Flamingo Gone Wild

Oh my goodness, what a night. The flamingo costume was quite the success. I was the talk of the show...A ton of comments from several admirers, some folks wanted the name of my designer and or where they could buy the costume. Whodathunk that the MomUnit could be a famous designer. She's said no to this awesome opportunity due to some blindness issue. Whatever. But here's the gang for last night. Cat = Julie Washburn (a galpal from my Geeksoft days), Me (of course), HikerGirl (Runaway Bride - or whatever people guessed), and Mark and Vanessa Levine (50's couple).

The show was fantastic. This year's top 10 Worst songs were in fact BAD. Unfortunately I can't remember one of the 10, but I assure you it was bad. But the most important thing that you need to know is this Flamingo WON A PRIZE. Yes, that's right my flamingo fans, I won!! I've been going to this show since 1999 and have never won a prize. But then again, I've never dressed up either, which might have something to do with it. But this year, my favorite lead guitarist chose me to win the prize. My prize, why the Lost in Love album by Air Supply. And I think it's only important that you, my dear readers, know that I actually OWNED this album when it first came out. Oh man, I could belt out All out of Love with the best of them. How could Air Supply go out of style? I mean really, just look at those hot boys.

So you wanna know what songs made the top 10? I'll make you wait no more.

The "guest" band this year was The Cure. (Which will explain why they are all in dark wigs in the videos below) I'm not a huge Cure fan so I had no idea who they were when they came out. I recognized the second song they sang Boys Don't Cry, but otherwise I had no idea who they were. But alas, they still were fun and now after watching a Cure video they did a pretty good job of dressing up like them.

Top 10 Worst Songs for 2007

10. 500 Miles - The Proclaimers
9. Sail Away - Styx
8. Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head - BJ Thomas(by the way, if you check out this video, check out the ears on this guy)
7. Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
6. Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake
Or if you want to see the DMQ boys do it...





5. I'm too Sexy - Right Said Fred
4. Young Girl - Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
3. Mickey - Toni Basil (And for a special treat, this video is with the Solid Gold Dancers. If you don't know who the Solid Gold dancers are....shut it. )

2. Informer - Snow
And the number one worst song:



That's right - Oh Sherry from Journey was the number one song. Hilarious to me. Especially since Blueberry (aka Sherrie) wasn't there at the show and she hates that song, for obvious reasons.


It also seems that several people thought I was Dame Edna. Now, not knowing who that was I needed to google her/him today to see just why people thought this. And I gotta say, wow...I did kinda look like Dame Edna. The end result was I was one kick ass Flamingo and H.O.T. Hot. The bad side of the flamino suit was the heat. Man, it was hot will all those feathers. The beak made it very difficult to drink, so the beak wasn't on for most the night, but I would say it definitely made the costume more obvious.

Eight Random Facts about Me. Moi. Yo.

I rarely do any of the meme's that come my way. Mostly because I generally have other stuff to bore you with. But today is different. It's a quiet day here in the office. Suddenly I find myself in cubeland all alone. Skippy and Pointed Hair boss are off a Geeksoft. PMDude is off on vacation today. Creed is ... well who knows where Creed is. And so I find I have a few minutes to spare for you ... my favorite reader.

1. I have an 8ball Vista gadget on my desktop. I use it daily to make critical Proj Mgmt decisions. That and I use it in conjunction with PMDude's Magic 8 Ball on his desk to make critical determination about how cool or uncool Skippy is.

2. I have a knack (some might call it an annoyance) of getting weird random songs stuck in my head. 9 times out of 10 I have no idea how they get there. There is that one rare time that I see something like a dog poster and suddenly "How Much is that Doggy in the Window" pops into my head. Immediately I try to change the topic and that's how "What's New Pussy Cat" gets stuck. Really, it does make sense in the Land of Jenn.

3. I like pens. For some reason, I have this need to have several pens around me. I buy pens all the time. As I am choosing my new pens I am sure they are going to make my handwriting like it was in the day I used to actually write things (read: back in college). Now, sitting at my desk, I count 10 pens in my pen cup. Who needs 10 pens? And since I've been at work today I've used 3 of those 10.

4. I have a ton of shoes and yet seem to wear the same two pair almost all the time. In the shoe closet the shoes are broken out into categories: Summer, FancyPants shoes, No More than 2 hour shoes (and preferable 2 hours of sitting), everyday shoes, shoes I'll never wear again, and a few pairs of tennis shoes. I go through my shoe closet on a regular basis with the intent of getting rid of a few pairs, especially the No More Than 2 Hour shoes (I think only the female readers of this blog get what that's about), and yet I can't part with them.

5. I loathe this time of year when elections are looming. I hate political commercials, and I hate all the political mud slinging that goes on with it. I get so tired of the He said/she said crap that I frequently don't want to vote at all. I, however, do vote because I'm convinced my vote does still count. I am going to start NOT voting for people who are currently in office in the great state of Washington, because they all SUCK.

6. I have a somewhat irrational fear of death. I say "somewhat" irrational because I think there are a lot of people afraid of dying. I have had moments when I think about how little time I might have left on this earth and I get all panicky about it. The good side is it forces me to make sure I'm living each day. The negative is I HATE that panic feeling.

7. I get addicted to TV series. For example, a recommendation came in to me to watch Gilmore Girls. I put them in my Netflix and then spent the next several weeks, freakishly, watching all the seasons. I did it with Angel, Buffy, Six Feet Under and a few others. I see that my addictive personality takes over and I can't wait to get through the series. Just finished Supernatural last night (though admittedly I had been watching it during the season).

8. I can't wink both my eyes separately. While I can roll my tongue (not a useful trick at all), I can't for the life of me, wink both my eyes separately. It drives me batty when people can and I try so hard, but can't. My mind's eye isn't apparently attached to my right eye as it won't allow it to wink separately. It's a defect. And I'd like my money back now.

There...took me 3 hours to think of 8 things, but I did it. If you feel so inclined to do this meme please do. The big news is, of course, tomorrow night is the big night. DMQ Spooktacular. So stayed tune for the top 10 worst songs. The fear factor of the top 100 is not just how many I actually know, but how many are on my iPod.

OOps I did it again...

It has been pointed out to me by a few of my loyal readers that I've been somewhat remiss in posting. I assure you it's not because I don't love you all individually and uniquely (which kinda makes me sound slutish) but more because I have nothing to say. Life, as I know it, has been somewhat uneventful of late and therefore nothing noteworthy to blog about.

I can "warn" you however that Saturday will be the great unveiling of the Greatest Flamingo Costume inthe world!!!

The crowd will gasp and applaud at the imagination, sweat, torment and pride that went into creating such an outfit. The band will surely award me the "Best Flamingo/Dudley Fan Ever" award. I mean really, what band wouldn't want a Flamingo as a groupie? The men will flock to me (get it? flock? Birds flock. Come on. That's funny!). If they can get past the feathers they will meet the gem that lies beneath...moi! If they're allergic to feathers, best they move on.

And less you forget, the Top 100 Worst songs are being counted down here. I warn you though, they are catchy little tunes that do cause Stuck Song Syndrome (or SSS as it were). My current SSS is the Macarena.

Da le tu cuerpo
Alegria Macarena. que tu cuerpo es para alegria cosa buena.. Heeeeyyy Marcarena.

When I dance they call me Marcarena
And the boys they say cosa buena...
They all want me / they can't have me

I'm a Happy Girl

I’ve got absolutely nothing to write about. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip. But you know I can’t not write anything…so I’m taking a chapter out of Patron’s Saint’s blog and writing a list of what makes me happy for today.

1. Well, the obvious, its Friday. And not a moment too soon either. It’s been a super long week for some reason, especially at work. Skippy, I believe, is causing me to not be as productive as normal. Being that he talks non stop, and feels the need to provide commentary on everything he’s doing and anything that’s happening around him even if he’s not immediately involved. For example, I was having a work related, fairly detailed conversation with a colleague, TechGuy, and Skippy bounces over (I can’t get this image of Odie from Garfield and that stupid ass look on his face out of my head every time I say Skippy) and says, “So what do you use to shave your head?” Um, right. Because that question is clearly obvious when two people are talking about a work related issue that YOU are not involved in. Whatever. I’m still happy it’s Friday. Two days without Skippy.

2. ChexMix kicks ass. I bought some for my scrapbooking party on last Sunday and barely anyone touched it. So I brought it to work and have nibbled on it all week. Here’s the thing though, I’m not a big fan of all the stuff they put into ChexMix. In fact, I really only like the “chex” part of the “mix”. I might accidentally on purpose eat a pretzel, but the other little viddles I despise. They end up being tossed. A part of me thinks I can pick through and leave the viddles for the others at work. But the “picking through” part grosses me out and so I don’t think its appropriate to even for work people (who generally eat anything).

3. I am 88% done scanning heritage photos. Whew! I got this suitcase of photos from a cousin and I promised I’d have them scanned in by the end of August. What? October / August ..they both sound the same. Anyhow, I’ve had a blast scanning in and recording these photos. I’ve set up an excel spreadsheet that corresponds with lots I’ve put the photos in. So as they scan, I record who/what and when if its obvious or if it’s on the back of the photo. Did no one write on the back of photos back then? Come on people…record your life on the back of the photos. But do it safely with an archival safe pen/pencil.

4. Mustang Saleen. There’s a new Mustang Saleen parked in the garage downstairs. PMDude and I went down earlier this week to oogle and aggle over it. I’ve been down once to “visit” it. I think I may have to start parking down there just to see it. Maybe my car and that car can hook up and have little baby Saleens. Is thinking about car p0rn weird?

5. Dammit. I forgot what five was.

6. Heroes. Oh. My. God. Have you been watching it? This is going to be one helluva season. I watched it last night and wish it was a book so I could flip to the last chapter and see what happens. If I were a Hero I’d want that to be my ability.

7. Dudley Top Ten Worst songs are counting down. The “show” and the Flamingo costume happen next Saturday. (BTW – A British colleague of mine used the term “flamingoed”. When I asked him about it he said it’s when you utterly and totally F something up. I might have a new term to use). Anyhow, the songs this year I’ve been sharing with PMDude and forcing him to take a walk down memory lane. Though his memory lane is a bit shorter than mine in that he’s a wee bit younger. But the great part about it is the blog has videos so even you can enjoy.

That should be enough for now and I should probably get back to work and earn a living.

My Pumkin is missing it's innards

Officially, the pumpkin carving party was an enormous success, in my humble opinion anyway. And I base this opinion on several factors.

1. No food remaining after the event. That's right. They ate my out of house and home. Now, anyone who knows Wraspir's well know that we tend to cook for small armies. Therefore, it's almost always guaranteed that we'll have several days of leftovers after a meal. Not so in this case. The menu: Balsamic marinade flank steak, Swiss Potatoes, Sugar glazed carrots, Warm Bacon vinaigrette salad, and apple crisp for dessert. I planned for 10 people. 9 showed up and had two very small slices of steak left and a small sliver of apple. Had I let them, they might have licked the bowls.

2. 9 pumpkins carved and looking every so stylish. This year we had a special guest show up to the pumpkin carving; Baby. That's right. At last year's event, Claudia took all the pumpkin guts and tossed them in her garden. Out of it grew "Baby". Pictured in the middle and who remained uncarved. We just couldn't do it. Megan got the "Fancy Pants Carving" Award fro most creative (bottom row, next to the Seahawk). Claudia's pumpkin - the one that looks like it has pitch forks in it - is really a replica of the tablecloth iron fence around the graveyard. Very creative. Most non original is mine I would say. I'm a traditionalist, what can I say. Two triangle eyes, one triangle nose and a goofy snaggle tooth smile (pictured above to the right of Baby). Oh and we got extra crazy this year and put candles in them. OOOO...spooky.

A special note to Claudia for bringing her "tool" to the party. Without your battery operated little gadget we wouldn't have been as satisfied with the outcome as we were. What? You perverts, I'm taking about a battery operated little cutter/saw thingymabob. Ultimatey it was useless, but it sure amused us for several minutes, and prompted very off color jokes throughout the night. Ahhh Good times.

3. New contenders. We had some new contenders this year. HikerGirl has not ever participated in a pumpkin carving event, but has participated in past holiday events and so was well aware of how far out I go for some events. Claudia brought a friend to experience the event and I'm not 100% sure he doesn't think we're all insane. Brought his sarcastic witty game and fit right in. From Left to right: Mark, Vanessa, Mike, Nancy, Claudia, Chris, HikerGirl, Megan, me and Pookie (who made an appearance long enough to spout off something in cat and then went back to his nap).

4. I was pooped the day after. I can always tell when I've had a fun party because I'm usually 1) hung over the day after, 2) hung over and pooped, or 3) just pooped. I was three this time. Sadly didn't hardly drink at all during the event. But alas, I got to do the dishes. Oh boy.

38, 24, 2

No not my high school locker combination. But all my birthday ages. Yes, I have three birthdays. Don’t you?

38 is my actual age. I’m not happy about being 38 and less happy about being 39 in a couple of months. And don’t even get me started on the 40 that’s coming. I’ve not even begun to save for DMQ to play at my party of 1 + 5 band boys. OOO la la….

Ahem….

24 is the number of years old I am according to my dad. He adopted me 25 years ago (if you ask him he only married mom because he wanted me as his daughter). Every year after the adoption we celebrate my “birthday”. Every year I get a gift. My first year I got diapers, a bib and a sippy cup. Last year this kick ass, beautiful teddy bear.

And 2. Two would be the number of years, officially today, that I’ve had a blog. TWO FREAKIN YEARS. When I look back to starting the blog, I was sure I’d not have anything to ever say. And here I am 2 years later spouting off still. In that two years, we’ve seen the blog grow from … well… it really hasn’t grown. It’s still the same drivel it’s always been. And I can’t even say its more mature. My blog. My rules (Courtesy of Patron Saint) has been my motto.

I decided to google to find out what “anniversary” this would be, and according to the interweb it’s the Cotton anniversary (too bad it’s not the wood one. I can think of so many jokes for wood). Cotton has also been known as a symbol of great prosperity. Maybe this means my third year will be prosperous. Or my second year was and I missed it. Dagnabit!

Two years ago I was still working at the Cat Shack and hating every minute. Now I’m loving my job, despite Skippy joining the team. Thank god I have PMDude here to keep me sane

Two years ago I was still single. I’m still single, but more okay with it. And happier in my own skin then ever before.

Two years ago I was driving a VW GTI. Now I’m driving the stang…oooo aaaaahhhhh

Some Blog stats for those who like such things: 431 posts / 26,031 hits in two years.

As I reread some of my blog entries I’m struck with this notion that my life is an open book. Whether it’s a good book or bad, I don’t know. I like where it is now and like the fact that I am writing more and more chapters each day – in my life book that is. Well, and the blog. But you get what I mean.

Speaking of chapters, a lot on tap for this weekend.

Tonight is massage night with Chicken Lady. She celebrated a birthday yesterday so a big shout out to her. Happy Birthday Chicken Lady! You don’t look a day over 29.

Saturday night is the annual Pumpkin Carving party. Last year’s party I had a bit of a hangover due to the large amounts of wine I consumed. This year, more people will be attending AND I’m making some Halloween Cocktails that will surely kick my butt into a hangover. The menu this year, I believe, is top shelf. Balsamic marinade flank steak, Swiss potatoes (a take on au gratin potatoes but better), Warm bacon vinaigrette spinach salad, Sugar glazed roasted carrots and Mom’s famous Apple Crisp (once I get the recipe). Mmmm, I’m hungry now.

Sunday is an all day scrapping party at my house. It’s fall. The weather is changing, which means activities come indoors. So why not do a little scrapbooking. I’ll be working mostly on my Christmas cards. I already have all the envelops addressed and ready to go. I have 1.5 of the card stuff ready to go … Now I just need the time. Sunday is the day. Though if the mood strikes me I might work on *gasp* the UK trip. Or *gasp* the DC trip. Hard to say what I will fancy. I do know I’ll be making Spaghetti and Meatball Stoup.

Whatever happened to Honey?

So the boys at DMQ are counting down the top 100 songs and it so happened that Honey by Bobby Goldsborro came in at #49. If Blueberry read my blog she'd spit her water out right about now.

See in college, we had what you youngsters might not have heard of, cassette tapes. Frequently when taping to a cassette tape it was hard to plan the end ing just right so not to have too much room and not to cut off a song.

Well, I cut off Honey in the middle of the song.Blueberry and I joked that we would never know what happened to Honey. Well, thanks to the boys at DMQ we now do.

Be sure to watch the video. It's hilarious with regards to how the artist incorporated the song with the action figures. And if it gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day. I apologize.

But Honey I miss you.

Papa’s Got a brand new hat. Or is it Mama’s got a brand new dress?

Either way… the Stang has new clothes.

Yes sir and it looks H.O.T. HAUGHTTTT! I drooled a little at the site of her sitting in the parking lot after being fitted with the new look. Okay, I slobbered. All I did was get the windows tinted and it’s amazing how much more of a rockin’ car it appears. Even PMDude said it was sick. Or is that sic?

Here’s something I bet you didn’t know. Tinting of one’s windows is directly correlated with an increase of one’s speed. It’s true. I’m living proof. Since the tinting of the windows, I apparently believe I’m invisible. As if the tinting is some type of cloaking device. When I was picking the shade of darkness, I chose one level higher than legal. I asked the worker bee if he’s ever heard of anyone getting pulled over for too dark of windows. He said that I would be more likely to get pulled over for speeding. Me thinks he knew of this transformation and did not include it in his instructions of care for the new windows.

The other connection that tinting of windows has is with the volume of the stereo. For some reason, it plays louder now. Maybe it’s because I can sing louder and no one will see me singing at all, regardless of how loud it is. It hasn’t, however, had any connection on the music getting better. No, it’s still relatively bad music. It’s just louder.

I’ve been lax in a few other important items to discuss.

1. It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month – thus the pink blog. It has nothing to do with the flamingo costume. Which had something new added to it yesterday. A beak.

2. Directly connected to the beak and costume is the top 10 worst song countdown. DMQ has a blog this year in which they are counting down the songs. PMDude BEGGED me to post this song to my blog - I think it's his new favorite song. But I just couldn’t put all the other readers through it. Instead I’ll just provide this link.

AND as if this isn't enough blogging...I got a shout out from my favorite photographer (Fall Projects - Plus, a Nice Rave). I discussed Leslie's work in a previous post. And she blogged her name and found my post. Consequently posting my comments to her on her site. When she becomes famous, I too will be famous. I'm sure of it.

Hi.

Remember me?

I'm your friendly, neighborhood, pink wig wearing, flamingo toting blogger.

I've been back in Seattle since LATE Tuesday night and can't help but feel I've been in a whirlwind of activity, and yet don't feel like I've accomplished a darn thing.

I was greeted, as expected, by a very vocal, and not too happy cat who had more than enough to tell me Tuesday night (read: Early Wednesday morning like 2AM). He didn't stop for almost 45 minutes. And I think he only stopped because I duct taped his mouth. Okay, I didn't. But I thought about it and even looked for tape.

I'm still trying to unbury myself at work. I at least have read all the emails and am EVER so thankful to a few PM type folks who did some of my work whilst (that's British for while) I was gone. I've been handed a few more projects and two more events to plan. Oh goody!

While I was a way, a new member joined our illustrious team here. PMDude and I have already named him. Well, PMDude named him whilst I was gone, and I seconded it upon my return. Skippy. Yes, his name is Skippy. He's a young buck who seems to think he knows everything. PMDude and I met with him yesterday to discuss what we, the PMs, do and how we, the PMs, would work with him. I'm sure he learned nothing because he couldn't keep his trap shut long enough to actually listen to what we were saying. Skippy also has this annoying habit of talking...All. The. Time. He possesses no filter that stops his mouth from saying what crosses his mind. He's dropped f-bombs and complained about his "stupid computer" (which by the way is a brand new laptop). It just goes on and on on.

I'm telling you about Skippy, or rather warn you, because the pot is boiling. It will take every ounce of my being to not squish his little Know It All Pea brain between my experienced PM fingers. Its just a matter of time before Skippy goes too far and I will be forced then to be very unlady like. It won't be pretty. So stay tuned.

In other, and in my opinion, more important news, I fell asleep last night trying to make up a limerick about my flamingo costume. The MomUnit finished it, is blind because of it, and brought it to DC at which time I tried it on immediately upon entering the hotel room. It's hot. H.O.T. Hot. No I mean, it's going to be really warm. So with the poncho o'feathers as I call it, my flamingo ensemble is complete. I'll try to put it all together and take a photo this weekend.

Speaking of photos, all DC photos will be processed and posted to flickr this weekend too. I have ot fit that around catching up on all the damn TV I've taped, two dates with FrogBoy1, meeting up with HikerGirl, potentially meeting up with another old friend, cleaning the apt, AND doing my WIP reports for work. There just isn't enough weekend here...I think I need 4 days.

The Stang goes in today to be beautified. It's getting beautiful hightlights on its windows. Or as some call it, tinting. (I got beautiful highlights last night at the salon ... ). Can't wait to have tinted windows. I can make faces at passing people and they won't even know. Or sing and they won't think I'm crazy. Yay.

Have a good weekend all my avid readers - Toodles

Not To Be Forgotten

My vacation is winding down and I have to say I need to go home to get rest. I can't believe how much we've walked. The Metro is about a quarter of a mile, and we've been walking it several times a day. The weather has been sensational. Its said it's high 70's but I swear it feels like mid 80s. Sunny, humid and beautiful.

Today we took a somber approach to our day and visited Arlington Cemetery. You can't even put into words or photos how amazing and how moving it is. Approximately 300,000 military personnel are buried here. The rows and rows of marble head stones is truly a sight to see. We learned something today too. We learned each headstone is 250 lbs each. And they are as much below the earth as they are above the earth.

We also got a chance to see a ceremony that's taken place since 1921. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a magical and very thought provoking ceremony. The military men who guard the tomb are truly exceptional too. They go through a rigorous process to get the honor of guarding the tomb. It's a 2 year commitment and has rules they have to follow for the rest of their lives.

I leave tomorrow, but before I do we're going to head to the Capital building. We realized we haven't actually seen it from the front. We also haven't seen a few other historical buildings in the Mall area. The MomUnit and SLSIL want to go to another museum. So why they are in a museum, I'll be wondering the Mall area again. So stay tuned.

Old Friends and New Places

Wow...a whirlwind of a couple of days. And I'm pooped. I need to go back to work for a vacation.

Let's start with Saturday.

Up late and off to the Metro to get to "the Mall". It didn't take me long to realize "the Mall" isn't a mall at all. But the general area where all the "cool" DC stuff is. I still can't get over how sterile it all looks. Uber clean and almost fake feeling.

The Mother Unit and SLSIL wanted to walk through a *yawn* art museum. Okay it was the National Gallery of Art which houses some amazing masterpieces, but still. Not my style. Not when I can walk around outside and take photos of some very sterile looking buildings that have been here for a long long time. Besides, my pal JC and his wife were in town and I wanted to spend some quality time with them.


I met up with them and we proceeded to walk our way up to the White House. According to the theory that I was told about in London with regards to the flag flying means the Queen is in residence, the US flag was flying so Mr. President must have been in residence. That and the two Marine One's flew over a couple of times maybe bringing or taking the President away.

From there we walked and walked and walked through George Washington University. JC and his wife are both alums and so they had fun taking a walk down memory lane.


We left from there and walked the Mall from the Lincoln Memorial at one end of the Mall, to the WWII memorial and the Washington Monument at the other end. Then back to George Washington University to get to the car. Phew! What a day. I was exhausted, and I still had to summon enough energy to be perky and happy and successful like at the class reunion that night.


The reunion turned out to be a lot fun then I thought it would be. A few classmates don't seem to have changed much. Some changed so much I didn't even recognize them. One gal in particular, I didn't really like in high school, nor did she like me (I wasn't in the "IN" crowd). She came up to me and greeted meas if I was a life time friend. I had no clue who she was. I asked JC, and he had no idea. It wasn't until later someone told us and we were both stunned. Completely different looking. Probably the most physically, and in a good way, changed.

My LEAST favorite boy was there - a young man who in high school I literally hated. He was a jack*ss with a capital J. I didn't know he was going to be at the reunion and I took great pleasure in finding out he's really not amounted to much in life. (insert evil laugh here). Evil XBF was there of course, oh goody. And my three roommates from my Junior year in school - Susie, Vicky and Patricia. It was great to see them again and to get caught up on most things. Interestingly enough, I don't feel I have anything in common with these folks outside of being in the same graduation class. I came to see JC and get caught up with him, and I did. So check mark in the 20 Year Reunion Over box.

All in all I'm glad I went. People do seemed to have grown up. Every single person asked me if I was still working for Geeksoft. I tried to explain my company and my job, but I got mostly blank stares. We have people who are doing almost nothing and loving every minute of it, to a anchor woman for the NBC channel in Miami (my former roommate Patricia). We had several guys who were VPs now and several women who are stay home moms. Two classmates have died since graduation, one in a car accident and one in Iraq. So we had a toast for them. Below is a photo of everyone who came.




Today the MomUnit, SLSIL and I took off to Alexandria. Alexandria is an old, very old, colonial town. We took a water cruise up the Potomac river to Georgetown and back down to Alexandria. It was nice, but not overly exciting. I got sunburned, so at least I look like I've been somewhere tropical.


We walked up and down Alexandria streets, pointing and exclaiming at the beauty and the "oldness" of it all. Charming little town that has definitely embraced it's heritage. We started the walking tour that took us past all sorts of old historic houses and buildings including George Washington's town house ( see photo of the hose to the left) and his pub. We tried to have a drink in the pub, but the current pub owner was an ass and snapped at us that they weren't open yet. I'm sure George would not approve of such behavior.


Back on the walking tour trail, we realized we were thirsty and a bit hungry, so we ended our tour early at a Tapas bar. What? Surely the colonial folks had tapas too.

Now full of tapas, beer and some water to rehydrate, we walked, barely, back to the King Street Metro station. We got back to the hotel and crashed...oh well, not before SLSIL and I walked past Starbucks on our way from the metro station, we needed a pick me up.


Tomorrow we're off to Arlington Cemetery. I've been having camera issues and have been quite disappointed with how some things have turned out, or not turned out is better stated. I'm hoping those issues are now past and I can get some excellent shots in Arlington. Of course, now I have to go back to the Mall and retake a few photos which I'll likely do Tuesday morning before my flight.

Sterile in the Nation's Capital

Hello from the Nation's Capital. Whoa...what a place. The Mother Unit and SLSIL got in yesterday way before me and scoped out .. well.. nothing. I got in about midnight last night after sitting in Denver for an hour on the plane while we waited for our crew to get there.

You may remember I mentioned that the one person I really didn't want to see, and could care less about ever seeing again is Evil Xboyfriend. I knew I'd have to see him and thought I'd have JC as a buffer so I wouldn't kill him when talking to him. He's an arrogant git and has earned the right to never be in my company ever again. While sitting on the plane 37,000 feet in the air...who should walk by me on the way to the bathroom? EXBF. Couldn't believe it. He didn't see me, and I ducked under my book so he wouldn't see me. When we landed and everyone got up to leave, his eyes met mine. I knew I was sunk. Ugh!

Today the Mother Unit, SLSIL and I took the site seeing bus tour. It was a beautiful day here somewhere in the high 70's to low 80's and low in the humid. Gorgeous. As we drove through the capital I couldn't help but feel that everything seemed so sterile. Too perfect. Like they are trying to hide the secrets that go on behind the marble walls. While a lot of the buildings harbor years of history, I just wasn't as wow'd as I thought I'd be.

We saw 90% of DC on the bus. Hopping off in Georgetown to have lunch. What a charming little gem that is. The bus tour amused the hell out of me in that every 15 minutes it warned us to watch for low hanging branches. And they aren't lying. We were almost taken out a couple of times. I got whipped in the forehead when I wasn't paying attention. Who planted these cherry trees anyhow? (The Japanese apparently gave us the trees some many years ago).

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with JC and his wife to wander through the "mall" area and hopefully take a full load of photos. I only took 111 today. I have thousands more to take.

Comment of the day brought to you by SLSIL: me, The Mother Unit and SLSIL were walking by this fantastic looking building. I asked "What building is that?" SLSIL respondes with , "It's something."

And....she's off

Whew. After a sprint to get all my work done enough so I can leave on vacation and not worry/think about work, I'm finally ready to think about my vacation. Which is a good thing since I leave tomorrow.

Now normally I would have been packed a week ago. Prepared by reading tourism sites and have planned my entire visit to DC. And yet here I sit posting to the blog instead. What gives with me? This makes TWICE this year that I've not had a plan when I've gone on vacation. (The first being the weekend with the XXXCrush - whom - thanks for asking - I've not heard from since I sent my lovely email expressing my crush on him. Cad!)

So tomorrow I'm off to our nations capital. I'm excited to go. I've never been as an adult (I have photos of me of when I was like 3 there, but that certainly doesn't count.) Mom and SLSIL will be getting in way before me tomorrow and the games will begin.

I promise I will try to post from DC - mostly because PMDude is back at work "monitoring" my projects and it'll make him feel all jealous. But also because you, my dear fan base, will be dying to read my traipsing about our capital. I have sent a memo to "Dubya's" people requesting lunch with him, but haven't heard back yet. So I may have to just drop by. As if.

Jesus is my pizza place's boss

If you don't believe me...just look.

You don't bring me flowers...

....any more!

That likely doesn't have anything to do with this post, other than I'm listening to Dudley's Diamond Medley and that's the part of the song that was playing.

Ah-hem.

20 years ago I graduated from high school. Check us 80's girls out. We were all that.

It seems like a lifetime ago and I don't feel like I've aged one bit. Funny that. Next week I'm off to celebrate my 20 yr reunion with people I've spent more time away than with. Most of the people coming I know nothing about anymore, and haven't thought of since graduation listing to their names being called off. Save, Mike Greene. Mr. JC himself. (He was Jesus Christ, I was Mary Magdalen, Dean was God, and I can't remember the others).

I've probably talked about Mike in previous blogs. But tonight's blog will be different, and I'll probably get a nasty gram from him once he reads this. (Hi Mike)

Mike and I met in history class. We were immediate friends. He was a smart ass and I approved wholeheartedly of his humor. Almost right away he harassed me about being from the "wrong" Washington (see he was from DC) and that the only things that Washington has is slugs and apples. We wrote notes almost daily. Tonight I found those notes.

I've been sitting here laughing my ass off at just how much drama we created. But most importantly I marveled at the friends we were. I didn't recognize it then, but he's definitely one of my lifelong compadres. And though many months may go by without a note or anything, I know that he would be there in a crunch.

Did I mention he was one of the Mike's I had a crush on? Yah. He was. I was over the moon for him. And he, was over the moon for my best friend. Prom was especially tricky. I wanted to go with Mike, but he asked Claudia and somehow we ended the night in tears. Isn't that always the case at high school dances? Someone ends up in the bathroom crying. Oh the pain. The agony. I cursed his name on many occasions and did everything I could to NOT let him see it hurt. I knew Mike cared for me and trusted me as one of his dearest friends, so I wouldn't dare let him see me hurt. It made me stronger. Don't ask what we're doing in this picture because I'm not sure why we'd think that was cool. Other than we were 18. 'nough said.

Now, those notes. OMG. The memories they conjured up. There were a few things that were present in just about every note. See, somehow (maybe Mike remembers because I don't) we were trying to decide what we were going to be when we grew up. The options on the table was for me to be a cabbie and he would be the guy who drew the maps in the history books. Then I was going to be a bag lady or nun. The bag lady and nun options took. Almost every note has "Dear Bag Lady" at the beginning (at least the notes from JR. year) and almost always ended with "Don't be a nun."

Almost every note was Mike trying to decide what to do for the weekend. Always broke - because we were students for heavens sake - but always wanting to run with the crowd that was leaving town. And 90% of the time the travel wasn't legal. (Have I mentioned ever that I went to school in a boarding school in Switzerland? thus the travel). Anyhow, Mike's notes constantly showed his love for travel and his insanity the school was causing.

But what was most amazing about EVERY SINGLE NOTE...and I get all choked up thinking about it... He told me he was my friend forever.

Quotes from the notes:

"I'm in room detention." - A constant

"Nuns can't even talk about sex, much less do it, so don't be a nun."

"This note is radioactive."

"What do you think about me becoming a priest?"

"Will you ever leave the other side of the spectrum?" See when I started at the boarding school, I was pure and wholesome. A good Christian girl who even listened to Christan rock. Then I met Mike. He corrupted me. Admit it Mike! You did it.

I've been fortunate, I know this, to have had such a dear friend in my life. And even though I've now shared with the world (yes the world reads my blog. Shut up!) some very personal information about a certain person on the east coast, I'm sure he'll forgive me. He has to, or as a nun I'll be sure he rots in hell. This last photo was Mike and I at our 10 year reunion. Wow...the hair. Why didn't anyone tell me. Sheesh.

I'll be seeing Mike at the reunion and I'm sure I'll pay heavily for this blog (if he reads it before then). But maybe he'll be so happy to see his long lost nun that he'll have forgotten that I aired his/our dirty high school secrets on a blog that's read internationally.

Mo' Spiders = Mo' Snow

During a very animated discussion with PMDude about his love/hate relationship with spiders, I mentioned that I had been told that the massive amounts of spiders that seem to be coveting my apartment as their new home, I was told, means there's a hard winter ahead. (Whew...that's one long run on sentence.) And I should preface the "animated" discussion with the fact that both PMDude and I agree, spiders are not natural. (doing the shivering dance).



So, being that I like to use google, I decided I would "google" - as in the action of googling - spiders and hard winters. Farmer's Almanac, I knew, would not let me down. And so, without any more ado...here are the Top 20 Signs of a Hard Winter.



BTW - I've already notified the pointy haired boss that I don't travel during snow. The stang stays parked.

1. Thicker than normal corn husks
2. Woodpeckers sharing a tree
3. Early arrival of the Snowy Owl
4. Early departure of geese and ducks
5. Early migration of the Monarch butterfly
6. See how high the hornet’s nest, will tell how high the snow will rest
7. Unusual abundance of acorns
8. Thick hair on the nape of a cow’s neck.
9. Early arrival of crickets on the hearth
10. Raccoons with thick tails and bright bands
11. Pigs gathering sticks - have to live on a farm for that one.
12. Insects marching a bee-line rather than meandering.
13. Early seclusion of bees within the hive.
14. Muskrats burrowing holes high on the riverbank.
15. The squirrel gathers nuts earl to fortify for winter.
16. Frequent halos or rings around the sun or moon forecasts numerous snows.
17. Mice eating ravenously into a home.
18. Heavy and numerous fogs in August.
19. Spiders spinning larger than normal webs and entering the house in great numbers.
20. The wollybear caterpillar - A narrow orange band in the middle of the caterpillar warns of heavy snow; fat and fuzzy caterpillars warns of bitter cold. Also… a rough winter if you see lots of them crawling around, their movement is slow (thought they were always slow?), you saw them crawling before the first frost.

I gotta say, being a city girl 99% of these I'll never actually see to say, "Gee, that means we'll have a hard winter."

Oooo now I have the heebygeebies...

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

Remember WAY back in February when I got hit by StupidBoy. Remember WAY back when I decided to be the “nicer” person and offered to not submit an insurance claim because StupidBoy SWORE he’d pay me the cost to fix the car, plus the cost for the rental car, plus take me to drop the car off, etc.

Fast forward to today. Yes 7 months since the promises were made.

I decided a couple of months ago to file a claim against him. It cost me $$ to get the paper work in order. Cost me $$ to get the letter certified and sent to him. Cost me $$ in taking time off work to do all these things. Then yesterday I get a letter in the mail from the court indicating there will be a $125 processing fee and that my court date, should I choose, will be in late October between 12pm and 4pm. So let me get the math right here. I fork out money to sue a guy who “promised” to pay me, not one but like 14 times, and the chance he’ll show up to court? Yah.

After looking at this very closely I’ve decided to drop the lawsuit. I have already gone so far beyond what I should have done. I've been nice for way too long and it's cost me. Time to put nice to bed and stop thinking this jack*ss will ever pay for the damage he's done. AND I trusted someone to do what they said they would. My naiveté. My bad.

I’m mad at myself for many reasons that I could spend hundreds of therapy dollars on, but suffice it to say, I’m mostly mad that I allowed myself to be suckered into believing a stranger. At the moment I decided that perhaps what the world needs is more trust. Why should I not trust this person I’ve never met before? He very well could be a man of his word. So I dropped the cynic cloak and donned a hope cloak and out of it I get no cloak. Stupid people!

Lesson Learned: If I am in the unfortunate situation in which I have been struck by another vehicle, dial 9-1-1 immediately. Do not pass go. Because you certainly won’t collect.

Say Good Bye to Hollywood, Say good bye my ba-AY-be

So this weekend was a weekend of goodbyes. Nothing tragic, oh no…just farewells to a few of my favorite things.

Pretty Pink Razr goes POOF
One of my long time GalPal’s BaltimoreHeidi who now lives here, decided it would be a great idea to set me up with her husbands best friend. A man they’ve known for some time. She was sure we’d hit it off. He is, after all, from the great state of New Jersey. Which by my count of the map is about a dozen states away (as the crow flies). In fact if you’ve ever seen the movie Sleepless in Seattle there’s a scene where Tom is explaining to the little tike that there are a number of states between Seattle and NY. And his comment is something like, “I don’t even want to think what they aren’t teaching you in school.”

Now, I’m not saying BaltimoreHeidi isn’t smart. She is. And I’m sure her heart was in the right place. So, she, her husband, the NJBoy and I all met for dinner. We went to one of my all time favorite restaurants in Seattle called the Pink Door (which funny enough their once pink door is now more salmon, but whatever). They have, by far, the best lasagna this side of the Mississippi. Before dinner we ordered an appetizer, Olive Tapenade. One of my faves, and theirs is quite tasty without a lot of garlic overhang (if you know what I mean). NJBoy apparently isn’t a fan of olives, nor is BaltimoreHeidi’s husband so they ordered their own appetizer, which left this MASSIVE amount of tapenade for BaltimoreHeidi and I to share. Try as we might, we couldn’t eat it all. We asked for a doggy bag and we were all settled.

I had my massive NY bag – courtesy of SLSIL – that had my new camera, my wallet, my phone, misc lip glosses and tums at the bottom. The tapenade, while originally was upright, somehow got tussled and ended up upside down. All the fabulous olive juice and olive oil filtered through the paperback and laid a nice quarter inch worth of gunk at the bottom of my purse.

The wallet – not a problem.
The camera – surprisingly only a little gunk on a corner and it was all good.
The misc lip glosses – saveable
The tums – mush
But the phone, it was covered in it. I cleaned it off, all the while it’s chirping at me as if it say, “Help Help I’m drowning in olive oil.” Let it sit overnight to “dry out”. Got up Sunday and decided to plug it in to charge it. A small puff of smoke and a small crackling sound and the phone was dead. D-E-D Dead!

The best part of this tale is that 1) my plan isn’t up until March so I had to buy a phone out right…no discounts. Bastards. And 2) the blind date wasn’t even all that fun.

Best Guy Friend Gets Married
Yes, my best guy friend, Mike married his lovely Nancy this weekend. Both adorable and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. Blueberry and I managed to not cry during the ceremony even though when Nancy started up we almost did. Blasted emotions. The wedding was held at one of our local swanky country clubs. As I drove through the streets of this county club with the Stang I was sure I was going to get pulled over for having such an undervalued car. My god those people know how to live. Anyhow, it was a ton of fun to see many of my long time friends that I’ve not seen in months or years in some cases. Funny how when people get married and have kids, suddenly their single friends get the boot.

Me, Mike & Nancy, and Blueberry

The Gang: Baily Fuehr, Kris Fuehr, Me, Blueberry, Cyan Fuehr, Darby Fuehr, Curt Fuehr, Debbie Opstad, Mark Levine, Lars Opstad and Vanessa Levine.

OJ’s Freedom
Is it me, or is this guy the biggest dumbass ever to walk the earth? I mean really OJ. Just because you got away with one crime, doesn’t mean your invincible. Gotta teach this boy about security cameras.

Now for the opposite of Goodbye, we say Hello. I went out on date #2 with FrogBoy1 – he was the lateboy who “stood” me up. He redeemed himself by meeting me for beers and football yesterday, which led into dinner and football. Nice combo really. He’s nice. He might have made the cut to be invited to the next Dudley show. And you know once you’ve made that cut, you’re in like Flynn. (where on earth did that saying come from anyhow?)

It's official.

I'm crazy.

Just in case there was ever any concern. I thought I would end all the rumors right now. It's true.

C-R-A-Z-Y

Just purchased - in preparation for the FANTASTIC costume Mom is making...(You are working on that right mom?)

God I hope the pink's don't clash. That will be so tacky.

Good food, Good drink, Good God, Let's Eat

And eat and eat and eat.

My GalPal Anandi (aka BeagleBabe - because she has a Beagle - Spike - and because she loves them) and I have this new tradition that I, for one, hope we continue. We eat. And not just eat, but we eat new things.

BeagleBabe and I met when I was working at Geeksoft in the SpeechServer team. She left that group and I "took over" her job. Parts of it anyhow. And really, looking back, I did nothing for 3 months and got paid for it. Ah-hem, anyhow. She went part-time in her new gig, which meant we could meet for lunch. We met at a couple different places, then settled on this Sushi place just down from where I work. I hate Sushi, but they had great chicken katsu. We met almost weekly there. Then BeagleBabe went and got a new kickass job in downtown Seattle.

Since she's now downtown, we've turned our lunches into dinners and trying some of the amazing restaurants Seattle has to offer. So far, we've ate our way through a good portion of Bell Town, and have a lot left to taste.

Past outings has seen us at Casualita's, which is a rum bar. And Oh. My. God. did they have good food. We still talk about that place. We only ordered appetizers and were plenty satisfied. It seems like there has been others, but I certainly can't remember. It's because I'm in a food coma.

Tonight we ate at Cascadia. It was featured on Rachael Ray's $40 a Day show, which painted this little haven of a place. They have two things that are considered their "speciality". One are these mini burgers and the other this Alpine Martini. The Alpine Martini has Douglas Fur Snow in it and a Douglas Fur twig sticking out of it. I didn't dare attempt to try this drink because I'm not a big fan of tree tasting.

On Rachael's show she said the mini burgers were a buck a piece and so quite a bargain. She was lying. Maybe the special Rachael Ray promote our restaurant price is a buck a piece, but it sure wasn't for us. While they are cheap, the toppings for them add up. And while BeagleBabe and I thought we were getting a bargain, when we got a tab at $63 we knew we had been had.

Mini Burger = $2 (Happy Hour). The gourmet toppings were an additional fee. They come with lettuce, tomato and ketchup. If you wanted handmade Mayo it was extra.

Anyhow, we both ordered 2 each. They were *maybe* 2 oz of burger on a 4oz bun. I had crispy pancetta (add $2 more) and cheddar cheese (add $1) on one (totaling $5 for a 2oz burger!). My second burger I had just grilled walla walla sweet onions(add $1). Then we *had* to order the "bucket O' fries" to go with our mini burgers. Oh and I had ordered a white bean hummus to start us off on - which was, sadly, not very flavorful. I had a Pomo-tini and Sangria for my drinks. The Sangria tasted like hand lotion. Even BeagleBabe said it was gross. Blech!

After gorging ourselves on our mini burgers, we were discussing other iconic types of food in that neighborhood. When what should come up but these kick ass shaken donuts that a near by restaurant does for dessert. A 5 block walk found us at Lola for dessert.

BeagleBabe has also started making her own jewelery. It's gorgeous stuff and she's quite talented. As it turns out, she now is selling it online too. Check it out. And no, if you buy something I don't get a commission. Though she may buy my next drink.

And of course since I was going to Seattle, I brought my camera with me. It seems to go almost everywhere with me now, so going to Seattle doesn't necessarily mean it was a fluke it was with me. Anyhow, my picture of the day, and by far one of my favorite photos of all time. It almost looks like a stock photo, but I swear...It's really mine.