to the fireplace we can't really use it (I'm trying to sell it and buy a smaller one). Other than that and a few issues regarding "where the hell am I going to put all this stuff?", the house is a wonderful fit. The neighborhood is nice too, an older one (my personal favorite) with nice folks and good upkeep. Super close to all I need too, less than two miles from Ukrops, Target and a bunch of other useful places.

The kidlet seems happy with the move. Though she's just hanging at home for the summer and helping out, and I know that has to be a little boring, she's already looking forward to her new high school and meeting new friends. She looked pretty pleased to see the high school skater boys in the neighborhood yesterday too, though she'd never actually admit that. Hard to believe she's 14 now. We have some fun times planned for later this summer once we're settled in more. :)

And let me tell you how nice it is to be done with the rediculous commute I've been making since January. I'm now saving a hundred miles and an hour and twenty minutes every day that I was sitting in the car for over the last six months. Looking forward to seeing the gas cost savings too in a couple months once we get out of the hook up fee phase (I swear, utility companies are running such a gimmick with that).

It's super nice being back in a city after all these years in small towns. I guess I can say nice things about living in small towns, at least the ones out on the east coast (sorry Illinois, I never really fit in as a midwesterner) like they were good places to raise the kidlet and safe areas to live in, but I've always been a city girl at heart and I'm thankful to get back to that. Being able to do things like go to shows in the town I live in, hang out at cool bars and eat at awesome local restaurants, easily making daytrips to places like D.C. for museums and whatnot makes me very happy!

I have to say, in spite of the general chaos that seems to have ruled our lives for the last couple years, I feel like this is a great opportunity and that there are some really good, and eventually much easier times ahead. The positivity is almost overwhelming!

Some general thoughts on stuff to wrap things up:

1. Even when you add about 300 sq. ft. more space to your living environment, your 150 pound dog will still be underfoot at every turn, particularly if you're carrying heavy boxes.
2. Old houses are built for midgets. The counters and doorknobs in my house are very low, except for the one on my closet door which is unexplicably way too high.
3. I love (LOVE) the way my patio is coming together. The tiki bar development is in full swing and the torches are up, signs are hung, chairs and table are out and the fire pit is ready to go. My best friend, who is quite the handiman, is building me an actual tiki bar complete with tin roof(awesome!) and some adirondack chairs and we got some nice paper lanterns the other day. It's going to be so nice once it's done. And as they say, good fences make good neighbors so I'm digging the 6 ft. privacy fence! So peaceful back there...
4. Can't wait to get to the beach again over the July 4th weekend. It's so nice to be an easy drive from the beach house and nice to have my folks so close down there. I don't have the time or money for a real vacation this summer (for the third year in a row), but the long weekends in NC (yay for flex time) sure do help.

2009-06-17T05:00:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I think I'm being tested. After all I've been through in my life, all the chaos and unbelievable situations, with moving day in two days and me doing it all by myself...

Sure, why not throw in a cancer scare just to keep things interesting? I sure wouldn't want anything to be too easy.

2009-06-15T14:01:00.006-05:00

Some other notes and pics from the Atlanta trip (I really must go back there, soon perhaps).

This picture is from the top of my hotel. It had a lovely bar where we sipped frozen mojitos and watched the city lit up and bustling.

This is from the top of the Westin on another night. The bar was on the 72nd floor of the hotel and rotated around so you could see the whole city. It did a rotation once every 35 minutes or so. Yes, you could feel it was moving. It reminded me of getting on the raging rapids rides at the amusement park when you had to step onto the spinning platform. And no, the sense of movement had nothing to do with the peach and lemon drop martinis consumed. :)

I went to the Coca Cola museum, since this is the home of the company's headquarters. Lots of weird random Americana stuff in there. The coolest thing was a Willy Wonka-style tasting room where you could try every one of Coke's products from all over the world and throughout history. I think there were nearly 100 selections. Some were awesome (thank you appley fizzy Japanese concoction!) and some were ick.

I went to see the Atlanta Braves vs. the Chicago Cubs and had awesome seats right on the field. The Cubs are right there next to us, see them in their "bull pen"? The Braves guest pen is a riser with folding chairs. I kid you not. The Cubs were up 5-0 at the beginning of the 9th inning, but the Braves came back in a 12 inning overtime to win. Very exciting game! There were probably more Cubbies fans than Braves fans there. And I got my annual summer baseball game footlong hotdog and ballpark beer. Yay!

We found a cool brewery (Max's) a couple blocks from our hotel too. As usual, I had a hard time making up my mind, so I just tried them all.Totally worth it.

I sure took full advantage of my time in Atlanta. Makes me realize how much I miss regular travel. Rest assured, that will be increasingly remedied once we're settled into the new place. Moving day is Friday!

Hotlanta!

2009-06-04T12:58:00.013-05:00

All I can say is that I never gave much thought to Atlanta, but WOW what a cool city! I think if it wasn't so far from the ocean, I would really consider living there. A little glimpse from day one of the whirlwind tour, with more to come...

We started our first day a couple of hours after landing. I'd heard that the Titanic exhibit was at the Georgia Aquarium and wanted to see that since the Ghosthunters investigated it and decided it was haunted (and I'm a science nerd, so the aquarium appealed to me too).

We saw all kinds of neat things. They have a really awesome setup there with overhead tanks and aquarium tunnels. It makes for some really nice picture taking possibilities, like...

Jellyfish:

Manatees:

Hammerhead sharks:

An iceberg really made out of ice so you can feel how cold the Titanic water was:
A giant manta ray and another shark:

Same shark, more dangerous looking angle:

Gigantic spider crabs (which made me want seafood for dinner):

Whale sharks (big suckers!):

Seadragons:

More to come as I go through the pictures. We did a whole lot of stuff (and perhaps drank a whole lot of stuff too, lol) while we were there!

Quick update

2009-05-29T10:47:00.003-05:00

Time is just flying by and I'm holding on for dear life trying to keep up. This weekend I'm off to Atlanta for a conference (never been there before, or at least outside the airport, looking forward to it!) then we have just two weeks until the move. Been packing boxes here and there. A lot is packed now but I really need to organize it better when I get back next week. I absoutely connot wait to get in the new house and settle in to our new city. The idea of making it our home, chilling on the patio by the fire pit in the backyard with drinks, and generally just slowing the pace down for the summer is so appealing right now. Only two and half more weeks of commuting to work. Yay!

2009-04-21T13:25:00.002-05:00

Dear Office Hallmate,

You make people's ears bleed when you talk. Please refrain from doing so in the future.

Thank you,

The rest of the building

2009-03-31T09:29:00.002-05:00

It's been twenty-four hours of sad news it seems, none directly affecting me but certainly all weighing on my mind and making me thankful for what I do have, as little and as difficult as it seems sometimes. Yesterday, a friend of mine lost her only child, her 29 year old daughter (also my friend), to cancer. It's been a fast and short progression for the illness, which can be simultaneously a blessing and a curse. I've watched my friend hurt the last five months or so going through this, watching her only baby suffer and disappear. It's saddened me, enlightened me and made me eternally thankful for the kidlet, and aching to do more with her, for her. Our time here is fleeting and we must make the most of it.

In addition, one of my daughter's favorite teachers told the kids yesterday that she has breast cancer and will be leaving next week for surgery. The teens spent hours last night texting each other, obviously affected and moved by the announcement, and today are showing up for school in pink shirts to show support for their beloved mentor. Watching the ongoings to plan for this again moved me deeply. How wonderful is it to see our children reaching out actively to help and support someone important to them? Sometime who so many of us resent in our school years? The sheer level of giving and caring that was evident made me thankful and hopeful for our future generation.

Finally, my good friend lost her heart dog a few days ago and just now brought herself to tell us. Many people never get to know the level of love that can exist for a pet, and I am sorry for them. Having recently lost both of my first dogs, and now having my first real, all-by-myself dog, I am saddened by the fact that our furry companions cannot have the same lifespans as the people they share their lives with, while being again reminded that we must live for now, love for now and appreciate now.

I'm revelling in the little things today. I'm reading for class, knowing that I'll be spending my weekend not out in the seventy degree sun but still on the porch writing my paper outside (maybe with a nice glass of wine). I am seeing the beauty in the simplicity of the daffodils that have sprouted all over my yard. I am happily anticipating the move in June, looking forward to a new house, new opportunities, planning the new vegetable garden and looking forward to decorating a new space. I am thankful to have a job at all, and even so much more so that it is a positive one that I enjoy. I have a wonderful, loving, supportive family (I need to call my mother...), good friends (that I hope to have more of in my new town) and a hope for the future that's admittedly been lacking for awhile.

Live. Love. Hope. It always sounded trite, but it's so, so true.

Little pleasures

2009-03-27T10:56:00.002-05:00

One of the cooler things about working here at the new institution is the opportunity to take five classes a year free in the school of continuing studies. They have a culinary arts program and I love to cook, so I'm working on my culinary arts certificate now. Last night was the first class... sushi class! I made lots of cool kinds of stuff, including spicy tuna roll (one of which had a raw quail egg on top, very neat!), sake cured salmon, tuna and avocado roll, flying fish roe piece, quail egg sushi and miso soup.

They serve beer and wine while you're cooking and you get to eat what you make. I made about $30 or more worth of sushi and had a nice beer. Can't beat that for a free meal!

In May I'm taking the blue crab cooking class and hoping for some she crab soup!

2009-03-23T13:29:00.002-05:00

With the current commute, I leave for work at an ungodly dark hour of 6:15am. This morning, I pulled out of the garage, closed the garage door, looked to see if there were cars coming before backing out of the driveway, then promptly almost ran over a man on a bike who I didn't see. Scared the shit out of me and made me feel like Queen Asshole. I did the "I'm sorry" hand sign and mouthing, but I don't think he paid any attention and was more likely muttering about what a crazy bitch I am. And now, the man I almost ran over knows where I live. Life is amazing!

Change is the only constant

2009-03-10T08:27:00.004-05:00

We're moving in June! This city-born girl is returning to her urban roots. We found an awesome old house to rent, the kidlet will have great art opportunities at the magnet school and I'll reduce my commute from over an hour both ways just under fifteen minutes. Not to mention all the great possibilities for a single chick and a teenager in the city. Yay!

2009-03-02T14:13:00.001-06:00

Oakley thinks everyone should get to stay in bed on snow days. Including him.

2009-02-16T08:00:00.003-06:00

Note to self. When a dog is like this all day long, it means he will stay up all night barking...

Introducing... Oakley!

2009-02-15T15:32:00.003-06:00

After a month of being dogless, we adopted a new family member today. This is Oakley, a three year old great dane who is just as sweet as sugar and so well-behaved. I'm so thankful to have fur in the house again!

Friday fling

2009-02-06T07:15:00.000-06:00

As I was driving into work today I saw the weirdest alert on the electronic sign. It's said "senior alert" for a certain county. What the heck does that mean? Watch out for old people driving with only their knuckles showing? I don't get it!

I always see those "speed enforced by aircraft" signs and immediately picture a bomber plane flying overhead. Speeding? * drops bomb on you * Not anymore!

After nine years of having it, I took out my tongue ring last night because after all this time it's now rubbing the gums on the back of my bottom teeth weird. It feels really strange to have it out, kind of like I'm not wearing clothes.

Looking forward to the warm weather this weekend. The kidlet and I are thinking a Waller Mill lake hike is in order.

2009-01-25T07:45:00.002-06:00

I waken this morning with terrible heartache as I realize that I've lost another puppy. Murphy has been with me the last seven years since he was a scrappy, thin puppy on a transport to Dane rescue. I was simply a leg on this sweet, deaf babies road to salvation. His "breeder" had tried to starve him to death when she discovered he was deaf, something she caused directly due to her unethical breeding practices. She finally agreed to give him to rescue. He was so very thin. We weren't even sure he'd survive. He cried (sort of, being deaf he never really made normal dog noises aside from the inexplicable wooing that he picked up from Misha) the whole leg of the transport.

I left him with the rescuer that morning, and by the time I had driven the hour or so back to my house I knew he was mine. He was supposed to be with me. I called her and told her that when he was ready, I wanted to adopt him. She agreed and I waited long, hard weeks for him to get healthy and weigh enough to neuter. It finally came and I had this giant, floppy puppy, all legs and ears to cherish.

The years were hard for him. His beginnings and breeding left him with a nutrient-absorbtion problem that I battled, sometimes more successfully than others, his whole life. He was rail thin at the best of times, no matter what or how much he ate. Testing never yielded any results and the cycle of weight loss to the point I thought I was going to lose him was ongoing. Somehow he seemed to recover each time, thankfully. I think he cheated death many times over the years with this issue.

He was getting on in years now, especially for a Dane. Happy after we moved to Virigina, decidedly healthier in the warmer climate I still thought I had years left. The loss of Misha in early winter this year was difficult for him. All he'd ever known was another dog's company. She raised him from a puppy. He struggled but settled in, appreciating the increased, one-dog attention and was all snuggles all the time.

He was slowing down, I could see that. The last couple of months we've been fighting what I believe was a misdiagnosis on cancer. The vet told us a lump was benign, but it was growing rapidly and the weight loss was severe. He hadn't eaten in a couple days, unusual for my chowhound but yesterday morning he was ravenous. Ate his food in record time, a burden I bear heavily. Soon after breakfast I watched him, knowing the worst was at hand. He bloated. I ran him to the emergency vet, the longest twenty miles I've ever driven, but it was too late. The worst was confirmed and I lost my sweet baby to the bridge. Thankfully, I was there, holding him and touching him as he left us.

I wake this morning to an empty house for the first time in nine years. Since my first Malamute, Misha, came to me I've had multiple dogs in the house between my own and the many fosters that crossed my path over the years. I don't know what to do with myself. I got up to let him out, to feed him this morning. I expect him to be standing there rubbing his head against my side. It's more empty than I can believe. But I will always remember him and cherish the time we had.

He was absolutely the sweetest dog I've ever known. All love, all the time. A real clown. The perpetual puppy/teenager who never, ever grew into his long legs and big head. He was with me through the best and worst of times, and I am thankful. But for now, as the shock wears off, I miss him terribly. I grieve the loss of my eternal puppy. I miss his sweet sounds, his insistant need for attention and his unquestioning love and trust.

Today, sad does not begin to touch it.

Thursday Thoughts

2009-01-22T07:47:00.000-06:00

So after months of being miserable at the old job, thirteen plus hour work days between two jobs, research papers, group presentations and final exams for class and all the other fun stuff life threw at me, I am now apparently coming down with a cold after somehow maintaining my health through the hardest times. Lovely. Nothing like starting a new job and getting sick immediately when you have no sick or vacation days yet. Oh well, life goes on.

So the first week of the new job has been good. The commute is tolerable with traffic moving pretty good on the most problematic stretches (I-95/I-64). I actually appreciate the time in the car to myself in the morning and after work. An hour to veg out, listen to music, and just chill. I know there will be days when I just want to get home fast, but I think it's going to be better than expected. And to not be miserable for eight hours a day at work... totally worth it.

I've had to give up my after work happy hours though, which is kind of weird. I need people to meet me for a drink after 5:30pm, which it seems is when most people I know go home for the night. Perhaps some of the professional 9-5ers here will hook me up. Bound to be awesome places to go out in Richmond. I also think we should institute mandatory attendance for Corona night at Paul's. Come on, dollar Coronas and it's only 7-9pm. Is it really that much of a committment? Hit me up, folks.

Other than that, looking forward to a weekend with no plans. It felt so good last Saturday when I didn't have to work at Target for the first time since November. A morning at home, leisurely drinking coffee and reading the paper... awesome. I missed it a lot.

Class starts next week again and I already have my first assignment due the following week, a short paper and presentation with someone else in the class. We all know how I just love group work... not.

Anyhoo, off to get some things done today. It's almost Friday! A little over a week until my boys are in the Superbowl! Woot!

2009-01-19T19:15:00.002-06:00

First day at the new job! They gave me a BlackBerry! I have a cool, big, fancy office! They took me to lunch! I like this place! Woo!

Key-riffic!

2009-01-16T10:22:00.003-06:00

Wow! My keys are so much lighter without office keys! Count: two house keys and a car key, electric car lock key, dragonfly keychain, two keychain bottle openers (in case of malfunction), a library card and a Ukrops card. More stuff than keys until next week.

Baby it's cold outside!

2009-01-15T21:07:00.004-06:00

I know I can't really complain compared to how it was in the frozen prairie I escaped from, but damn it's cold!

Steeler Skies

2009-01-15T13:46:00.001-06:00

Terrible towels in the air...

Superbowl-bound! (hopefully)

2009-01-13T18:40:00.002-06:00

Steelers are on the road to Tampa, baby!

A look back at a collegiate life

2009-01-12T09:34:00.017-06:00

College campuses are all I've ever known, thanks to growing up with two parents working in the higher education arena and a long history of my own life, happening on many different campuses. I just thought I'd take a step back as I approach the new opportunity I'm about to undertake at the history of my life in higher ed, from the start. This is mostly for my own memory lane strolling, so feel free to read no further.

The University of South Carolina- The Gamecocks. I was here the first year of my life. My dad had wrapped up grad school and was a new professor here. I don't remember it, but it counts.

Old Dominion University- The Monarchs. I spent most of my early life here, age two until I graduated from high school. My mom and dad both worked here, as did a lot of my closest friends' parents. I got my first summer job here (art and music camp counselor). I spent hours on this campus, using the gym facilities, watching basketball games, doing homework in my parent's offices, and generally just causing mayhem around the place.

Virginia Tech- The Hokies. I spent a very short and very troubled one semester here my first year of college. I wasn't ready, but I went and it was ugly.

Heartland Community College- The Hawks. I took some courses here in between things, after moving out to Illinois when I left Tech. Mostly I did this just to shut my parents up about me being a college drop out. I met some really neat people here though.

Illinois State University- The Redbirds. After a couple of false starts (I got pregnant, I almost failed out the first time) I finally got serious and earned my bachelors and masters degrees here. It was a great school and I had a lot of fun and met a lot of cool and really nice people, especially as a grad student. I was in a great department and had awesome professors. The kidlet was raised her first few years here and got some great breaks through the childcare program on campus.

University of Illinois- The Fighting Illini. I worked here for eight years after graduating from ISU. I took my first real campus job here and it was great to work for a Big 10 school. Good benefits, flexible schedules, nice folks for the most part. But alas, I was not destined to be a midwesterner and needed to return to the east coast where I belong.

William and Mary- The Tribe. I've been here coming up on two years. I took a job here in spring 2007 and then started taking classes toward my PhD. Now that I'm leaving for a new job at a new place, I'm a little sorry this was such a disappointment for my employment, but I'm hoping to continue my degree here even after I'm gone. I should know by the next week or two if I got into the department formally so I can continue.

University of Richmond- Go Spiders! What a great opportunity to move up in my career. My first position with some administrative responsibility. I can't wait to get going. This feels right, and really positive and I'm really looking forward to it.

Aside from those first-hand experiences, my family is tied in to a few other schools as well, furthering my college involvement. My dad and sister went to Penn State (Nittany Lions- JoePa, baby!) and dad did his undergrad at University of Wisconsin (The Badgers). My sister and I followed a similar track since she did her undergrad at Virginia Tech, then a year of grad school at ISU and now is doing law school, having started at Penn State and now being at W&M.

Anyways, I've been meaning to document this path for myself since I'm considering a tattoo based on my life being so intricately intertwined with college life. It's been good, bad, rewarding, frustrating and overall has given me opportunities and a mindset I have come to highly value and appreciate.

Friday photoblogging

2009-01-09T11:24:00.009-06:00

Some random photo blogging for today. Random thoughts and tidbits for this week.

Absolutely, without a doubt worst frozen pizza ever. Should be good because it's not "diet" but ewwwww. Crappy crust like dried out bread, horrid sauce and way too much grease. File under "icky".
Tomorrow and Sunday are my last two Target work shifts. I have to say that as far as having to work a second job and deal with the public in it, it was very tolerable. Coworkers were cool and nice, customers were for the most part not raging arses and I got a discount on all things Target (rock!). And I earned this crazy little Target dog rent-a-cop thing for getting people to take out redcards. I'd go back if I had to. Nicely done, Tar-zschay.

On January 7th, 2009, it was 62 degrees out when I was on my way from one job to the other. It always seems to be nice on days I have to work, but hey, I'm a happy girl in a place it stays moderate so much of the winter. We had a couple decent thunderstorms this day too. Pretty cool. Snow and ice? Thanks, but no thanks.

This black thong has been in the grass outside my favorite local beering establishment all week. Apparently no one is brave enough to claim it. I think it may be the subject of a research project on the effects of weather on panties. I could be wrong.

That is all.

How fast things can change

2008-12-23T16:14:00.000-06:00

Today was the first day I've had off from both jobs since Thanksgiving, and my mom and dad joined the kidlet, my sister and myself here in the 'burgh for a lovely pre-holiday lunch for my one day off. We went down to the Kings Arms in CW, and had a delicious dinner and drinks (omg, punch royal... rum and fresh lime juice over crushed ice... YUM). When getting ready to leave, my phone rang.

The University of Richmond. Job offer. Accepted. Start January 19th. Wow.

Tonight I'm home alone as the kidlet went back to OBX with the folks. I'll join them tomorrow evening, driving down there once I'm off work. I have to work again at 6:45am the day after Christmas (hello, 4am drive back, ugh), but it will be nice to have a day down there (and a nice one at that, weather-wise) to walk on the beach and heal my soul before moving on to the next stage of my life. Tonight I'm going to stay in, stay quiet, drink a little wine, maybe take a hot bath, ponder the future and get to bed early.

It's been such a hard time lately. This job will bring new challenges (commuting, paying for my own college classes, new harder duties) but also such good opportunities for me. I'll be able to quit my second job at Target and be home in the evenings after 6:30pm again with the kidlet, and have my weekends back. Better money, a director's level title, a positive non-toxic work environment, nice office, and the benefits of an elite private institution will make things so much better.

All in all, I'm hopeful. I'm thankful. I'm happy.

Less grinchy

2008-12-18T08:32:00.008-06:00

I am slowly getting things in order and finding some Christmas spirit. We got the tree up last night (which I am totally in love with because of its rediculousness), I've got all shopping done for kidlet and am down to just a couple more gifts to get people, the holidays mean I'll only be working one job instead of two for a week and a half and I actually had a night where I got to chill, spend time with kidlet and make a real dinner last night. The prospects for the new job are positive as well, though I won't likely hear until after the new year from what I understand.

While in Richmond the other day for my interview, I came across this:

These two poor Santas and a hooker (ok, probably not a hooker) were broken down in the middle of downtown Richmond waiting for help. For some reason, I found it hilarious.

Busy, busy, busy

2008-12-16T10:02:00.000-06:00

OK, I'll just issue a blanket apology for not blogging much lately. I can't believe anyone actually wants to read what my crazy brain throws out there, but it's been a few weeks of hell since before Thanksgiving. I haven't had a day off of work between my two jobs since November 22nd and don't have one scheduled off until at least December 28th (which is likely to be a work day, but that week's schedule isn't up yet). Between no days off from both jobs, and many 13 hour work days Monday-Friday, I'm beat down pretty good.

Add to that doing my group project, my research paper and my final exam (a 3 hour essay exam, mind you), each due one week after the other for the last three weeks, and that hasn't left me an ounce of time for anything, nor a braincell to function on. The house is a disaster (and my parents come tomorrow, so I'll be cleaning like a maniac tonight no matter how tired I am), the grocery shopping isn't getting done, dinners are catch as you can and I'm practically falling asleep from only getting a max of 5-6 hours of restless sleep at most a night.

The good news is that today is my interview in Richmond. If I get this job, I can probably quit my second job at Target, which means I'll get my weekday evenings and weekends back again, well worth it in exchange for the commute. Lots of changes will come out of this if I get the job, but most are tolerable and even really positive. Cross your fingers!

Other than that, I am done Christmas shopping for the kidlet and got my sister's gift out of the way. I know what I'm getting for the folks but haven't gotten over there to buy it yet, and that just leaves a couple little things for other people. I am stressing on the holidays and not able to appreciate them for sure with all that's going on. I have to work until 3:30pm Christmas Eve and then be back at 6:45am the day after Christmas (driving to and from OBX in a whirlwind for Christmas Day). I have to work the guest service area the day after Christmas too, so my mantra that day will be "I will not choke out customers".

But class is done for the semester, hopefully in the next week I'll know if I have a new and better job, and at least I'll be down to just one job after Friday for the next two weeks over the holidays. It doesn't really feel like the light at the end of the tunnel, but I think I may see a glint of something up there...

Thanksgiving math lesson, number two

2008-11-28T08:20:00.003-06:00

Hunting knife plus oysters equals...

Too much alcohol plus cornhole equals...

2008-11-27T15:20:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T10:24:00.001-06:00

It's been a tough last couple of years, but still I am more than thankful for all I am lucky enough to have in my life. Peace.

A stroll down memory lane

2008-11-19T07:32:00.001-06:00

I'm cold! Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold! I hate being cold! It's too early for these kind of temperatures in my opinion. Last year I walked on the beach in NC in bare feet and short sleeves the day after Christmas. I had a rose blooming December 1st. This is just too early for winter! It all helps solidify my desire to move a little further south eventually, or closer to the warming effects of the ocean. I keep thinking I'd rather live in NC, but most of the places I could find work down there are inland and I want to be on the oceanfront. Specifically, OBX. Yes, you all know that it calls my soul.

Speaking of relocating to NC, when I was interviewing for jobs back on the east coast about two years ago (what? that long, really?) I had three interviews before I made a decision. While I had already decided the second I set foot in Illinois that I was working every day to get the hell out of there again, the urgency to move out east and away from all that was happening where I lived at the time was strong. Coupled with the ugly stuff surrounding the end of my marriage, it went from "I'd really rather be back on the east coast" to "I need to get the fuck out of here!" pretty rapidly.

I ended up interviewing in (1) Wilmington, NC, (2) middle of nowhere PA and (3) here in the 'burg (sidebar: I had a call right after I took the job here to interview out in Kentucky too, which I don't think I would have taken even though it was a director's position). PA was out almost immediately even though they would have paid better and I would have been in a director's position. But seriously, a few feet of snow in the winter? Subzero temperatures? Cheap but very rural housing? No thank you very much.

Wilmington presented a bigger challenge to say no to and to the day I made my decision it still weighed heavily on my mind. I interviewed there in January 2007 and the weather was warm, the flowers were blooming, the sandy dunes were beautiful, the ocean was 5 miles from where I was staying, the seafood was fresh and the people were nice. In 5 years or so I was looking at a director's position because they were hiring to eventually fill in that person's spot because she was going to retire. In the end, it was farther from OBX than here in Williamsburg (mapquested it at almost 5 hours! wtf?) and I needed to be closer to family.

Which kind of left me with Williamsburg by default, though I certainly wasn't upset about that. It's a crap research analyst position, so in a way I probably screwed my career advancement by a few years, but it's close to my family and friends, it's pretty warm and definately beautiful, it's close to the beaches and I grew up in Norfolk so there wasn't a lot of finding my way around to be done. I didn't think I was going to be able to take it because the initial salary range was so low, and when I told them the minimum it would take to get me here (which was really a pay cut in a way, thanks to a much higher cost of living and my separation leaving me single income) I thought there was no way it would happen. But this little institution came through and I made the decision that Virginia was the place for me, which I kind of knew from the start.

Fast forward to now. Here I am, a year and a half back here and happier if somewhat poorer. The family beachhouse is complete (aside from the neverending work Dad does to make it look fancy) and we spent many summer weekends there. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be spent walking on the beach, enjoying friends and family and gorging ourselves on delicious food and wine. My sister, who was living in Norfolk the last few years, somehow ended up here in Williamsburg too (weird!) and so she and I are able to see each other more often. I've reconnected with old friends who are important to me and made some great new ones. All in all, it's been the right decision aside from a few rough times and some difficult predicaments I shoulder most of the blame for.

Anyways, I had some snarkiness to share this morning (mostly about how not doing laundry means I am wearing the Most.Uncomfortable.Bra.On.Earth today) but I guess I'm feeling kind of nostalgic, a little more peaceful and maybe a little melancholy. Hence, a slow stroll down memory lane for me, for good, for worse, for sanity.

It's finally Friday!

2008-11-14T07:14:00.002-06:00

If you're going to be an arse and pull a right turn at warp speed right in front of me just because you can't wait the two seconds for me to pass by the intersection, at least have the common effin' decency to go AT LEAST the speed limit, but preferably faster than I want to drive.

I'd really like to see the government tell all these banks, businesses, cities, airlines, train industries, etc. to fuck off and fix their own shit. They got themselves into this mess, it's a system designed to weed out the weak and if you aren't able to sustain, you go under. That's the nature of the system. How about instead of bailing out these assholes with CEOs still making multimillions, they go ahead and funnel that money directly to the people who can't put food on the table for their kids, or gas in their cars to get to work, or heat in their houses for the winter? How about they contribute to the system for welfare since so many more people need it now, and maybe bump up the rediculously low levels of criteria? How about we do this whole "by the people, FOR the people" thing for real? We've all been paying into this bullshit system our whole lives, so I think it's about time for it to give back.

Yay for the last couple minutes of The Office last night! I want a Jim of my own.

I'm tired of all the rain. It seems like we've had so much lately. And when it comes, it lasts for days. Too wet. Makes my dog unhappy. Tracks mud into my house. Creates uncontrollable hair. Survey says: sucky.

TMI FYI

2008-11-12T07:14:00.000-06:00

Funny that Mrs. Chicken blogged about this particular topic today, since I have very recently taken efforts to make that same choice. Yes folks, next week on the 19th I go in for my consultation to have my tubes tied. I'm dunzo on the whole birthin' babies thing, thank you very much. Completely and totally sold on the fact that with a teenager and one horribly failed, waste of 8 years of my life marriage, there is no way I want to start over with an infant again. I have the world's perfect kid already (ok, I'm biased, but she is!) and there is no way I'm tempting fate again. I had her by myself. I'm raising her by myself. And I'm not having another one. Period.

When I was married I gave about two seconds consideration to having another kid with the ex. Enough that I went off depo (not a bad decision in and of itself) and onto the pill since that was easier to quit and get pregnant on should I decide to do so. I quickly then realized the above and have been on the pill ever since. I've now managed to achieve most of the stupid wonky side effects from it, so at this point I'm ready to be done with both the hormones and the babies. Done, done, done. Did I mention done?

So hopefully they will quickly schedule me for the surgery next week when I'm in. It would be grand to be done worrying about it by Christmas. It's not for everyone, and I don't fault people for wanting more kids by any means, but I know my limits and I'm happy with the one great kid I've got. I'm so very lucky that she is as good and cool as she is turning out to be, and I'm a happy and proud mom quite content with just one.

Wow. Just, wow.

2008-11-05T11:19:00.004-06:00

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place". -Nelson Mandela

Warning: rant ahead (ignore, I’m bitching about money, or lack thereof)

2008-10-28T07:06:00.002-05:00

Just when you start to feel like you might be digging yourself out of a hole, life loves to come along and slap you right back into it face-first it seems. Last night I found a decent sized lump on my dog's side (I just lost my second dog about a month ago, very suddenly and unexpectedly) so now I'm scrambling to figure out how to pay a giant vet bill associated with at best, biopsy and bloodwork and possibly surgery to remove it. Add that to the worry of whether his poor life is compromised if it's cancerous. I've never left the vet here with any less than a $600 bill and usually they are about $1000 or more. It's insane compared to the costs where I used to live and I'm still adjusting to that. But when I'm barely ekeing by to start with, let's just say that the stress is too much right now.

The property tax bill came the other day too. Oh boy. Stupid Virginia.

I also have to figure out how to get my divorce pushed through by the end of the year or I'm going to have to file taxes married but separate again, which screwed me last year. Another chunk of change I didn't have but had to pay Uncle Sam anyways. Add to that the rediculous lawyer's retainer I'm about to pay because they can't find him to give him the papers, making it contested and therefore I have to pay (in spite of my contributing to the legal fund every month since I started working here for this very reason, because it covers most legal costs as long as it's not contested). Why does it have to be so hard to end things quickly and easily?

I still hate work (HATE). And no one will give me a second job because places like restaurants and retail apparently don't like to hire people with semi-professional full-time day jobs. Gotta love it.

Beastie Boys show in Richmond tonight. I tried to sell my ticket yesterday once I found out about the impending vet bill, but no luck. So I'm can't justify wasting the money completely and I'm going to go, but damn, why can't life just give me one little break? Just one.

*extends middle finger to the world today*

Mondays suck

2008-10-27T06:31:00.001-05:00

Well, that didn't take long to blow 365 days of snarkiness out of the water with a weekend, did it? Oh well, it was a valiant effort while it lasted.

I dread Mondays. Dread them. But today as I pulled into my space at work I realized that the boss is out today and the day improved somewhat. It just takes a little thing sometimes.

Yay for Friday!

2008-10-24T09:51:00.003-05:00

Happy dance for the arrival of the weekend!

It's still so cold here and I refuse to turn on the heat just yet, but dang. I think I'm going to have to put a second blanket on my bed tonight since my down comforter is still in a box somewhere in the garage. I am over skirts for work with the weather, and opting for pants to keep my legs warm. It's not working. I think the AC is still on in my building. Brrrrr...

Halloween party this weekend! I love dressing up for Halloween and always try to come up with unique costume ideas. I think I did pretty good this year. Stay tuned for the reveal after the weekend!

This is awesome. Put in your name and give it a whirl.

What's your pleasure?

2008-10-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

People who come to my house for movie night might be a little weirded out by the fact that 99% of what I have are horror movies. What can I say? I'm a blood and guts kind of girl. My favorites, which have been for a few years now, are Rob Zombie's creepy House of 1000 Corpses and the Devil's Rejects. They aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I love the twisted nature of the characters. Scarier than boogiemen and ghosts I think.

So here's your part for my 365 blogging effort, in the spirit of Halloween...

What is your favorite horror movie?

Is it really only Wednesday?

2008-10-22T08:41:00.001-05:00

Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold! Did I mention I'm cold? Yargh! I shouldn't complain because cold at 60 degrees is a hell of a lot better than cold at 0 degrees like it was in the place that shall not be named, but still...

I don't have much in the way of cold weather clothes that fit either, so I had to resort to big tall boots with my skirt today so my legs stay warm. I really need some new work clothes, but no money means no wardrobe. It'll stay the same four or five outfits in rotation for now. Maybe I'll ask for clothes for Christmas this year.

Yay for sick professors making class get out early last night! It was SO nice to be home at 8:30 on a Tuesday night. And I'm skipping class next week for the Beastie Boys show. Eeeeeeee! (that was a squeal of excitement, in case it wasn't clear).

I am STILL battling this stupid cough. I've had it for weeks now, since I came down with the local crud about two or three weeks ago. I'm so over this. Can't do much about it though. And everyone else is fighting it too, most of them just as long as I have had it. Stupid cold and flu season. Grumble.

I really need a new job. That is all.

Addendum to earlier post

2008-10-21T13:29:00.001-05:00

I also refuse to wear Uggs or Crocs.

And I got a 91 on the midterm I stressed out so badly over last week. Boo ya!

That is all. Back to your regularly scheduled afternoon.

Clothing I refuse to wear

2008-10-21T08:21:00.004-05:00

No way, no how:

1. Sweater dresses. They look itchy and bulky and though they seem to be all the rage this season based on how many there are in the stores, they just sound horribly uncomfortable with me. Plus, I'd feel like I forgot my pants.

2. Turtlenecks. I'd really rather not having something tight around my neck all day long. Plus it makes the bottom of my hair flip out funny sometimes. No thanks.

3. Back zippered pants or skirts. I am convinced at any moment my ass it going to come barrelling out of these when the zipper doesn't hold as I sit down. Ass one, zipper zero. 'Nuff said.

4. Flats. Anyone who sees me regularly knows I'm a heels girl. Tall heels, at least three or four inches lately. I'm short so they give me some height, make it so my pants don't run along the floor and get all messed up on the bottoms and make my calves look (a little) thinner. The only exception to this no flats rule is when I'm wearing chucks.

5. Anything that shows my fat knees. I wear jeans all summer. Most of my dresses come just past the knee. I hate my knees and I'm not about to look at them myself, much less let anyone else see them if possible.

In opposition to all that I hate above though, I am seriously coveting these: This has been another installment of 365 days of snarkiness. Carry on.

I hate Mondays!

2008-10-20T08:39:00.003-05:00

It's cold this morning here. I had to use the heater in my bathroom getting ready this morning for the first time since spring. Brrrr. Nothing like having to get out of bed on a cold Monday morning to set your teeth on edge.

I dropped off the car this morning at the shop because the "check air pressure" light is on again (this also happened last winter but it went off after awhile) even though a check of all four tires shows they are just fine. When I called for an appointment, the guy asked me "did you check all five tires?". Five? Oh yeah, the full size spare underneath the car has a sensor in it too. Oh. OK, well, I don't crawl under my vehicle, that's what the mechanics are for. An hour after dropping it off the shop calls and tells me it was indeed the spare being low on pressure. Enlightening for the next time it happens. Wonder how much they'll gauge the dumb girl for to figure out this piece of information?

So I get here at a whopping 7:30am because of the car drop off this morning. This is a whole (*gasp*) half an hour later than I usually get to work! I come in the back door right by my office to find my boss standing right in front of my office (?!?). "Oh, I was wondering where you were. It's so unusual for you to be late." Let me get this straight. One of my coworkers was out of work every day last week being "sick" (I'm just saying, if you're out for a whole work week and are supposedly on antibiotics, you should be getting better each day you're on them and if you're not and are still to sick to work, maybe you ought to check yourself into the hospital). Another coworker is in his office about two days a week right now (I know, this is all a continuation of my vent last week... maybe my friend will stop by again to check on my health!). I haven't taken a whole day off since Sept. 8th (I take very few whole days off, ever, and even that was a rarity) and you're going to freak out if I'm a half hour later than usual to the point you'll take up camping in front of my office door? Wow. Just, wow. I should have just called in sick all week apparently.

Just in case you didn't want the real thing...

2008-10-19T11:24:00.002-05:00

Saturday blogging, wow!

2008-10-18T09:38:00.002-05:00

I didn't realize how hard it would be to blog on the weekend days when I am feeling so lazy! Especially since this is the one weekend in forever where I don' t have to be anywhere or do anything (well, besides the usual laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping...). It's cold and cloudy today and I think the kidlet and I are going to chill and watch horror movies instead of going out and finding something to do. I like these kinds of days, honestly. Quiet, laid back and relaxing.

I really need to get my ass under control. It's gaining land mass at an alarming rate these days. I am going into next week aiming to eat less and healthier. We'll see if I can manage to shrink it, global warming style so it doesn't begin to require a mailing address and zip code of its own soon. I need to start walking again too, harder to stick to that now that the weather is cooling a bit and the days are getting shorter.

Some people I know think I'm nuts because I was out walking on the 100 degree days this summer but don't like the 60 degree ones now. What can I say? I'm a warm weather girl who thrives in the heat. Give me 90s, give me humidity, give me thirst. I think it feels good to sweat out the impurities for an hour and then step into air conditioning. Even in the mild winters here where I can walk barefoot and short-sleeved on the beach the day after Christmas are still too cold for me (though WAY more tolerable then that frozen landmass they call a prairie in the winter, somewhere off in the middle of the country).

Speaking of the holidays, I'm totally ready for them now that the cooler weather has moved in. I'll be spending both Thanksgiving and Christmas at the beach for the first time since the early 1990s and I can't say how happy that makes me. It's a wonderful time down there that time of year, with empty beaches full of improved winter shell collections, locals only nights out and quiet peaceful walks through the dunes. I miss my family (well, mom and dad, because after many years my sister and I have ended up in the same town again, weird!) and will be glad to see them again.

My snark is too snarkilicious for you boy

2008-10-17T06:38:00.002-05:00

OMG, micromanaging-createchaos-assriding-obsessive-typeA boss. There is NO reason for you to arrive at 7am, be in my office by 7:02 with "two questions" every single morning! Especially on a Friday when I want to chill because the week is almost over. Here's a clue... if you'd distribute the workload more efficiently by, oh I don't know, perhaps making some of your people actually do work instead of giving it all to the three people who were unhappily merged in your department, maybe you wouldn't have so much to stress about.

As it stands, your five employees barely come to work much less appear to actually do anything, while the three of us are here all day, every day, sometimes late into the evening or even on weekends. I get it, your people can't do what we do (I personally think some are unable to function in basic day to day society, but who am I to judge?) but DAMN. And when you're already not paying me for the quadrupled workload that I was hired to do, and the new hiring freeze means we can't fill the position we desparately need (to actually replace TWO people now, but who's counting?) because you dicked around on the hiring process for six months, then BUGGER OFF because I have zero tolerance for more bullshit.

Blah Blah Blah

2008-10-16T10:30:00.001-05:00

I finally slept well last night for the first time in weeks (maybe months, I've lost track). It felt so good, even though I wanted even more when the alarm went off this morning. Maybe it holds hope for a resumption of normalcy at some point...

I cannot wait until this weekend, which is the first in a long time I haven't had something to do or somewhere to be. After awhile of that, even the fun things seem like a burden. Now, if I can just find the energy to get my house in a more decent order, that would be great.

I've started another round of cleansing my possessions. I went through about six more boxes yesterday and am pretty much giving it all to goodwill or throwing it away. It feels so good to purge, and my ability to let go of things right now is strong. If it's not sentimental (and even then, some things still have to go), it's most likely out of here. I am starting to think I might need a dumpster.

My grass needs cut. Badly. I hate lawn work. I need a cute lawn boy to mow the grass with no shirt on. Applications being taken...

I know, the 365 days of snark is turning into 365 days of blogging. Now that I might be less tired soon, I'm sure the snarkiness will return in full force. I have a hard time keeping my inner voice in check a lot of the time ("did I just say that out loud?") and it is bound to rear it's head again in the near future.

No real snark today, just venting...

2008-10-15T06:58:00.001-05:00

It figures that as soon as I start the blog-o-snark to have some stress relief I'm feeling so buried that I don't really want to do it. I'm going to try and persist though because I think it's a good outlet. In any case, today's entry...

I did my midterm last night. I was going to do it tonight but I reached the point yesterday where I just felt that I wasn't getting anything else out of studying. My brain was full, and that I should just knuckle down and get it done so I didn't have to stress on it anymore. I have no idea how I did yet, and I also can't tell you how I feel about my work. I had two and a half hours to complete it and finished with about 5 minutes to proof it. I could have written more I think and I don't feel like my work was very organized, but I guess I'm glad it's done. I'll be glad when I get the grade so I can really check it off mentally. I'm hoping for a B at least, but we'll see.

Have I mentioned that with the recent raise push back from the state, I won't be getting any salary increase here in two years and three months since I started working here by the time it finally rolls around? And that's assuming that the raises that were pushed back from November 2008 actually get paid on the new July 2009 date. I'm not holding my breath. I just love that this happened when my job here is about three or four times more work than I was hired to do as well. Makes me really happy. *rolls eyes*

I'm beat, I have this awful bronchial crap that's keeping me up at night in coughing fits and I'm stressed to the max. I need a vacation, but it's not happening until the holidays at least (and don't get me started on how that's not really a vacation). Does anyone have any valium? *sigh*

I snark, you snark, we all snark for snarkiness

2008-10-14T08:34:00.002-05:00

Day two of the great snark-olution.

Yesterday McCain and Palin were at the Virginia Beach Convention Center for a rally. The McCain campaign estimated the crowd to be about 25,000. The Fire Marshal said it was more like 12,000.... Tick tock, baby. :-)

I am going to take my stupid midterm exam either tonight or tomorrow, not sure which. I'm reaching the point where short of one more study run-through, I just don't feel like I'm getting anything else out of the cramming. For the record, these kids who were undergrad history majors, who have no careers to spend all day at before they put in their class time, whose mommy and daddy pay for their school and their car and their rent and their food and probably their beer too?

Yeah, they suck.

Around the snark in 365 days

2008-10-13T06:54:00.002-05:00

Some Monday morning snarkiness after not having a voice yesterday and therefore having a backbuild of stuff I couldn't say...

Bicycle lanes. There are about a million of them here, some in really rediculous places like Rochambeau. Yeah, I get it. We love the tourists and bikers here but damn, if the area goes out of its way to give you bike lanes on every damn road, then for goodness sake, STAY IN THEM. If you have a special lane on a 55 mph road (which really seems assinine to me, but whatever) then stay the frick in it and off my already narrowed car lane. I'm amazed there aren't more bicycle accidents around here, but I guess that's because we're all so accustomed to them being out in the middle of the road like they're invincible.

It's a pretty well known fact that I drive like an asshole. There's no other way to put it and I am totally fine with that description. I have zero patience for other drivers, I'm always in a hurry and I like to do a million things while I'm driving. I am often texting, drinking coffee, changing songs, etc. all at the same time. Yes, it's a bad habit, but knock on wood, I haven't had a ticket in about 15 years now (and I still swear there were no "kids present" in that stupid school zone three blocks from the school) and the only accident I've ever had wasn't my fault. I am in the best of the best category for my car insurance. How many of you can say that?

Did you know in Illinois they take your license from you when you're ticketed? Well, technically you're allowed to choose giving up your license or paying the cop $200 in cash bond (I kid you not). Right, because I regularly drive around with $200 cash in my bag. And have you ever tried to get into a bar when you're right at about 21 years old with a ticket as proof of your age? It doesn't work too well with the bouncers (excuse me Mr. Bouncer Head Muscle Man, I'm with the DJ...).

The kidlet sometimes says the most hi-LAR-ious things without even meaning to. In the town I used to live in out in the middle of nowhere midwest, this guy used to walk around in a robe carrying a giant wooden cross all day on Easter. Now, I can think of about a million other ways to spend my Easter (Reese's peanut butter eggs and mimosas anyone?), but to each his own. Anyhoo, we were driving down the street and saw the psuedo-Jesus and the young kidlet (who is being raised to choose her own religious beliefs when she is ready, and therefore didn't understand what she was seeing at the time) said, "What is that guy doing? It's not Halloween!). I almost wrecked the car (not from driving like an asshole, for the record) from blowing diet coke out of my nose when she said that (that really burns, by the way).

So fast forward to church-related comment number two a couple weeks ago. We live right down the street from three churches (all within a block of each other) and one of these churches has someone putting up their sign out front with witty (or not so) churchy-type statements and quips all the time. The other day it was something about the revival they were having the coming weekend, to which the kidlet responded in all seriousness, "What are they planning to revive?" That kid SLAYS me sometimes. A lot, actually.

Anyhoo, that's it for today, but I am considering undertaking an effort to blog 365 days of snarkiness starting today. I may give up out of laziness (it definately won't be for lack of something to say, as everyone who really knows me will understand) but I thought it might be a fun way to challenge myself a little and at the same time have a good outlet for my frustrations. So we'll see how long I can keep it up. Just wait for the first hangover blog...

Woo woo Misha Moo

2008-09-11T13:26:00.002-05:00

The time we have is never enough. RIP my big, sweet girl.

VMAs- WTF?

2008-09-09T19:06:00.000-05:00

The VMAs. Could they possibly Be. Any. Lamer? I remember as a teenager staying up late on a Sunday night (school be damned!) to watch these with breathless anticipation. Who will perform this year? Guns and Roses? Nirvana? Red Hot Chili Peppers rocking out with their cocks out but conveniently covered by gym socks? The sheer excitement of seeing who would present which awards, who would win them, what would people wear, what would be said and done?

But now... Brittany's big return? Who the hell cares (aside from the fact that I'm confused how you win three awards for a song and video no one has ever heard of)? The Jonas Brothers? Is MTV really backing that slosh? They are Disney-territory. Christina Aguliera? Honestly, is she even still around? I know MTV should have been renamed SRSANMVETV (Stupid Reality Shows and No Music Videos Ever TV) a long time ago, but DAMN.

It used to be the shit! My mom wouldn't let me watch it! The videos were scandalous and imaginative and we'd stay up waiting for world premieres and sit by our VCRs waiting for something good we could record to watch over and over whenever we wanted to. Headbangers Ball! 120 Minutes! YO! MTV Raps! Riki Rachtman! Downtown Julie Brown! Adam Curry! Fab Five Freddy! Is it really all so far gone now?

File this one in the "mourning the loss of coolness" file. MTV is officially dead to me. Thank goodness the kidlet is following in my footsteps and listening to bands like Flogging Molly, Green Day, the Ramones, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys and Sublime (even if she does like some of the new emo stuff like Panic at the Disco, Paramore and Fall Out Boy).

The Hurricarana

2008-09-04T18:43:00.005-05:00

For those of you in the midwest who have never lived or vacayed on the east coast, I present you with a glimpse of "hurricaneland". I think that Hanna is going to be no big deal, but you can bet your sweet bippies that we have a close eye on Ike. That said, I'm off to Boston this weekend, so I am a little worried for the kidlet, who will remain her with my sister during the storm.

In other small world weird news... my bestest friend here may soon be visiting central Illinois. He flies into St. Louis in a few weeks, and then drives "three hours or so north" for a work thing. How weird that he could end up in C-U or B-N even though we met out here.

Date: Thu 4 Sep 17:29:05 EDT
Subject: Tropical Storm Hannah

To Faculty, Staff and Students,

Tropical Storm Hannah is predicted to arrive in Williamsburg on Saturday morning. Rains will begin Friday evening and will likely continue through late Saturday afternoon. The College will remain open tomorrow, Friday, September 5 and classes will be held as scheduled.

The current forecast is for 2-4 inches of rain on Saturday with winds gusting to 40 mph. There is a strong possibility we will lose power during this period.

Students

The College will remain open. In the event the College loses power residence halls are equipped with emergency lighting. Food service will be provided in the Commons. Those students not on a meal plan may purchase food there. Bus Service will continue until wind gusts reach 40 mph or debris blocks the roads. You may store your bicycle in your room. Be sure to back up your computer data and consider turning off your computer when the storm is passing through

Faculty and Staff

Facilities Management will begin to secure loose equipment and clear debris that could cause flooding. All generators are being prepared for operation if needed. For those of you with radio systems, please be sure they are charged. We are asking that before leaving the campus on Friday all faculty and staff be sure to save their files and shut down as much equipment as possible.

Events

We plan to make the determination tomorrow morning as to whether we will need to cancel all events scheduled for Saturday. However, in light of current information we ask you to consider cancelling your events, particularly those that will bring large groups to campus.

Communications

The College’s Emergency Operations Center will be staffed on Saturday. If necessary, we will use the mass notification system to disseminate urgent information. We have backup manual systems in place to communicate messages if cell phone and email systems also fail.

Hurricane Ike

Lagging a few days behind Hannah is Hurricane Ike, a much stronger storm. We will continue to monitor Ike throughout the weekend to determine whether additional steps should be taken for your safety and for the operation of the campus.

What’s next?

We will continue to monitor Hannah and continue to update you on changing conditions. In the meantime, please think about the essentials you will need over the next several days such as medicines and other personal items. Our next communication will be tomorrow morning.

Stay safe and take care of each other.

sigh

2008-08-19T09:51:00.004-05:00

As we hurredly do school shopping for the impending 8th grader, and the days are starting to get cooler and shorter, and I am gearing up for another semester, the weekends at the beach seem even more valuable than usual.

Proggers...

2008-08-13T10:01:00.003-05:00

Man, seems like every female blogger I know is either pregnant or recently pregnant these days.

Congrats to Chicken and Cheese and Pammiecakes on their new additions.

A super-belated congrats goes out to Momo, whose baby news I lost in the shuffle of both us of moving.

And congrats to LBOTP and Easily Distracted for their impending bundles of joy.

Did I miss anyone?

In the meantime, I ever do return to central Illinois, I'll be sure not to drink the water.

2008-07-21T09:19:00.007-05:00

*Edited: I had cute beach pics of the kidlet here, but almost immediately had a weird little comment from what appears to be a porn-related blogger. Creepy to say the least. In any case, comments are now being moderated and I'm going back and removing pics of the kidlet for her protection.*

So the kidlet has morphed into a full-fledged teenager over the last few months. Amazing how it comes quite literally overnight. One day my little girl still, then boom! Wake up the next morning with a teen. I'm not complaining. I'm more than a little biased, but she's still the best and easiest kid I know.

With Tropical Storm Cristobal supposedly bearing down on us, we've seen no real signs of it. This is truly my heaven on earth.

2008-07-18T12:43:00.003-05:00

Rockin' the scarf and power red for a meeting with a bigwig today. Wish it wasn't so damn itchy on my neck.

The kidlet is at the beach with the grandparents for the week. I hope to make the most of a grownup week, and so far have some great plans arranged. Looking forward to acting a fool for a few days.

Lawncare snicker

2008-07-08T11:57:00.002-05:00

Dear Gainful Employer,

I understand that while it is important to maintain the lovely landscapes on our oh-so-historical campus, I doubt that the small plot of grass directly outside my window is in need of mowing every other day. Might I suggest scissors if you continue to feel it necessary, as they are much quieter and would allow greater blade length control.

Distractedly,

Ms. Maladjusted

Monday Mayhem

2008-07-07T09:24:00.001-05:00

I am, most unfortunately, back from NC. My mother read an article the other day about people who are addicted to tanning and asked if I thought I might be. I am, it's true. She said that the article called these folks "tanorexics" but I think this is a misnomer. "Orexic" implies to me that they abstain from the sun, like anorexics abstain from food (I am most definately not one of those). I propose, therefore, the term "tanaholics" to describe folks like myself.

Driving back from OBX took us a little longer than usual, about three hours, which isn't bad considering it was a holiday weekend. You learn interesting (and sometimes infuriating) things about people when they are stuck in traffic together. For example, I think most of us are driving ADD when we're forced to stop or slow. Looking around I saw that most people cannot sit still in their cars and just wait to save their lives. They were gesturing wildly, reaching down and in the back for things, talking on the phone, and just generally unable to resist movement. I, of course, ate twizzlers, fooled with my mp3 player and had bizarre and hilarious conversations with the kidlet. Can we as a nation sit still at all? I know I can't, in any situation, car or otherwise.

When did my beach (and yes, it is mine because I've been going there for 27 years, thank you very much) become so damn family-oriented? All I want to do is check out single guys and drink beer in the sun. The men available to ogle are now bogged down by seventeen children, a wife who doesn't pay any attention to said kids, and approximately four thousand pounds of beach gear including bags, sand toys, tents, umbrellas, catamarans, coolers, hats, sunscreen, chairs, kayaks, radios, kites and all things child-interest capturing. Single men with kids would be great, but apparently I'm the only person on earth who likes the place I go in OBX who isn't married with a million kids. Yeah, I could go further south but then it rapidly gets too touristy for me, and the single guys there are at least ten years my junior and more interested in college fresh meat. Can't win for trying. At least the sun, a book and a beer keep me well occupied and happy.

My family Drives. Me. Bonkers. after a certain number of days in the same house with them. I love them dearly, but my father's recent need to become riled up over every little thing and my sister's inability to allow my mother and me any time together by ourselves start to drive me batshit crazy in a rapidly increasing amount of time. Don't even get me started on my mother's "magic lasso" (you know, wonder woman style?). I walk in the door and it takes about one second for me to open my mouth and start confessing all I do wrong, before she even asks. "Yes! I ate crap take out all week, only exercised twice and drink too much! There, are you happy?" It's a magical power, I tell you. Maybe one day I'll harness the strength over the kidlet myself.

In regards to my incessant trip overpacking failures, I present example A: this weekend. Worn: one bathing suit and cover up skirt, one sundress, one pair of jeans and tshirt (in the car to and from), one bra (sundress doesn't require one), three pairs of underwear, one pair flip flops, one pair of work out pants and tshirt for walking. Taken, but not worn: two pairs of jeans, three tshirts, three bras, three pairs of socks, a second bathing suit, two extra pairs of underwear. This is relatively tame for my overpacking tendancies.

The guy who is in the office next to me, you know, Mr. Self-Conversation, smokes. Alot. He is probably in and out for a smoke break every hour at least. He reeks like cigarettes (where as I, on the other hand, reek of awesomeness! *snort*). Now, as a confessed ex-smoker the act itself doesn't bother me too much (except when I'm hungover the next morning after a bar crawl and the smell of my hair makes me sick to my stomach) but this is rediculous. Seriously dude, if I can smell you coming all the way down the hall, and your eau de cigarette reaches me a full minute before you actually appear, you might want to cut down a bit. Just sayin'.

The kidlet loves it here too!

2008-07-01T13:16:00.014-05:00

I guess I should point out that I'm not the only one happy to live here. The kidlet is happy as a clam (or an oyster, which she actually prefers). We have gotten so much closer over the last year and I am so thankful she gets to grow up with all the same great things here that I did. It's amazing to watch her enjoy the same things I did at her age.

Updates, schmupdates

2008-07-01T12:57:00.005-05:00

So much going on these days and so little time to blog. I've been bad about getting back here, admittedly. I seem to blog more on myspace since that's where most of my readers are. I apologize for neglecting my bloggerific duties here.

The kidlet and I both had birthdays in the last week or so and I think she really enjoyed hers. We went shopping at the mall after a pancake breakfast and got her some cool new clothes, and I took her to see Less Than Jake at a great local venue, which was her first "real" concert. I think she had a great time. I know I did! We head down to OBX this weekend for more birthday celebrating with the family. I am getting an awesome new individual brew coffee pot that I've been in love with since I used the one my folks have. Wicked awesome.

I'm off to see Less Than Jake again in a couple weeks in Richmond, and then Flogging Molly again in September. The onslaught of great bands that come here just continues, and I love it.

Work is going along ok. Not great, but could be worse. I now have two monitors at work which is kind of like standing in front of one of those giant computer billboards. I feel a little overwhelmed by all the information available at once. Takes some getting used to.

A friend of mine committed suicide last week, sadly. He was the first person I remember meeting when I moved back to the area. 39 years old. Very sad.

Other than that, I love my friends here dearly. They are so nice, caring and honest. What you see is truly what you get. It's a nice change of pace to be surrounded by people who will come bail you out of jail at 3am (and no I haven't had to be, but I won't say the same for all of us!). They are real townies and I got slotted right in as one, which is cool. I seem to collect firefighters and builders, but I guess that's representative of a lot of the livable wage jobs around here (we are in a rediculously expensive tourist trap, of course). It's nice to have so many people willing to help out a single girl though. The boys are coming to build me a deck this month!

Anyways, all is coasting along and I just hang on for the ride and wait to see what happens next. No real direction these days, though my thoughts continue to focus on a five-year plan. In five years I'll be vested in my retirement here, and I should be done with my PhD. The kidlet will also be off to college that same time, so I figure that's when the next major life shift will probably happen. Time will tell...

2008-03-26T11:10:00.004-05:00

So I've been here coming up on a year now and I'm finally settling in enough to find a new tattoo artist here. I have to say, the new guy rocks my socks. Peep the new ink I got over last weekend, the first I've been able to get in about a year and a half.

Yeah, I am and I'm proud of it:

New school to cover up old memories: