There was a lot of kitchen time yesterday. Cake and bread and rice (and dinner) magically appeared. Aside from that, laundry was done and errands were run. So really, only part of the weekend was task-free.. but it felt like enough. More practice is needed.

It felt like a pretty-long weekend, which is awesome. There's a ton of stuff to get through this week. The big whoop-de-doo work event thing is on Thursday. I just want it to be done, because the build-up to it is just insane. Once we get to the venue on Thursday I'm going to just be a passenger. Whatever happens, happens.. and then it's too late to do anything but roll with it.

My eye is all better. That was the weirdest thing in the world.

Okay, no point in putting this work thing off any longer. Go. Ciao.

Okay, NOT pink-eye. Blepharitis. Ew. That word is horrible. *bleph* Ish. Anyway, I have to wash my eyelid with baby soap ("No more tears" my ASS, I might add. There were tears.) and I'm walking around with a hot washcloth on my eye.

I'M VERY VERY PRETTY.

Ragazz' is having a jolly old time making up names for me (and I'm laughing at them, so it's not like he's being mean or anything). I'm Cyclops. Eyeball. Crusty. My Little Pirate. I really want to get an eye-patch, because I think that would be hawt.

No. No I don't.

I don't know how the hell I got this. I don't remember putting anything particularly bacteria-filled IN MY EYE. But Facebook is a wonderful thing, because the moment I updated my status to include said Blepharitis, people came out of the woodwork: "I had that! My cousin's brother's mother-in-law had that!" Who knew that there were so many people walking around with crusty eyelids?

Moving on.

I got to re-connect with someone from my long-ago past yesterday, and it was awesome. There aren't that many people in my life now who know and have lived through the crazy that was my family.. so when we get together there's a good deal of commiserating and congratulating each other on living through it. Also: who knew that tofu/curry soup was so doggone good?

Our in-town vacation begins the moment that Ragazz' walks through the door after the bowling tournament today. I stayed home to take care of all the chores which would have gotten done last night, had I not had to spend the entire evening focusing on my eyelid. So laundry's in and I'm putting the grocery list together.

I wish you a happy, non-crusty day. Ciao.

Today there will be no self-analysis! Instead, there will be a list of seemingly random thoughts.

1. Hello, allergies. I wish my head could be even MORE plugged up in the morning. Although I finally got smart last night and just closed the windows and ran the A/C. That helps.

2. Also, hello pink-eye? Or something. My eye is all itchy and tearing up. Luckily there is already an eye doc appointment that has been re- and MORE re-scheduled.

3. We Dined Out for Life at Black Forest last night. Their sauerbraten is the stuff that dreams are made of.

4. My hair is all one color again, and there is no red is said color. Brown hair, brown eyes. Sometimes it's good to match.

5. Big ol' budget meeting this morning. Always a treat. Or not, as the case may be.

6. BUT - there is a catch-up lunch after that, and I'm looking forward to that.

7. Happy Friday. Whoop whoop! Ciao.

I'm not scared of spiders. Well, not too scared. The especially long legged ones freak me out a little bit, but I don't ever squoosh them. There's a superstition (I think it's an Italian one) that says that if you kill a spider it rains.
I guess it's not exclusively Italian, I guess. I think it's Italian because my grandma said it. Heh.

Anyway! Yeah. Spiders = not too scary. Moths, however, are a different story. Moths freak me the hell out. Warning: creepy moth story ahead. If you don't want to hear about it I won't hold it against you. I will instead wish you a happy day.
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Okay. Creepy moth story. When I was in, oh, it had to be 7th or 8th grade, my sister and I woke up one day and saw a moth in our room. Because we were kids, we probably made a bigger deal about it than we had to.. but again.. we were KIDS. I remember there was much screaming and jumping around and hiding under beds and covers and in the closet.
My mother was having a particularly bad (day/week/month/insert time frame here). I remember her coming in and screaming at us, and we settled down, got dressed and went to school. I didn't think any more of it.

Until that night, when I was getting ready for bed.

You guys. I'm actually hyperventilating and shaking just from writing about this.

Because we were especially naughty and terrible children, we didn't make our beds. Heh. My mother made them for us. So that night, I turned down the blankets to get into bed... and there were at least two - I can't even remember right now - perfectly flattened moths.. arranged carefully in the middle of my bed.

I didn't scream or cry. I grabbed some kleenex and scooped them up and threw them away. When my mother came in to tuck me into bed, she said "Is everything okay?" in that smirky voice she could put on. I pretended to already be asleep.

Of all the things she ever did to me as a kid, I think that was the worst. Who does that? And that was the moment I realized that A) She really didn't like me; and B) She was really sick.

I am actually in full-on meltdown mode right now. But I think this is what my therapist would call therapeutic writing, or something. Heh.

SO. That's where my unreasonable fear and loathing of moths comes from.

Last night I was getting ready for bed at the Hacienda (it was Fort Night!) and I heard a weird noise. I looked up to see a gigantor moth on my ceiling. I decided I could try to be brave and suck it up in the vacuum cleaner (I thought that was pretty ingenious!) - but it fluttered away and I became very UNbrave. I texted Ragazz' about my predicament.. and because he is wonderful, he dropped everything, drove over here and performed moth eradication duty.

Did I mention how he is wonderful, understanding, and my hero? And how it is a BIG farking deal for me to have someone actually acknowledge my fear and TAKE CARE OF ME?

My mother never really took care of me. I think that's actually worse than her putting moths under my blankets.

I can't take any more therapy now at 5:45 AM. And I have to go to work anyway. Let's take care of each other, okay? Ciao.

I got to the eye doctor's office all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 6:45 AM yesterday.. only to be told that the doctor had called in sick, and I had to reschedule my appointment for next week. It's a good thing I'm up and about that early anyway, otherwise I would have been really sad.

Work was unremarkable. Traffic yesterday was NOT unremarkable, sadly. It was like all the traffic demons conspired to mess up everyone's commute. Every single one of my freeway traffic routes was either stacked up or closed. Yikes. At one point I thought I was smart by bailing onto a side street. That was an especially bad idea. The entire northbound side of the street was dead stopped from Hwy 36 to Hwy 694. If you live here, you know that's not an insignificant chunk of street. Agh. I was there for about 50 minutes.

So despite all those obstacles, I eventually made it home to the Chateau and then back to the Hacienda and then I just sat and stared at the TV and watched Glee. The end.

Well, there's a little more,  I guess. I've made two pair of those Duffers Slippers and.. meh. Just not feeling that, so it's on to the next thing. Maybe I'll make more bears.

Now that's it. The end. Ciao.

The seed feeder and two suet feeders are in place.. although I saw that the squirrel, furry acrobat that he is, figured out how to hang upside down to get to the suet. So that one has to get moved. He can eat off the ground all he wants, but that hanging upside down thing freaks me out. He looks like a bat.

Ragazz' did well at the race, despite virtually no practice time and very little sleep. He's just that good, I guess. heh. When he got home around 5:00, though, he looked like a zombie. He slept for a couple of hours, got up, had dinner, and was back in bed by 9:00. That never happens.

And... new week. The best we can hope for is calm. Ciao.

Is that a beautiful breakfast or what? The Red Stag = One of my new favorite places.

Big swatches of yesterday did not go as planned. Ragazz', who was supposed to be on his way to the race yesterday, was NOT on his way when I got home from said breakfast. There was a work thing. And another work thing. And one of the work things was taking so so so very long that he ended up just being home (and awake) until 2am. I felt bad for him.. he was so sad, and there was just nothing I could do to make the sad go away. That's the part they don't tell you about in Young Love 101. It's hard when you can't fix things for the one you love.. so sometimes you just have to sit and watch the Food Network and eat ice cream together.

His alarm (and the coffee alarm) went off at 4:00, so I got up with him as he got ready to head up to the race. I don't think I was great company - I remember bumping into a lot of stuff - but at least I was moral support as he caffeinated up and got ready to hit the road. Here's hoping that the cars all run well so the day is at least halfway decent for him.

I got all the laundering done yesterday, so I get to just be a leisure girl today. It's not warm enough for a bike ride, darn it, but maybe it can be a little walk around the neighborhood day. And also - feed the birds day. They've FINALLY found the bird feeder, and I get unreasonable joy from watching the feasting. The squirrels figured out pretty quickly that they can't get up onto the feeder.. but they also figured out that birds are sloppy eaters, so there are lots of treats on the ground all around it. Win-win for all nature.

Ciao.

Every once in a while I decide to take the Myers-Briggs personality test online.. just to see if I've changed. Nope. Never do. I'm always ENFJ, every single time:

§  E – Extraversion preferred to introversion: ENFJs often feel motivated by their interaction with people. They tend to enjoy a wide circle of acquaintances, and they gain energy in social situations (whereas introverts expend energy).

§  N – Intuition preferred to sensing: ENFJs tend to be more abstract than concrete. They focus their attention on the big picture rather than the details, and on future possibilities rather than immediate realities.

§  F – Feeling preferred to thinking: ENFJs tend to value personal considerations above objective criteria. When making decisions, they often give more weight to social implications than to logic.

§  J – Judgment preferred to perception: ENFJs tend to plan their activities and make decisions early. They derive a sense of control through predictability.

This test even spits out a narrative. You can drop your own name and personal pronoun into it and come up with and even more scarily accurate portrait. Ha.

In whatever field she chooses, Chele considers people her highest priority, and she instinctively communicates personal concern and a willingness to become involved. Warmly outgoing, and perhaps the most expressive of all the types, Chele is remarkably good with language, especially when communicating in speech, face to face. And she does not hesitate to speak out and let her feelings be known. Bubbling with enthusiasm, Chele will voice her passions with dramatic flourish, and can, with practice, become a charismatic public speaker. This verbal ability gives Chele a good deal of influence in groups, and she is often asked to take a leadership role.

Chele like things settled and organized, and will schedule her work hours and social engagements well ahead of time -- and she is absolutely trustworthy in honoring these commitments. Valuing as she does interpersonal cooperation and harmonious relations, Chele is extraordinarily tolerant of others, is easy to get along with, and is usually popular wherever she is.

Chele is highly sensitive to others, which is to say her intuition tends to be well developed. Certainly her insight into herself and others is unparalleled. Without a doubt, she knows what is going on inside herself, and she can read other people with uncanny accuracy. Chele also identifies with others quite easily, and will actually find herself picking up the characteristics, emotions, and beliefs of those around them. Because she slips almost unconsciously into other people's skin in this way, Chele feel closely connected with those around her, and thus shows a sincere interest in the joys and problems of her employees, colleagues, students, clients, and loved ones.

Yeah. That's me all day long. If you want to play with this (and possibly freak yourself out) here's a quick online test.

And NOW.. I'm off to meet with my friend to talk about her upcoming nuptials. The wedding season is starting up, and I am so lucky.. I get to marry eight of my best peeps to each other! Well, in groups of two at a time, that is. It's an honor.

Ciao, bellas. Happy Saturday!

I love this slipper pattern! It's a great way to use up my zillions of yards of scrap wool.

A story from yesterday: I was in Downtown Minneapolis for lunch with my ragazz' (oh, how I miss downtown..), and parked in the Hilton Ramp. It was absolutely nutty in there. Some big conference had just ended, and there was a line of cars three levels long, waiting to get out. Yikes.

So we lunched and I wandered around for a while. I got back to the ramp which had cleared out nicely. I pulled up to the pay booth and a nice, older gentleman from a far-away land took my ticket.
He asked, "You been here yesterday?"
Me: "No."
Him: "You need receipt?"
Me: "No, thank you."
Him: "You would like to go for a date or coffee with me? I am off work in ten minute."
Me: "........"
Me: "No, thank you."

So.. THAT was a little strange. I wonder if that technique ever works for him.

On to the next thing now. Ciao.

The flowering trees are out. The yard smells amazing.

By about 9:00am, I knew that it was going to be an "I need a date night" kind of day. My ragazz', who is the King of Awesome, took care of me. We hit up the sort-of new (almost a year old) Mexican place on the western side of the world. The food was pretty good. The margaritas were both strong AND awesome. Whew. I could see downing a couple of those there and then stumbling home. Heh.

Dick Clark died yesterday. I had no idea that he was involved in a payola scandal in the 50s and 60s. I just know that we hang out with him every New Year's Eve, and we stop whatever we're doing to watch him do the countdown.

Oh - and besides the need-a-day-night feeling, I've also got the "Why didn't we take a winter vacation" thing going on. I believe the actual words I used were "I am going to totally lose my s&*#%t if we don't get away for a few days." Heh. Realistically, though, in the next few weeks there are no long stretches of time available. Racing is ramping up and there's just lots of stuff going on. So it's time to be creative and do the in-town thing.. Take a day and night and unplug, forget about laundry and dishes and painting and chores and pretend to be tourists right here. It's a lot cheaper than a plane ticket.. and there's no packing involved. That will happen soon.

Ciao.

As I was knitting these, I couldn't figure out HOW they would turn into slippers. Once they were off the needles - voila! It was like magic. These aren't my colors at all.. but all the rest of my wool yarn is at the Chateau, so I had to make do. Still - very cute for a practice pair.

Trader Joe's Indian entrees (hooray for fancy frozen quick dishes) have been on the rotation at both houses. Quick, easy, yummy. So my Tuesday fort-night dinner was Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice. Except, first I was distracted by finishing up the first slipper. Then I was distracted by the 5:00 news. Then I remembered that the chicken was done and I was starving, so I grabbed a plate for said chicken and rice.

Then I got distracted by the news again as I was dishing up the chicken and rice. And that's how I ended up with Basmati Rice all over the kitchen floor. Argh.

Note to self: remember - do just ONE thing at a time.

It's eye doctor time next week. There's a lot of squinting in cheleville lately, and even more times when the stupid glasses just get taken off when I'm working on close up stuff. The good news is that with my cadillac health insurance, my vision exam is FREE (that has never happened before). So that, combined with my $39 dollar glasses from the innernetz means some new glasses will be had. I like my pink cat-eye frames, though, so I might just get new lenses in those.

What? It's only Wednesday? *sigh*

Ciao.

Ahh, Minnesota. 70s and sunny on Saturday, severe thunderstorms on Sunday, snow on Monday, 60s on Tuesday. It's the theater of weather. It's 33 right now.. I hope it didn't drop too much below that last night.

I had a weirdly unsettling dream last night that I can't remember exactly. I just know that I woke up feeling really icky. This is what happens when I have to deal with mother stuff during the day. Because of some weird, convoluted circumstances, I got an email from a total stranger telling me how great my mother was, how nice she had been to this person, and how lucky I was to have a mother like that.

Well, good for this person. My mother wasn't nice to me - what with the disowning and the getting rid of all my stuff and the general meanness - but I'm glad she made fudge for and took care of this stranger.

And that's why I have icky dreams sometimes.

Lucky for me, I have a ragazz' who IS nice to me, and he greets me with a smile and a kiss after work and always makes the day so much better. Also - McDonald's French Fries help a lot. Heh.

I started knitting 19 row felted slippers. I'm about 14 rows into this pattern and I can't for the life of me figure out how these will go together once I get them off the needles. So that will be tonight's after-work project.

Ready? Go! Ciao.

We helped our Tax Professional™ celebrate the end of tax season with Sunday dinner and cards. So fun, and we'll have to do that again and again. We watched the storm blow in and out and got absolutely pounded by rain. Sheesh. It's pouring out there again this morning. This is the bringing May flowers stuff, right?

I was more productive in the first 4 hours of Sunday morning than I had been for the first 40 some-odd hours of the weekend. I did all the laundry, ran a huge load through the dishwasher and baked bread. *whew*  Maybe it's good to just have one big burst of activity and finish everything. Heh. Then I settled in to read the next book in The Hunger Games trilogy..

and I HATE it. (Well, hate is a strong word.) But.. Nope. I don't like it. I'm going to set it aside and come back to it in a week or so, because maybe I'm Hungered-out.

And the day wound down with a huge bubble bath, during which I fell sound asleep in the tub for about 20 minutes. Best way to end the weekend. Aaah. Ready to start the new week? Yeah, I guess so. Ciao.

Perfection Saturday. Highlights:

• An almost seven mile bike ride. We found some new places in the neighborhood.
• A trip to the Depot of the Home store, where lawn maintenance implements were procured. AND - I finally have a bird-seed bird feeder in my back yard. Now the birds just have to find it.
• There are LILACS in the yard. Love.
• I made sliders - mini burgers just like White Castle..only slightly better because they are made with LUV. Heh.
• I didn't do one thread (?) of laundry. That will change in a couple of minutes.
• I started the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes dough. I am suspect of any dough that doesn't require A) kneading; and B) a pinch of sugar to make the yeast rise even more. To my credit, I didn't deviate from the recipe at all - well, except to cut it in half. I'm gonna start out with two loaves.. just in case.
• I replaced my old, grungified (and at the other house) pizza stone with a brand new one.
• I finished The Hunger Games, and yes, I bought the next two in the trilogy.

Today I woke up to less pretty weather.. but it's more conducive to staying put and getting that laundry done. It's Carbonara for Sunday dinner night, and we're adding cards to the mix. Yay!

And thus, Sunday begins. Ciao.

How much do I love seeing the sunlight through this tree in the morning?

Last night it didn't look so much like this.. It was cold and rainy.. just the perfect Fort Night. Ragazz' headed to bed for a "little nap" that lasted for about 4 hours or so. Heh. I curled up in the big chair and read for a while, and when I was bored with that I whipped up a quick batch of Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. See? Perfect.

The great thing is - we ended up with no plans today. Groceries and the usual.. but nothing on a deadline. Aaah. I want to spend as much time as possible in front of the stove. There are three recipes all rolling around in my head now.

Oh.. The Hunger Games. How I am enjoying that book. And yes, now I'll probably have to buy the other two as well. Because I am the way I am, I had poke around on the internet and find out how it all ended. No, it doesn't spoil books (or movies)  for me. Reading is as much about the GETTING there as it is about the ending. And if I *don't* know how something ends (i.e. - who dies??) - I'm stressed out the whole time I'm reading it. My therapist and I talked about that once. She didn't understand it, either, and challenged me to go see one movie where I didn't know the ending. I did that last summer, and I was traumatized because I was the only person in the entire theater who didn't know that this F1 racer had died. IN REAL LIFE. It was big big news when it happened, but I didn't follow F1 then. So ironically, the one time I *SHOULD* have known how a story ended is the one time I DIDN'T know. Well then. That's that. I'm always and forever going to see how the story ends. So There. So Ha.

I'm burnin' daylight here, as the saying goes, so I'm gonna make my list and head out to the grocery store. Happy Saturday, peeps. Ciao.

That weirdly skinny thing is actually the next bear. You'll have to "bear" with me (HA! Puns in the morning!) while I finish this one.

I got this far on the bear while watching my Thursday night stories on TV. Except, really, I'm down to just one story (that silly silly Grey's Anatomy, a habit which I cannot break) plus Chopped. Oh, how I love me some Chopped. "You have to make an entree using these four ingredients: Onion Rings, Powdered Sugar, Spam, and Used Motor Oil. You have 30 minutes on the clock. GO!" And they whip out these unbelievable meals, while the judges say things like "You captured the spirit of the motor oil in this dish." The BEST!

The week has kind of flown by, but once again I want to slow time down for the weekend. I think it's supposed to rain for a day or so, which is good because now there has to be concern about the too-dry grass and shrubbery at the Chateau. But I'm hoping for at least a couple of dry hours, because I really want to ride my bike.

Gotta get going so I can get going.. know what I'm sayin'? Ciao.

It was about a year ago that the whole wrist saga started. Today, it's 90% better, and you can barely see the scar. That doc is really really good.

It's always good to get together with old friends. Lots of catching up and Chinese food. It's fun to go to the old neighborhood, too.

It would be good if decisions could be made with the benefit of 20:20 hindsight. Yeah, you make decisions based on all of your best knowledge at the time.. but what if the best knowledge you have is based on facts that you believed to be true, but they really weren't? Well.. I guess that means that all of life is kind of a crap shoot, really. Heh.

I'm lucky that most of my life decisions have been the right ones (*looks at my ragazz'.. and counts my blessings that number over one billion*) .. and the ones that haven't been right can always be changed.

It all seems very cryptic, but it all makes sense in my head.

And now it's that off to work time. Ciao.

It was the night of cereal for dinner and *hangs head* Glee. I watch that stupid show now. I can't believe it. Isn't there a 12 step program or something for that?

I also borrowed The Hunger Games on my Kindle. How cool is that Amazon Prime membership, I ask you? Once I could borrow the book for free, I figured I'd give it a chance and see what all the hoopla was about. Well. I read until my eyes were almost completely closed. It's pretty good.

Let's see what today brings, shall we? Ciao.

There was stress yesterday. Lots of things rolling around in chele's head.. and when I get stressed and feel the need to take control of things, I clean. I clean because I can at least control my immediate environment. I clean because I can focus all of my energy at scrubbing away that one spot, or sweeping up all those crumbs, or clearing away all that clutter. In short, my head can be focused anywhere else except on what's bugging me. Really, it's a win for all. Heh.

So I got home and attacked the bathroom and kitchen. I washed blankets. I dusted. Then I still had energy left after all that and I whipped up some Linguine Carbonara for dinner. THEN I was done. I was exhausted. I slept like a rock last night. No earplugs and I didn't even hear him snoring. That's some heavy sleeping right there.

I don't know why I haven't made Carbonara before this. It's a little putzy, but the payoff is great. I need to work on this dish a little more.. the egg set up pretty quickly (it's technically not supposed to turn into scrambled eggs, but rather just coat the noodles), but I think that's going to be just a matter of playing with the flame on the burner. The combination of noodles, butter, egg and bacon is just so great. Ultimate comfort food.

Here we go.. now it's Tuesday. Ciao.

I didn't take a lot (or any) pictures from yesterday, except this one. Of all the things I saw yesterday, the only thing I wanted to document permanently was the sky.

It was hard to see the strongest woman I've ever known be so... broken. Literally. Her bones are crumbling. Broken ribs, compressed vertebrae, even her jaw bones are crumbling. She was 5'9" back in the day (one of the rare tall people in the family..) Now she's 4'8". She's a tiny, pale, ghostly shell of her former self. And the saddest thing of all is that she has no fight left in her. She cried and said that she didn't want me to see her like this.

And I *didn't* cry. I was the strong one. I held her and told her it was okay and that I didn't care if she was a munchkin or a giant.. she was still my auntie and I loved her no matter what. After that she settled down a little and we got to chit chat like we always have..about cooking and baking (all the best tips are from her) and gardening and work and life in general. That felt a little more normal, and she was glad for that. I didn't stay too long, because I could tell that just sitting up was exhausting for her.

The funny thing is - I still haven't really cried about this yet, which is entirely out of character. I know my cryer isn't broken, because I just had to tear up about some stupid video on Facebook. But this, nope, I haven't cried yet. I'm sad and heartbroken.. but maybe there's something of her in me. I want to be strong for right now. For her, and for me.

Post Script: Ladies (and Gentlemen.. but mostly Ladies): DRINK MILK OR TAKE CALCIUM TABS. Get Calcium somehow.. and when your doc says she wants to do a bone density test, DO IT. Osteoporosis is nothing to mess with. You need all your bones. True Fact. Ciao.

Resurrection, Renewal, Rebirth... Whatever you choose to celebrate, please do so!

We missed Gramma Hazel yesterday at the family party, but her presence was felt in a tangible way. She was one of the most kind, generous, loving women I've ever met. I'm sad that I didn't know her longer.

Sometimes it's easy to get in a pity-party mood.. my mother was, ahem, well.. we had significant issues and differences. I miss the "mom" I never had. But I realize - I have LOTS of "moms". Moms and Grammas and Aunties and Friends (of all ages) who love me and counsel me and teach me and are just THERE for me - in ways my bio-mom never was. Hazel was one of those women. My Auntie is another one.. and it's going to be hard to see her in tough shape today. But I can do it, because I can draw on the strength of all these other really great women in my life.

I remember this from when I was a kid:
Awake, thou wintry earth-
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

Ciao.

I love the denim yarn!

I got the sad news yesterday that Auntie is not doing well. I'm glad we're going up to visit her tomorrow.. I think that's good timing. She's so special to me.. so prayers or good thoughts or whatever your choice for sending wishes are appreciated.

Last night we burned up our Trattoria coupon. Holy hannah.. that little place which is normally so sleepy and quiet (honestly, I don't understand how they stay open) was HOPPING. I've never ever seen it that full. The food was delish, our favorite server waited on us.. and the bill was $4.00. Heh. We gave the server a big tip.

We got Amazon Prime Movies set up on the Playstation. Yay! Remember in the olden day when you had to go to a STORE to rent movies?Or the REALLY olden days when you actually had to go to a theater? I like living in the future.
We started watching Elizabeth last night.. and the first 2 minutes were gruesome and I said OH NO! and then we switched over to watch The Tudors. And that was gruesome at about 10 minutes in.. and then I gave up and got into bed to read. Those old timey England people were sure all about the horribleness. Yuck.

I'm reading My Life as an Experiment. It's hysterically funny.. Highly recommend. I read his The Year of Living Bibilically a couple years ago.. also hysterical. Check him out.

We're getting ready to head over to Mom & Dads for family Easter on Saturday. Happy Easter and Passover to the peeps! Ciao.

I am almost never home at this time of day at the Hacienda.. so sometimes I forget how pretty the backyard really is.

HELLO. It is the long Easter/Passover/Spring Break weekend (whichever you choose to celebrate). I'm invoking the magical time-stretching machine to make sure that this weekend lasts for a very very oh so very long time.. because we need that.

While I'm resisting the urge to make this a too-tasky weekend, there are a few things I want to do.

1. I found a recipe for Scrapple. It sounds weird and glorious to me.. like sausage meets meatloaf meets Spam. While I would never publicly admit to wanting to try this (except I guess I'm doing just that), I want to try this. So I'm going to do that. Don't judge.

2. To make up for the weirdness that is Scrapple, I'm also going to make bread. So just be quiet, you.

3. I remembered that we have coupons for both Trattoria AND Chatterbox, so we need to use up one or both of those. Yay for cheap date options.

4. It's gorgeous today, and we're going to ride bikes. Hello. A year ago I would have never written that sentence.

5. I'm almost done with Smurf-Bear. I will stuff him and there will be pictures. He's cute.

6. Most importantly, I'm NOT looking at any work-related stuff today. Not at all. This rarely happens.

Good Friday, people. Ciao.

I couldn't get him to turn around.. and yes, I was inside and he is outside. But this is Backyard Bunny. He hangs out in this little clearing in the backyard forest. It's his spot. Just like we sit on the driveway and watch the world go by.. he sits here in the backyard and does the same thing.

Day Two of JCCAIDC* proved to be as successful as Day One. It's a relief.

Ragazz' had a crazy day and night and day of working. Like, a million hours of work in one 48 hour period. Ugh.. I hate that he has to go through that. I came home from work with Indian food and made him stop and eat at one point. I rubbed his shoulders and cleared away empty glasses and brought more water and juice. I wish I knew how to write and fix code (which he and his co-workers seem to do an awful lot of the time). I know it isn't doing a lot.. but it's something. He got to go to bed before midnight last night, so I'm hoping they've turned the corner now.

And today is a Thursday-that-is-Friday. Huzzah! This being on the same schedule as schools is a pretty good thing. Tomorrow there should be no need to set an alarm, and for this I am grateful.. because I'm pretty sure we have get-up times for Saturday and Sunday.

Ready? Go. Ciao.


*Jimmy Crack Corn and I Don't Care.

We need more ponies and unicorns and rainbows. STAT. 

It's a good thing I can use bad swears again because, dammit, THIS IS GOING TO BE A GOOD DAY.

I just got all caught up on my LJ list (yes.. I still read LJ even if my blog is over here now. Why can't we all just be in one place again??) and oh my gosh. Life is HARD right now for so many of my peeps. WHY IS THIS?

I've been in a funk too. Until I turned the corner on it late Monday night and it stuck through most of the day on Tuesday. This is what's making me feel better. When the bad stuff starts lurking around a little too closely, I open my arms, throw back my head and yell "Jimmy Crack Corn and I DON'T CARE!"

(sometimes I only do this in my head, especially if I'm in a situation where it would be socially unacceptable to be all yelling and stuff.)

But seriously. When I do this (in real life or in my head) - I feel better. It makes me realize that some of the stuff that's bugging me is completely out of my control anyway.. so why care about it? All the worrying in the world won't CHANGE it (would that I had the super-power to be in control of all things. Heh.).. so why waste time worrying/fretting/getting all frothed up about it.

So to all my peeps who are struggling lately.. Today I will be doing the Jimmy Crack Corn thing on behalf of ALL of us. Maybe it will help make things better. Or at the very least you can all laugh at me and that will make you feel better for a little while.

Ciao.

I didn't take any pictures yesterday.. so here's an old favorite. Newport Beach/Inspiration Point.

Yesterday was all busy busy tasky at work. Do this, change that, post this, no wait - post that, have a meeting, the end. Then I woke up this morning and realized that I forgot to do one (kinda big) thing.. so I have to get in there pronto and do that.

Those weather people promised me a thunderstorm last night. I don't remember hearing anything, and I'm the world's lightest sleeper.. so I think I was ripped off.

I did the iCloud thing last night.. Huh. It took a really long time, and after all that I realized that it's all really just what Google is. So color me unimpressed. I think this means that the iMac chip in my head is officially deactivated.

Hey. It's starting to be light outside during the oh so early morning commute. It took a while to get that back.. stupid daylight savings time.

Ciao.

I started the No Chocolate Jar this week. Honestly, this will be tougher than no swearing.

We did a big bike ride yesterday in the glorious weather. I don't know how many miles we went  We went 4.72 miles (because, you know, there's an app for that). I could have gone farther, but I wasn't wearing my bike shorts. Ahem.

We got home and rested and laid about for the duration. The chicken was good.. I made it into sandwiches on the homemade rolls. Om nom nom. I finished Fairy Tale Interrupted. What I learned is that, famous or not, all bosses and their EAs interact the same way. So had I been JFK Jr.'s assistant I'd be having the same kinds of things go on at work.. only I'd be making a lot more money. Heh.

Happy New Week. Ciao.

I slept in until 9:30 (what??) and then I scurried around in the kitchen to throw this together. Whole chicken, washed/rinsed/patted dry. Rub with kosher salt, pepper and rosemary. Slice lemons on top. Into the crockpot on low for 8 hours. Take chicken out, shred it off the bone, throw it back into the pot with a little butter and sour cream and put it on high for about 30 minutes more. Serve over white rice.

I just made that up off the top of my head.. let's see how that all goes.




I baked a double batch of rolls last night. These are now the official must-have-in-the-house-every-week item.

And my cookie jar is sadly empty. I'd better fix that today.

Ragazz' got to come home early from the weekend race (and did I mention that HE WON?), so hooray for an unexpected free day. I'm watching the sun peek out from behind the clouds right now, and it's supposed to get up well into the 70s today. I predict a bike ride in our future.

I keep forgetting that my boss is gone for the week! They took their grandkids to Disney.. very cool, and they'll have fun. And when he's gone it's like an in-the-office vacation for me. Heh. I can catch up on things and tackle the scary pile that has become the corner of my desk. We also get to decide, as a staff, which day to take off - Good Friday or Easter Monday. I'm all in favor of Friday.. but that's just me. I'll take either one.

We're heading up north next Sunday to spend Easter with my fam. I'd better call the Auntie today to make sure that's still okay.

Ciao.