I've been offered a new job. A bit more money, and I'll still be able to telecommute. It's not a huge raise, but between the salary and the health benefits, I'll be pulling in enough now that I won't have to raid my savings account every month like I've been doing for the last two years (!). But I feel pretty guilty about leaving my current employer in the lurch. My current job is with a tiny, tiny company and I'm the only programmer there, so they'll be pretty screwed until they get someone else in.
And...GG came out to see me on Wednesday. It was just odd. We had a bottle of wine and a pizza, and chatted for a few hours, and then started making out. Unfortunately, it was not great. I mean, the making out was OK, but as for what came after...I think we were both just really nervous and it didn't go well. He was worried about me feeling "used" (since he doesn't know what his future plans are) and I told him that I wasn't expecting any kind of a relationship to come out of this (but dammit, I just REALLY needed to get laid, yanno?). Anyway, we did have sex, sort of. There were a lot of attempts, but he was having problems...um..."standing at attention," if you know what I mean. So it was awkward. I think he tried to make up for it by being very enthusiastic in other areas but it just came off as rough. He spent the night, and of course I couldn't sleep. I just have a big problem with sleeping in the same bed with someone I am not very, very comfortable with. So I only got a few hours' sleep, kind of dozing. I was exhausted yesterday, and then I had all these phone interviews with the new company. So...yeah. Not a great experience. I wish I could just curl up in bed and hibernate for a week or two.
Friday, December 30, 2005
Friday, December 23, 2005
Christmas Eve
Ooooh, I'm so excited. On Christmas Eve I'm going to make a big dinner for the three of us (Babydaddy, Rugrat and I):
- French onion soup (starter)
- Roast chicken
- Sweet potato casserole
- Brussels sprouts with bacon
- Bananas Foster (for dessert, obviously) with vanilla ice cream
Monday, December 19, 2005
It's the mooooost wonderful tiiiiime of the year
And why is it so wonderful, you ask? Because:
Now all I have to do is pack up the goodies in tins for Rugrat's teachers and the neighbors, and I can officially sit down with a big ol' glass of wine and call it good. Whew!
- Christmas trees & the "halls" are all decked with holiday cheer
- My Christmas shopping has been done for more than a week
- All presents are wrapped and ready to go
- All my cards have been sent out (about 50 - including color copies of the annual update & photos), with the exception of the one card that I need an air-mail stamp for, since it's going to Belgium
- All my holiday baking is done
Now all I have to do is pack up the goodies in tins for Rugrat's teachers and the neighbors, and I can officially sit down with a big ol' glass of wine and call it good. Whew!
Monday, December 12, 2005
She's completely insane
CPSIL must have some sort of narcissism disorder. You won't believe this...
I talked to Babydaddy this weekend and told him about the crazy conversation with CPSIL. Apparently, when CPSIL and L split up, they agreed that he would pay for A's daycare expenses and CPSIL would pay for B's daycare. Her whole thing about him not paying for B's daycare? Was because she decided that she didn't want to pay it anymore, and asked him to pay for both A's and B's daycare...and to give her $1500 spousal support. And of course he balked and told her that if she could afford a $1900/month rental house and to go out to concerts and such, she could certainly pay for B's daycare.
That crazy, crazy bitch.
On a happier note, I got ALL my Christmas shopping done on Saturday, and everything is wrapped and ready to go. Yay! I even made lemon pound cakes last night and put them in the freezer. I feel so productive. :-)
I talked to Babydaddy this weekend and told him about the crazy conversation with CPSIL. Apparently, when CPSIL and L split up, they agreed that he would pay for A's daycare expenses and CPSIL would pay for B's daycare. Her whole thing about him not paying for B's daycare? Was because she decided that she didn't want to pay it anymore, and asked him to pay for both A's and B's daycare...and to give her $1500 spousal support. And of course he balked and told her that if she could afford a $1900/month rental house and to go out to concerts and such, she could certainly pay for B's daycare.
That crazy, crazy bitch.
On a happier note, I got ALL my Christmas shopping done on Saturday, and everything is wrapped and ready to go. Yay! I even made lemon pound cakes last night and put them in the freezer. I feel so productive. :-)
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Someone kill me now...
No good deed goes unpunished. It's true.
Last week, crazy pseudo-sister-in-law (hereafter referred to as CPSIL) called and cornered me in her usual way: "What are you doing Saturday?" Well, just as I usually do every other weekend, I had Rugrat. Which I told her. Which she KNEW, because she has the same schedule with her kids. So then she asks me to babysit her four-year-old, B, and because I was cornered and she knew I was going to be home with Rugrat, I felt obligated to say OK. So, I figured it wouldn't be a big deal - he'd come & spend the night, the kids would have fun together, and then CPSIL would owe me and I could get her to babysit for ME sometime when I really needed it (read: when GG is in town and I am absolutely desperate to get laid).
So she drops off B on Saturday at about 5 (not 6:30, like she originally said she would - you know, AFTER DINNER). She assured me that he "will eat anything". I made risotto for dinner. You know, rice. With some chicken and peas and mushrooms thrown in. I figured Rugrat would balk a bit but he'd eat some of it, because it's RICE. And he did. But B...well, B took one look and said, "I don't like it." Rugrat and I explained that it didn't matter because that was dinner, and the rule is, you must take one bite for each year of your age and NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT IT and if you are still hungry after that, you can make yourself a waffle. B grumbled and procrastinated a lot, but eventually ate his four bites. Rugrat professed to like it, but still only ate six bites (he said he was "being polite" - he didn't really like it). So afterwards, the two of them made themselves some waffles. Fine, no problem. The boys "play" (read: fight) for a while. Then it comes time to get ready for bed. I look at the woefully small pile of clothes that CPSIL brought over and realize that she forgot to send:
Rugrat jumps in the shower and starts cleaning up, but B freaked the hell out and wouldn't get in the shower for love or money. Oh nooooo, he only takes baths. Fine, I figured I'd just ditch the "clean up" idea to keep him from going postal. They get jammies on and we read a couple of books. The boys go to bed. And then for the next hour, B and Rugrat are giggling and whispering and getting out of bed until I finally separate them by making Rugrat go to my room. And Rugrat was pretty exhausted by this point, so he fell right to sleep. But B? B kept getting up and opening the door and I kept telling him to go back to bed, for the next half hour. It was almost 10 PM before he finally settled down.
Next morning, B wakes up at the ass-crack of dawn. Yes, before 7 AM. I hear him in Rugrat's bedroom, hollering at him to "get up, it's time to get up!" Rugrat tries to ignore him for a few minutes, but finally drags his poor sleepy butt outta bed and then they come in to wake ME up. I get them settled down with hot cocoa and waffles and a video, then crawl back into bed. But every half hour or so, I hear them hollering and fighting. I keep having to get up and yell at them to BE QUIET, but B and Rugrat together are like a gigantic ball of crazy, and finally I get up. CPSIL calls around 9 AM and says she's on her way to pick up her little one, and then she'll be out to get B. The boys "play" some more, and basically Rugrat is on the verge of a nervous breakdown from having to deal with B all morning and not getting enough sleep the night before.
CPSIL finally gets here around 10:15 and everything goes to hell in a handbasket. B runs away from her, and then when he finally went back downstairs, something happened where I assume she grabbed him and he lost his balance and hurt his hip. I didn't see it, so I don't know what really happened, but B was in total meltdown phase (although after a few seconds it was that "fake crying" that kids do), and then little A, B's younger brother, comes over and B shoves A, and then A is crying and CPSIL is spanking B and everything is craziness. CPSIL orders B to put on his shoes and B of course refuses. I am sick of it all and just want them out of my house now. So I tell B to put on his shoes, and he glares at me. I ask him if he needs some help, and he glares at me some more. I give him a couple seconds, and then I am done. I go over and put his shoes on him, while he's flailing around, trying to kick me. I give him my "don't fuck with me" voice and tell him not to kick me, and he stops. CPSIL is yelling at him again, and I'm like, OMG, just get OUT of my HOUSE! They finally leave and Rugrat & I breathe a big sigh of relief. I swear to myself that I will never, ever send Rugrat over to her house to be babysat. And I will NEVER get roped in to doing it for her again, either.
And then, here is the kicker. Last night, I was sitting at home watching TV, and CPSIL calls me up. She wants to know if I told Babydaddy that she went to a concert on Saturday night. I said, "Yes, Babydaddy came over on Sunday night for dinner, and Rugrat mentioned that B was here so I told him that B spent the night while you went to a concert." So she gets kind of pissy and is like, "Well, you know every time you talk to Babydaddy about what I'm doing, it gets back to L [her soon-to-be-ex-husband]." So I said, "Well, I didn't know it was a state secret." And she was like, "Oh, I'm not mad at you, but L got all fired up and now he won't give me money for B's tuition [daycare fee]." And I'm like, whatever. I told her I didn't want to be in the middle of it. Her problems with L are NOT my problem. Yes, I can agree that he is being an ass, but if she didn't want him to know that she went out, maybe she shouldn't have gone out. Or she should have left B with her parents or something. Because seriously, doesn't she realize that B would tell his dad that he spent the night at Rugrat's house? L is just looking for any possible thing he can blame her for and that is NOT MY PROBLEM. As far as I'm concerned, if she doesn't want me to tell Babydaddy anything, then she shouldn't tell ME anything, because I don't hate Babydaddy; I am actually friends with him. So I talk to him. About things like the horrific babysitting debacle of 2005. And since he and L are brothers, I am sure he DOES tell L things that I say about CPSIL. But honestly? I just don't care. CPSIL and L are two completely insane people, and their fighting is tearing those poor kids apart, but there's nothing I can do about that, so...I'm done. No more going out with CPSIL and no more doing her favors. No more listening to her crazy man-hungry talk and hearing about how she's stalking her latest flavor of the month. No more pretending to sympathize with her dramas when all I can think is, "You brought this on yourself!" Just...no more.
Last week, crazy pseudo-sister-in-law (hereafter referred to as CPSIL) called and cornered me in her usual way: "What are you doing Saturday?" Well, just as I usually do every other weekend, I had Rugrat. Which I told her. Which she KNEW, because she has the same schedule with her kids. So then she asks me to babysit her four-year-old, B, and because I was cornered and she knew I was going to be home with Rugrat, I felt obligated to say OK. So, I figured it wouldn't be a big deal - he'd come & spend the night, the kids would have fun together, and then CPSIL would owe me and I could get her to babysit for ME sometime when I really needed it (read: when GG is in town and I am absolutely desperate to get laid).
So she drops off B on Saturday at about 5 (not 6:30, like she originally said she would - you know, AFTER DINNER). She assured me that he "will eat anything". I made risotto for dinner. You know, rice. With some chicken and peas and mushrooms thrown in. I figured Rugrat would balk a bit but he'd eat some of it, because it's RICE. And he did. But B...well, B took one look and said, "I don't like it." Rugrat and I explained that it didn't matter because that was dinner, and the rule is, you must take one bite for each year of your age and NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT IT and if you are still hungry after that, you can make yourself a waffle. B grumbled and procrastinated a lot, but eventually ate his four bites. Rugrat professed to like it, but still only ate six bites (he said he was "being polite" - he didn't really like it). So afterwards, the two of them made themselves some waffles. Fine, no problem. The boys "play" (read: fight) for a while. Then it comes time to get ready for bed. I look at the woefully small pile of clothes that CPSIL brought over and realize that she forgot to send:
- underwear
- pajamas
- socks
- toothbrush
Rugrat jumps in the shower and starts cleaning up, but B freaked the hell out and wouldn't get in the shower for love or money. Oh nooooo, he only takes baths. Fine, I figured I'd just ditch the "clean up" idea to keep him from going postal. They get jammies on and we read a couple of books. The boys go to bed. And then for the next hour, B and Rugrat are giggling and whispering and getting out of bed until I finally separate them by making Rugrat go to my room. And Rugrat was pretty exhausted by this point, so he fell right to sleep. But B? B kept getting up and opening the door and I kept telling him to go back to bed, for the next half hour. It was almost 10 PM before he finally settled down.
Next morning, B wakes up at the ass-crack of dawn. Yes, before 7 AM. I hear him in Rugrat's bedroom, hollering at him to "get up, it's time to get up!" Rugrat tries to ignore him for a few minutes, but finally drags his poor sleepy butt outta bed and then they come in to wake ME up. I get them settled down with hot cocoa and waffles and a video, then crawl back into bed. But every half hour or so, I hear them hollering and fighting. I keep having to get up and yell at them to BE QUIET, but B and Rugrat together are like a gigantic ball of crazy, and finally I get up. CPSIL calls around 9 AM and says she's on her way to pick up her little one, and then she'll be out to get B. The boys "play" some more, and basically Rugrat is on the verge of a nervous breakdown from having to deal with B all morning and not getting enough sleep the night before.
CPSIL finally gets here around 10:15 and everything goes to hell in a handbasket. B runs away from her, and then when he finally went back downstairs, something happened where I assume she grabbed him and he lost his balance and hurt his hip. I didn't see it, so I don't know what really happened, but B was in total meltdown phase (although after a few seconds it was that "fake crying" that kids do), and then little A, B's younger brother, comes over and B shoves A, and then A is crying and CPSIL is spanking B and everything is craziness. CPSIL orders B to put on his shoes and B of course refuses. I am sick of it all and just want them out of my house now. So I tell B to put on his shoes, and he glares at me. I ask him if he needs some help, and he glares at me some more. I give him a couple seconds, and then I am done. I go over and put his shoes on him, while he's flailing around, trying to kick me. I give him my "don't fuck with me" voice and tell him not to kick me, and he stops. CPSIL is yelling at him again, and I'm like, OMG, just get OUT of my HOUSE! They finally leave and Rugrat & I breathe a big sigh of relief. I swear to myself that I will never, ever send Rugrat over to her house to be babysat. And I will NEVER get roped in to doing it for her again, either.
And then, here is the kicker. Last night, I was sitting at home watching TV, and CPSIL calls me up. She wants to know if I told Babydaddy that she went to a concert on Saturday night. I said, "Yes, Babydaddy came over on Sunday night for dinner, and Rugrat mentioned that B was here so I told him that B spent the night while you went to a concert." So she gets kind of pissy and is like, "Well, you know every time you talk to Babydaddy about what I'm doing, it gets back to L [her soon-to-be-ex-husband]." So I said, "Well, I didn't know it was a state secret." And she was like, "Oh, I'm not mad at you, but L got all fired up and now he won't give me money for B's tuition [daycare fee]." And I'm like, whatever. I told her I didn't want to be in the middle of it. Her problems with L are NOT my problem. Yes, I can agree that he is being an ass, but if she didn't want him to know that she went out, maybe she shouldn't have gone out. Or she should have left B with her parents or something. Because seriously, doesn't she realize that B would tell his dad that he spent the night at Rugrat's house? L is just looking for any possible thing he can blame her for and that is NOT MY PROBLEM. As far as I'm concerned, if she doesn't want me to tell Babydaddy anything, then she shouldn't tell ME anything, because I don't hate Babydaddy; I am actually friends with him. So I talk to him. About things like the horrific babysitting debacle of 2005. And since he and L are brothers, I am sure he DOES tell L things that I say about CPSIL. But honestly? I just don't care. CPSIL and L are two completely insane people, and their fighting is tearing those poor kids apart, but there's nothing I can do about that, so...I'm done. No more going out with CPSIL and no more doing her favors. No more listening to her crazy man-hungry talk and hearing about how she's stalking her latest flavor of the month. No more pretending to sympathize with her dramas when all I can think is, "You brought this on yourself!" Just...no more.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Oh, excellent!
I came across the coolest video today: Lotion by Greenskeepers. Seriously, you MUST watch it. (Warning: not for the faint of heart, or those who've not yet seen The Silence of the Lambs -- too many spoilers.)
Been a while
I know, it's been a while since my last post. So here's the update, in a nutshell:
Thanksgiving was wonderful, except for the fact that I had horrendous allergies all day and even after taking a dose of Benadryl they wouldn't leave me alone. I tried to nap (because that usually helps immensely) but I must have been too excited about seeing family & stuffing my face, because even with the Benadryl fog I couldn't sleep. The food was, of course, delish. And it was lovely to see my cousin Kelly and his girlfriend and baby. :)
A week later (last Thursday) was my company's annual Christmas party. We're a tiny little company so we all went to see Cirque du Soleil and then out to dinner afterwards in SF. Cirque du Soleil was REALLY cool - lots of amazing acrobatics and gorgeous costumes and just...theatrical spectacle, I guess. I was very impressed with the tightrope walker, who balanced way up high on a skinny little wire while hula-hooping about 20 hoops! Afterwards we went to a tiny Basque restaurant for dinner, and had an outstanding meal. Yay for French food!
Speaking of French food, I made a delicious French onion soup last night for dinner. I invited Babydaddy over for dinner, since I knew there would be plenty (and plus it's really, really good and I spent two hours making it, so I thought it would be nice to let someone else enjoy it, too). Yum. My newest addiction is Gruyere. I've been making toast for lunch, with melted Gruyere on top and some freshly ground pepper - for about the last week. Pretty soon I'll get sick of it (I hope! That stuff is expensive) but for now I'm content to scarf the yummy fattening melted cheese every day. Mmmm....cheese...
Also over the weekend, I made cookies and fruitcake. The fruitcake didn't turn out too well - apparently it wasn't cooked all the way on the bottom because half of it stuck in the pan (the NON-STICK pan) when I tried to pull it out. I guess my toothpicks just aren't long enough, because when I stuck it in after baking for 50 minutes, it came out clean. Next time I'll make fruitcake muffins instead. *sigh*
Thanksgiving was wonderful, except for the fact that I had horrendous allergies all day and even after taking a dose of Benadryl they wouldn't leave me alone. I tried to nap (because that usually helps immensely) but I must have been too excited about seeing family & stuffing my face, because even with the Benadryl fog I couldn't sleep. The food was, of course, delish. And it was lovely to see my cousin Kelly and his girlfriend and baby. :)
A week later (last Thursday) was my company's annual Christmas party. We're a tiny little company so we all went to see Cirque du Soleil and then out to dinner afterwards in SF. Cirque du Soleil was REALLY cool - lots of amazing acrobatics and gorgeous costumes and just...theatrical spectacle, I guess. I was very impressed with the tightrope walker, who balanced way up high on a skinny little wire while hula-hooping about 20 hoops! Afterwards we went to a tiny Basque restaurant for dinner, and had an outstanding meal. Yay for French food!
Speaking of French food, I made a delicious French onion soup last night for dinner. I invited Babydaddy over for dinner, since I knew there would be plenty (and plus it's really, really good and I spent two hours making it, so I thought it would be nice to let someone else enjoy it, too). Yum. My newest addiction is Gruyere. I've been making toast for lunch, with melted Gruyere on top and some freshly ground pepper - for about the last week. Pretty soon I'll get sick of it (I hope! That stuff is expensive) but for now I'm content to scarf the yummy fattening melted cheese every day. Mmmm....cheese...
Also over the weekend, I made cookies and fruitcake. The fruitcake didn't turn out too well - apparently it wasn't cooked all the way on the bottom because half of it stuck in the pan (the NON-STICK pan) when I tried to pull it out. I guess my toothpicks just aren't long enough, because when I stuck it in after baking for 50 minutes, it came out clean. Next time I'll make fruitcake muffins instead. *sigh*
Monday, November 21, 2005
Oh, just go to hell
Remember that weekend, over a month ago, when I looked all cute in my little black skirt and the girls and I went out to D'ville first, and then WC to the dive bar where K knew the bartender? And I met a guy there, and we shared a few kisses, and I called him like I said I would and expected that I'd hear back from him in a couple days?
Well, I didn't. He didn't call me...until today. And he called my friggin' WORK phone number, which is crap, because I am never in the office and I TOLD him to just email me - or he could've called me back on my cell, because that's what I called HIM from. But no. He called the office. Freakin' idiot. So Coworker IMs me and says, "You got a call from JG, here's his number. He said he was returning your call." And I'm like, WHO? Because this was OVER A MONTH AGO. And God, it's not like I have a life or anything, I was just sitting at home waiting for his friggin' phone call. [/sarcasm]
So here I am thinking that this must be something work-related and I'm racking my brain; I just can't figure out what client this is, because...seriously, a MONTH! So I call back and he's like, "Yeah, I just wanted to apologize for not calling you back. I was really busy." FOR A MONTH??? "You're at work aren't you?" Yeah, dumbshit, I am at work. You called me AT WORK. From my business card! After I told you not to! "So, I just wanted to let you know that I hadn't forgotten about you...and you can call me sometime if you want." Yeah, I'll get right the fuck on that, buddy.
Jesus, how desperate do I look?
Well, I didn't. He didn't call me...until today. And he called my friggin' WORK phone number, which is crap, because I am never in the office and I TOLD him to just email me - or he could've called me back on my cell, because that's what I called HIM from. But no. He called the office. Freakin' idiot. So Coworker IMs me and says, "You got a call from JG, here's his number. He said he was returning your call." And I'm like, WHO? Because this was OVER A MONTH AGO. And God, it's not like I have a life or anything, I was just sitting at home waiting for his friggin' phone call. [/sarcasm]
So here I am thinking that this must be something work-related and I'm racking my brain; I just can't figure out what client this is, because...seriously, a MONTH! So I call back and he's like, "Yeah, I just wanted to apologize for not calling you back. I was really busy." FOR A MONTH??? "You're at work aren't you?" Yeah, dumbshit, I am at work. You called me AT WORK. From my business card! After I told you not to! "So, I just wanted to let you know that I hadn't forgotten about you...and you can call me sometime if you want." Yeah, I'll get right the fuck on that, buddy.
Jesus, how desperate do I look?
The anti-fang
When Rugrat was about five months old, he got a tooth. One little bitty tooth, on the bottom. And that was it...he didn't get any more teeth for five months. We called him "Fang."
So on Saturday, he finally lost his first tooth. That one little bitty fang he sprouted when he was a baby. Most of the kids in his class are already growing in half a dozen adult teeth, but my little Rugrat held on to those itty bitty pearly whites for the loooongest time. And then Saturday, it was so loose - he'd been wiggling it all morning. I gave him an apple with his lunch, and halfway through his lunch it was obvious it was coming out really soon (because it was practically horizontal, barely hanging in there) so we went into the bathroom to wiggle it and monitor the progress. The quesadillas got cold, but we stayed in the bathroom, moving it back and forth until it was only held in place by a couple little bits of gum-flesh on the sides. Ewww, that's a gross visual. Anyway, I went upstairs to get the camera and WHILE I WAS GONE Rugrat pulled it out. Dammit. But anyway, it was done, and he was thrilled ("It didn't even hurt at all!"), and we put the tooth in a little box to stick under his pillow for the tooth fairy (who brought him a nice gold dollar coin for it). I took pictures of his gappy little-boy smile but every one I took had him squinting his eyes shut, so I don't think I'll post them here.
I gotta say, though, I don't think he's going to lose another tooth for five months. The one next to it is a little bit loose, but not so much that it's coming out anytime soon. And all the others are very firmly rooted in. Probably in six months or so he'll have a smile that's more "little old man without dentures" than "little boy with buckteeth." They'll all fall out at once, just like they all came in at once, five months after that first fang.
So on Saturday, he finally lost his first tooth. That one little bitty fang he sprouted when he was a baby. Most of the kids in his class are already growing in half a dozen adult teeth, but my little Rugrat held on to those itty bitty pearly whites for the loooongest time. And then Saturday, it was so loose - he'd been wiggling it all morning. I gave him an apple with his lunch, and halfway through his lunch it was obvious it was coming out really soon (because it was practically horizontal, barely hanging in there) so we went into the bathroom to wiggle it and monitor the progress. The quesadillas got cold, but we stayed in the bathroom, moving it back and forth until it was only held in place by a couple little bits of gum-flesh on the sides. Ewww, that's a gross visual. Anyway, I went upstairs to get the camera and WHILE I WAS GONE Rugrat pulled it out. Dammit. But anyway, it was done, and he was thrilled ("It didn't even hurt at all!"), and we put the tooth in a little box to stick under his pillow for the tooth fairy (who brought him a nice gold dollar coin for it). I took pictures of his gappy little-boy smile but every one I took had him squinting his eyes shut, so I don't think I'll post them here.
I gotta say, though, I don't think he's going to lose another tooth for five months. The one next to it is a little bit loose, but not so much that it's coming out anytime soon. And all the others are very firmly rooted in. Probably in six months or so he'll have a smile that's more "little old man without dentures" than "little boy with buckteeth." They'll all fall out at once, just like they all came in at once, five months after that first fang.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Mosquito Lounge
I tried a new restaurant last night: Mosquito Lounge, in Brentwood. First impression was good - yes, it's located in a tacky stripmall (not even a good stripmall, like the one with Barnes & Noble), but the decor was AWESOME. I absolutely love the atmosphere in that place. Unfortunately, the food sucked. First of all, they don't have any hard liquor, so my cosmo was made with sake, which...okay, it wasn't disgusting, but it wasn't great. Second, the actual food: I ordered crab cakes to start with, and then dragon prawns. Big servings, but ewww. The crab cakes were just warm, not hot. And they were all mushy like they'd used 90% bread crumbs and 10% Krab and seasonings, and then fried those lumps. The sauce was yummy, and the salad served with it was fine. But the "crab" cakes themselves were horrendous. Then, the shrimp. Dear God, is everything in this place fried? Because they were thinly covered with some kind of fried tempura batter or something. And they were overcooked (but at least they were hot!). Again, the sauce was yummy, but the main focus of the dish? Not so much.
So...I won't be going back.
It's like there's some kind of mental block here - the restaurants in the area are all either 1) boring and kinda gross chain restaurants or 2) great atmosphere, lousy food or 3) great food, lousy atmosphere. I went to Strings with Babydaddy and Rugrat last week (again, strip mall location), and the food was fantastic, but it felt like I was dining in a cafeteria. Babydaddy said he'd gone another day and sat on the other side of the restaurant, which was much more atmospheric. Whatever. It's not something I'd take someone to for a fancy dinner, but it's a damn sight better than Chili's.
So...I won't be going back.
It's like there's some kind of mental block here - the restaurants in the area are all either 1) boring and kinda gross chain restaurants or 2) great atmosphere, lousy food or 3) great food, lousy atmosphere. I went to Strings with Babydaddy and Rugrat last week (again, strip mall location), and the food was fantastic, but it felt like I was dining in a cafeteria. Babydaddy said he'd gone another day and sat on the other side of the restaurant, which was much more atmospheric. Whatever. It's not something I'd take someone to for a fancy dinner, but it's a damn sight better than Chili's.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Disney photos
Here they are!
This first photo was taken during breakfast on Monday morning, at the Storyteller's Cafe in the Grand Californian hotel (where we stayed during this trip). Really nice hotel. Really bad food at this restaurant though.
This next photo was taken in New Orleans Square.
Look at all the gorgeous decorations up for the holidays!
Here's Rugrat with his favorite character (albeit just a statue) - Jack Skellington.
Look how beautiful Sleeping Beauty's castle is! They repainted it and added lots of gold accents, including the five lovely crowns, representing the five decades of Disneyland. (This photo was taken during our Early Entry morning - the park wasn't always this deserted! LOL)
And here's the Haunted Mansion, all decked out in its Nightmare Before Christmas finery. I tried taking some flash-free photos inside but they didn't turn out well at all. :-( You really can't get a feel for how amazing it is without seeing all the fantastic changes they made inside. It was just incredible. My favorite part was the singing jack-o-lanterns.
This first photo was taken during breakfast on Monday morning, at the Storyteller's Cafe in the Grand Californian hotel (where we stayed during this trip). Really nice hotel. Really bad food at this restaurant though.
This next photo was taken in New Orleans Square.
Look at all the gorgeous decorations up for the holidays!
Here's Rugrat with his favorite character (albeit just a statue) - Jack Skellington.
Look how beautiful Sleeping Beauty's castle is! They repainted it and added lots of gold accents, including the five lovely crowns, representing the five decades of Disneyland. (This photo was taken during our Early Entry morning - the park wasn't always this deserted! LOL)
And here's the Haunted Mansion, all decked out in its Nightmare Before Christmas finery. I tried taking some flash-free photos inside but they didn't turn out well at all. :-( You really can't get a feel for how amazing it is without seeing all the fantastic changes they made inside. It was just incredible. My favorite part was the singing jack-o-lanterns.Jack Skellington
My little monster-child, prior to trick-or-treatiing downtown on the Saturday before Halloween. (Click for a bigger photo.)
Friday, November 04, 2005
Disneyland & date recap
Rugrat discovered the joy of roller coasters on this trip. He was apprehensive about Space Mountain and wanted to "work up to it". So, the first roller coaster we went on was Big Thunder and he loved it. Then we went on the Matterhorn (which I despise, because it's 40 years old and has no padding in the seats anymore and is bumpy as hell). He loved that one too. Finally he felt ready to tackle SM. When it was over I turned around to look at him (he was sitting behind me with Babydaddy) and he had this look of absolute terror on his face and then as I watched he broke into a huge grin and said, "That's the best ride EVER!" So we rode SM a bazillion times. He wouldn't ride California Screamin' (the big roller coaster at California Adventure, with a loop) until the very last day, a few hours before the park closed. He finally decided to ride it, and then THAT was his new favorite ride and he rode it about a half dozen times more before the park closed. LOL
Not a whole lot of people there (Monday-Wednesday) so the lines were short. Haunted Mansion (all decked out in Nightmare Before Christmas finery) was incredible. We went on all our favorites, usually multiple times. We hit Fantasyland on Tuesday morning, when we used Early Entry (you get in one hour early), so we walked right on all the FL rides. No waiting for Peter Pan; no waiting for Dumbo. It was excellent. The weather couldn't have been better - sunny and hot, perfect t-shirt & shorts weather. It actually hit 95 degrees on Monday!!
We had a nice time visiting with Mom & Stepdad too. They left at about mid-day Tuesday, so we had about a day and a half there together. As usual, our visit together was too short and we didn't get a whole lot of time to just catch up & hang out (because we were so busy going on rides!) but it was fun nonetheless.
The only downside was the food. It was terrible. Cold and horribly overpriced. There were a couple of bright spots: the bakery next to Carnation Cafe on Main Street sells great croissants and coffee (all our "real" breakfasts were pretty awful, with cold eggs and "icky" - Rugrat's word - waffles and pancakes). The Napa Rose in our hotel (Grand Californian) was excellent, but incredibly expensive so we only ate there once. White Water Snacks was good - the food is actually cooked when it's ordered, and it seemed less expensive than in the rest of the park (chili cheese dog & lots of hot, fresh fries for about $6). Mostly it seemed like the food was cooked and then left under heat lamps all day, so you'd get chicken strips that were cooked an hour ago and barely warm from the lamps. It was just gross.
Now....Monday night! My date with GG went REALLY, REALLY well. So well, in fact, that I am not going to jinx it by giving details. Let's just say that the chemistry and attraction was definitely still there (but I was a good girl and restrained myself). And he is coming up to the bay area to visit family at Thanksgiving. :-D
P.S. Pictures coming soon!
Not a whole lot of people there (Monday-Wednesday) so the lines were short. Haunted Mansion (all decked out in Nightmare Before Christmas finery) was incredible. We went on all our favorites, usually multiple times. We hit Fantasyland on Tuesday morning, when we used Early Entry (you get in one hour early), so we walked right on all the FL rides. No waiting for Peter Pan; no waiting for Dumbo. It was excellent. The weather couldn't have been better - sunny and hot, perfect t-shirt & shorts weather. It actually hit 95 degrees on Monday!!
We had a nice time visiting with Mom & Stepdad too. They left at about mid-day Tuesday, so we had about a day and a half there together. As usual, our visit together was too short and we didn't get a whole lot of time to just catch up & hang out (because we were so busy going on rides!) but it was fun nonetheless.
The only downside was the food. It was terrible. Cold and horribly overpriced. There were a couple of bright spots: the bakery next to Carnation Cafe on Main Street sells great croissants and coffee (all our "real" breakfasts were pretty awful, with cold eggs and "icky" - Rugrat's word - waffles and pancakes). The Napa Rose in our hotel (Grand Californian) was excellent, but incredibly expensive so we only ate there once. White Water Snacks was good - the food is actually cooked when it's ordered, and it seemed less expensive than in the rest of the park (chili cheese dog & lots of hot, fresh fries for about $6). Mostly it seemed like the food was cooked and then left under heat lamps all day, so you'd get chicken strips that were cooked an hour ago and barely warm from the lamps. It was just gross.
Now....Monday night! My date with GG went REALLY, REALLY well. So well, in fact, that I am not going to jinx it by giving details. Let's just say that the chemistry and attraction was definitely still there (but I was a good girl and restrained myself). And he is coming up to the bay area to visit family at Thanksgiving. :-D
P.S. Pictures coming soon!
Friday, October 28, 2005
I've got a date!
With GG - my first "boyfriend" from high school!
I found him on myspace.com a few months ago & we've been emailing back and forth for a couple of months. He lives down in LA and I haven't seen him in FIFTEEN YEARS, y'all! So we're going to meet up on Monday night - Halloween - to catch up and have drinks. Can I just say...I am SO excited about this! (Yes, I've seen pictures...and YES, he is still totally my type and smokin' hot to boot!)
I found him on myspace.com a few months ago & we've been emailing back and forth for a couple of months. He lives down in LA and I haven't seen him in FIFTEEN YEARS, y'all! So we're going to meet up on Monday night - Halloween - to catch up and have drinks. Can I just say...I am SO excited about this! (Yes, I've seen pictures...and YES, he is still totally my type and smokin' hot to boot!)
Monday, October 24, 2005
Dizz Knee Land
We're getting really excited here about our Disneyland trip next week...yesterday I spent way too much money on eBay - but I got four tickets to Mickey's Halloween Treat! It's a special trick-or-treat party they're having at California Adventure. It's three hours, from 7:30-10:30 on Sunday night (after regular park hours; it closes at 6 PM that day). There are several "trick or treat" stations where you get candy, and a bunch of photo opportunities with the characters. Some of the rides will be open, and I heard that you can play the carnival games for free (they give out candy as prizes, rather than toys). Whee!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Monday, October 17, 2005
My weekend
Friday night I had a craigslist date. I'm not really sure why I keep putting myself through this, it never turns out any differently. The guy was nice, polite, not hideously ugly or anything, but there was no spark at all. Our date was over an hour and a half after it began, and that included dinner. But no goodnight kiss. (WTF?)
Saturday night I went out with the girls. And if I say so myself, I looked pretty hot: tight black skirt, lavender and black patterned cami with a black v-neck cardigan and a lavender sash at my waist. And my hair was all big bouncy curls, kind of 40's but without the shellac. We went to a dance club down in D'ville, but left after a couple hours because the crowd was almost completely made up of couples. Kind of useless, when we were looking so good. So we headed back to da Creek, and went to a dive bar. My friend K knew one of the bartenders (whose parents own the bar), and after some wrangling with the asshole bouncer, we got in for free and got free drinks. I met this adorable boy - and I do mean boy. I can't remember how old he said he was (ok, so I was a wee bit tipsy) but he was at least 6-8 years younger than me. That's ok, I just want a boytoy anyway. Anyway, I got his card (and a few kisses) and told him I'd call him the next day (yesterday), which I did. Now he'll wait the requisite two days and then call me back. *sigh* I really hate the game.
I woke up on K's couch with a glorious hangover and spent most of the day recovering from that, and then getting a pedicure. :) But the very best part of my weekend actually occurred early this morning, when I had the most fabulous dream. I dreamed I was Kendall (from All My Children - and yes, I am a total dork), and Zach had me pinned up against a wall. Unfortunately I woke up before it was...*ahem*...consummated, but even so - this was the hottest dream I've had in years. I really need to get laid, y'all.
Saturday night I went out with the girls. And if I say so myself, I looked pretty hot: tight black skirt, lavender and black patterned cami with a black v-neck cardigan and a lavender sash at my waist. And my hair was all big bouncy curls, kind of 40's but without the shellac. We went to a dance club down in D'ville, but left after a couple hours because the crowd was almost completely made up of couples. Kind of useless, when we were looking so good. So we headed back to da Creek, and went to a dive bar. My friend K knew one of the bartenders (whose parents own the bar), and after some wrangling with the asshole bouncer, we got in for free and got free drinks. I met this adorable boy - and I do mean boy. I can't remember how old he said he was (ok, so I was a wee bit tipsy) but he was at least 6-8 years younger than me. That's ok, I just want a boytoy anyway. Anyway, I got his card (and a few kisses) and told him I'd call him the next day (yesterday), which I did. Now he'll wait the requisite two days and then call me back. *sigh* I really hate the game.
I woke up on K's couch with a glorious hangover and spent most of the day recovering from that, and then getting a pedicure. :) But the very best part of my weekend actually occurred early this morning, when I had the most fabulous dream. I dreamed I was Kendall (from All My Children - and yes, I am a total dork), and Zach had me pinned up against a wall. Unfortunately I woke up before it was...*ahem*...consummated, but even so - this was the hottest dream I've had in years. I really need to get laid, y'all.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
The end of babyhood...
I finally gave up the last little teeny tiny part of me that thought that MAYBE someday I might have another child. I sold my glider (rocking chair) on craigslist tonight.
I had no problems getting rid of Rugrat's crib, his changing table, his stroller (well, actually, that filthy thing is still in the garage because I couldn't even GIVE it away). Baby clothes? Gone, for the most part - I kept a few things for sentimental reasons, but handed down the rest of his barely-worn, gorgeous baby clothes. I was the first one to have a baby in my group - everyone else came after. And almost all of those babies were boys, so my hand-me-downs were always in demand among the sisters-in-law and friends. Baby toys were disposed of too, given to cousins or donated to charities.
But I held on to the glider. I had such lovely memories of holding my little infant Rugrat, nursing him, rocking him, singing to him. Sitting upright, rocking in the middle of the night, asleep - both of us. It's amazing that you can actually continue to rock the chair and be sound asleep at the same time, but I'm sure I'm not the only mother who's done it. When he got a wee bit older, we'd snuggle up in the chair to read bedtime stories.
Time marched on, and Rugrat got too big for us to share the chair anymore (without my legs falling asleep, that is). So the chair sat, unused, in his room until we moved two years ago. Then the chair migrated to MY room. I had some fleeting idea about it being a "reading chair" because it's so comfortable. But when I read in my bedroom, I read in bed. And the chair ended up just holding stacks of clean clothes.
Why did I keep the chair for so long? I kept thinking that someday I might meet someone and get married. And someday we might decide that it would be totally cool to have a baby together. And if that happened - if I somehow changed my mind and thought, "OK, it would be fine to have another baby. I could totally live through another twelve months of being a braindead zombie. I could totally put up with a few more years of diapers and tantrums and whining and picky eating and the nonstop physical and emotional drain," if I REALLY TRULY believed that...then I'd want to have a glider. So I held on to it for way longer than I should have.
And now it's gone. That last little bit of Rugrat's infancy. That last little link to breastfeeding, which was totally the best (and worst) part of the first six months of his life. So I'm a little sad. But still, it's good to move on.
I had no problems getting rid of Rugrat's crib, his changing table, his stroller (well, actually, that filthy thing is still in the garage because I couldn't even GIVE it away). Baby clothes? Gone, for the most part - I kept a few things for sentimental reasons, but handed down the rest of his barely-worn, gorgeous baby clothes. I was the first one to have a baby in my group - everyone else came after. And almost all of those babies were boys, so my hand-me-downs were always in demand among the sisters-in-law and friends. Baby toys were disposed of too, given to cousins or donated to charities.
But I held on to the glider. I had such lovely memories of holding my little infant Rugrat, nursing him, rocking him, singing to him. Sitting upright, rocking in the middle of the night, asleep - both of us. It's amazing that you can actually continue to rock the chair and be sound asleep at the same time, but I'm sure I'm not the only mother who's done it. When he got a wee bit older, we'd snuggle up in the chair to read bedtime stories.
Time marched on, and Rugrat got too big for us to share the chair anymore (without my legs falling asleep, that is). So the chair sat, unused, in his room until we moved two years ago. Then the chair migrated to MY room. I had some fleeting idea about it being a "reading chair" because it's so comfortable. But when I read in my bedroom, I read in bed. And the chair ended up just holding stacks of clean clothes.
Why did I keep the chair for so long? I kept thinking that someday I might meet someone and get married. And someday we might decide that it would be totally cool to have a baby together. And if that happened - if I somehow changed my mind and thought, "OK, it would be fine to have another baby. I could totally live through another twelve months of being a braindead zombie. I could totally put up with a few more years of diapers and tantrums and whining and picky eating and the nonstop physical and emotional drain," if I REALLY TRULY believed that...then I'd want to have a glider. So I held on to it for way longer than I should have.
And now it's gone. That last little bit of Rugrat's infancy. That last little link to breastfeeding, which was totally the best (and worst) part of the first six months of his life. So I'm a little sad. But still, it's good to move on.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Rugrat, Babydaddy and I went to see this movie yesterday. I love W&G - I've seen all three of the earlier movies - and I wasn't disappointed with this one. It was really cute. My favorite thing was Lady Tottington's very veggie dresses. I didn't notice it until near the end of the movie, but some of her dresses were meant to emulate vegetables: at the competition she was dressed as a carrot, and in the final scene she was dressed as an ear of corn. Adorable!
Zippity doo dah
Dad & stepmom came over on Saturday for my birthday. I ran off to a seminar at the library on starting your own small business, and while I was gone, they started changing the switches and electrical outlets in the house. I don't mean that they started rewiring them so as to completely confound me, but that they switched the actual switches and outlets from nasty almond to a lovely, clean white. So...whee! I have all new outlets & switches, including GFCIs in the kitchen & bath (which were not there before, despite the violated building codes). Bitchin' birthday present, even if dad nearly gave himself a heart attack doing it all in one day. Seriously, I was hollerin' at him to TAKE A FRIGGIN BREAK ALREADY by the time he started on the upstairs rooms. He was turning purple and huffin' and puffin' every time he had to get back up off the floor.
I also got a fabulous birthday dinner of boeuf bourgignon and garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach with pine nuts and sultanas (golden raisins). And dessert: creme brulee. Who can resist that? In addition, I marinated myself in pinot noir and a good snort of that fabulous $200 scotch. Amazingly enough, I was NOT hung over the next day (may have something to do with the fact that I basically passed out at 9 PM and slept TWELVE HOURS).
And now I am 32. I was thinking the other day about how I could be on that old television show Thirtysomething now.
Haircut tonight! Will celebrate with something a little different - very long bangs (or very short layers) and at least four inches off the ends. My hair has gotten unwieldy, y'all. The last time I actually styled my hair (blow dry, curling iron, etc.) it took forever. I have at least four inches of incredibly dry ends that resemble straw. AND I woke up in the middle of the night a few times with my hair wrapped around my neck and trying to strangle me. I don't want my hair to be so long that it's strangling me. Seriously. And when I'm not laying down, the hair occasionally will wrap under my armpit and my head gets yanked to the side. That's just too long.
I also got a fabulous birthday dinner of boeuf bourgignon and garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach with pine nuts and sultanas (golden raisins). And dessert: creme brulee. Who can resist that? In addition, I marinated myself in pinot noir and a good snort of that fabulous $200 scotch. Amazingly enough, I was NOT hung over the next day (may have something to do with the fact that I basically passed out at 9 PM and slept TWELVE HOURS).
And now I am 32. I was thinking the other day about how I could be on that old television show Thirtysomething now.
Haircut tonight! Will celebrate with something a little different - very long bangs (or very short layers) and at least four inches off the ends. My hair has gotten unwieldy, y'all. The last time I actually styled my hair (blow dry, curling iron, etc.) it took forever. I have at least four inches of incredibly dry ends that resemble straw. AND I woke up in the middle of the night a few times with my hair wrapped around my neck and trying to strangle me. I don't want my hair to be so long that it's strangling me. Seriously. And when I'm not laying down, the hair occasionally will wrap under my armpit and my head gets yanked to the side. That's just too long.
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