'Bout time...

This puppy finally came in. The freakin' Tickle Me Elmo of 2006. I had to wait a couple of months until they had it back in stock. Pppffffffttt!! Well, now Nick and I will be occupied for the next few weekends.

We're currently playing:

Wow, is that the deal?

The dealings at lunch with your coworkers....I tell ya. We were at Marina del Rey, eating shrimp, dining outside on a balcony overlooking a busy street. We were chatting it up and then the conversation turned to my friend Niko's recent object of desire....a man that works in our building a few floors above us. Yes, I said man. Ok, now that that's established, Niko has been stalking him for the past 3 weeks, with my help. They've said nothing but hello to each other. We would bump into him in the elevator, in the parking lot, in the break room. I say "stalking" but it's not like we're scary or anything. It's all innocent fun. I have a great view of the parking lot, so when I would see his man, I would call Niko and give him the 411. Ok, while at lunch, his innocent crush over this much older man took an R-rated turn. It was like something from out of a movie. Foursome having nice outdoor lunch together, one brings up crazy idea, other three are skeptical, the one with the idea says he'll place a bet on it, the three says they'll need proof, talks of webcams and pictures are thrown out there, there's an agreement, handshakes all around the table, and a deal's been made. Did I really make a deal for that?

It all went down here...

Wooosh...wooosh...wooosh....

I want to go to the Mountains next weekend! My loves, would you like to go with me???

Put a sock in it!

I share an office with someone who can talk incessantly for hours on end about multiple topics and is by far the most boring person that I've ever met in my whole life. I just had to vent. I think I'm losing my mind. To hear someone just ramble on and on and on and on and on and on and on about something not interesting can drive one absolutely batty. I hate talking about politics and the guy talks non-stop about this stuff. I'm literally drained. Thank God for MP3 players and headphones!

St. Paddy's Day

Miles it took to get to Hennessey's Tavern in Hermosa Beach....60 miles (roundtrip)
Number of blocks we had to walk to get from parking space to Tavern....6 blocks
Minutes we waited in line to try to get into said Tavern....60 minutes
Seeing Nick drinking his beers out of a paper bag while walking to the Tavern and while waiting in line....PRICELESS

Man, was it crowded last night. Now I understand why people start drinking at 8 in the morning at the Irish Pubs. We froze our arses off trying to get into that damn hell hole. That place sucked. Our party was lounging outside and we were just within arms reach of them yet they wouldn't let us in. Anyways, long story short, we ended up at Jenn's pad, I drank Red Horse, a Filipino beer, and cocoa that was Irished up with some chocolate liqueur type concoction to warm me up. There were talk of pek-pek, and who did or didn't have one, Filipino pastries with sexual connotations, weirdos and trailer trash people, and a shouting match over who likes who and who detests who. It was pretty amusing but I was so disappointed that I didn't have my green beer. Oh well.

Umm, guys? A little help here?

A lesson learned

A friend at work today told me that he's the token nice guy. Even when disrespected, demeaned, or taken advantage of he would still try to be the bigger person and play nice with those that treat him poorly. I told him I could never do that. Instead, I'd probably plot to take vengeance on them and get satisfaction from watching them suffer. I'm mean no? Well, maybe it's the Capricorn in me. I hold grudges, I'm at times rigid, hard-headed, and a bit egotistical. I can't help it sometimes. But after talking with him, I realized that I shouldn't always act like I'm the center of the universe. I shouldn't have temper tantrums when I don't get my way and I should respect the differences of others. But is it wrong to want a little respect, consideration, and loyalty from those you consider your friends? Am I being too sensitive when I feel like I'm not getting it? I've been told I'm a nice person and no, I'm not always the person I described earlier. I never knew it, but I guess I am a sensitive person. And I do need to not let these things bother me. No one's perfect and I shouldn't take everything so personal.

Ahhhhh....

I am so looking forward to sleeping in this weekend. I am excited about vegging out at home and watching DVDs and getting re-aquainted with my best friend, TiVo. :) And it's supposed to rain too, which means it'll be perfect cuddling and snuggling weather. Boy oh boy, I've got my weekend planned out.

Homesick

The next night I decided to attend a reception and dinner paid for by one of our consultants. The reception was held at the Palm Springs Air Museum. I took care of my work obligations and did my share of shmoozing. Then it was off to a very late dinner where I tried the bouillabaise. Tyler Florence had cooked his rendition of the 'ultimate' seafood soup and I was hoping that the dish I was about to order can come close to it. When the waiter finally brought it to me, my first thought upon taking my first sip was that it tasted a bit too "coconut-ty." This was very different from how I envisioned this soup to be. Oh well, the food was free so it was all good. The wine was flowing, people were getting all tipsy and a bit too friendly for my comfort. Mind you I was at least 20 years younger than everyone at our large table. I was making small talk and all along I was hoping I could just stand up and go back to the hotel and in the sanctuary of my room. I do enjoy the cocktails but to be doing it with people as old as my parents, oh I don't know, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, everyone for the most part was nice but I missed Nick and I missed hanging out with people my own age. Acting like a 'grown-up' can be quite exhausting. Tomorrow I get to go home and I can see my dog, my bird, my house, my bed, and most importantly my husband.

Business Trip

Right now, I'm in Palm Springs for an Airport Noise & Air Quality symposium. I spent the last few hours hearing interesting talks about the aforementioned subject. A few hours of that was just enough to keep me holed up in my room for the rest of the night. Actually, this trip initially was going to consist of nights at the Morongo and dinners downtown. Unfortunately, my idiotic co-workers didn't submit their travel requests in time and thus, resulted in none of them attending. Great. So instead, I'm here with other people from work who average in age of 50. Hmm. Sounds like hoot. Anyways, I've decided to spend my first night of three watching the Oscars and ordering room service. I'm actually really excited about it, if you can believe it. I've ordered Prime Rib and will be eating it on top of my king size bed. I might as well make the best of it. And to top it off, I have internet access and therefore, I can write this wonderful blog of my experiences here.

...knocking at the door...

Ok, I gotta go now, my food's here...

You can do it!

For the first time I'm actually going to give up something for Lent. Yeah, yeah, I'm two days late of starting, but gosh darn it, I'm going to do it anyway. But what should I give up? It has to be something that I enjoy but can be without it for 40 days (or now 38 days). It has to be something that would cause me to suffer from lack of it. I'm guessing it has to be something food-related. Ok, well, how about carbohydrates? I do need to lose some pounds, but for 40 days straight?!?! Ah-ha, I found a loophole in this whole Lent business -- Sundays are excluded! There ya go! Wellllll....how about no carbs after 3PM? Yeah, that's possible, yet hard enough to cause suffering and torture. Yep, that sounds like a plan all right. Okey dokey, starting Friday night, I will be carb-free....after 3PM.

Gen the Handy Man?

I remembered when I used to live with my parents and whenever something broke, whether it was my car, window, faucet, what have you, my Dad would instantly stop what he was doing and fix it pronto. Now, I can't necessarily say the exact same thing about Nick. Fine, he isn't my Dad nor does he have the time in his already busy schedule to be a handy man type of guy. So to be a trouper, I have decided to take on the role of handy man of the family...albeit temporarily. :o] I don't mind, especially when I'm able to fix something that I didn't know I could fix.

Anyways, here's one example from over the weekend:

For the last week the pool pump wasn't working all that well. The Kreepy Krauly which skims the bottom of the pool for leaves, dirt, and other nasty things wasn't moving and sucking like it normally did. We suspected that the filter was clogged and there wasn't enough pressure to allow the Kreepy to perform its usual sucking motion. Heh. So we cleaned out the filter, washed out everything, put it all back, and hoped that it would start working again. After about an hour....nothin'. Kreepy just sat there looking deader than a hung-over drunk after a night of too much partying. Anyways, Nick tried to do what he can but soon after gave up and just sat back down in defeat. I was pretty annoyed because who else was going to fix it, other than calling up some guy and forking over a couple hundred to do what?!?! Ok, so I rolled up my sleeves, assessed the situation and got some tools out of the garage. I turned a few valves, removed the plate from the pump, released the air from the filter, etc. After trying a few different combination of things, all of a sudden there was actually progress. Yes! I had earlier disconnected the Kreepy to fix the pool system first. When there was suction again, I reconnected the Kreepy.....but still nothing. Ok, there must be something stuck in the Kreepy.....so I reached in and grabbed it, looked at the mouth, which looked normal, then flipped it over, removed one of the hoses, and BINGO, a huge leaf was causing a blockage. Wooh! After all that, we are now back in business. All in a days work. :)