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Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
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2:50 pm - I miss this place
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We still blog about parenting on wordpress, and I'm still on the FB, but I'm liking it less and less. I miss the longer more thought provoking and even silly things that I use to share and find here. So, here's an ice breaker....
I have a somewhat obsessive personality. I get uber focused on something and I can't let it go. For most of my life, that's been theatre or music. When it couldn't be those, it's baking or costuming. When a vacation is coming up (especially a cruise) it's that. And right now, with no theatre, music, costuming, or cruise and trying to avoid baking due to the corresponding wish to avoid EATING baked goods, I am focusing on our potential kitchen renovation.
Right now, I'm obsessing over:- countertops (quartz composite or corian)
- backsplash tile (frosted glass, pale blue/green, 2 x 4 inch "subway", horizontal staggered application)
- cabinets (white for sure, probably shaker style, but from where? IKEA?)
- stove (white for sure. 30 inch, hopefully black ceramic top, why are "slide ins" so much more expensive than freestanding?)
- fridge (white, 30 inches wide, not french door)
- floor (12 inch marmoleum in a light gray/ dark gray checkerboard pattern)
- contractor (get off my butt and call one)
So, what are YOU obsessing over?
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| Thursday, December 1st, 2011
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2:50 pm - If I had 500 dollars
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| Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
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9:42 am - A mini play
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Scene: Suburban grocery store, bread aisle
Cast: attractive working mom, early 30's
sweet doddering old man, 65
It's 5pm on a weeknight. The woman is still dressed in her work clothes and wearing heels. Her cart contains a few essential items (milk, fruit, fresh vegetables, cold medicine). She is clearly on a quick trip to the store in between work and her evening duties at home. The old man approaches her as she scans the shelves for the last item on her list.
Man: I bet people have been telling you you look like Sarah Palin all day!
Woman: (stunned pause as she tries to hide her shock and disgust) Um, no.
Man: What? Don't you think you're pretty enough to look like her?
Woman: Uh, I guess not. But thank you.
He moves on and she continues on her errand, all the while contemplating how she can change her appearance so as to NEVER repeat that scenario.
THE END
Yeah, the woman is me and this happened to me last night. I got home and begged the wee to cut off my hair. She tried to reassure me by telling me that he really thought I looked like Tina Fey.
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| Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
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4:49 pm - I just want a fucking cookie
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20 minutes til the end of my workday, and I promised myself I'd post today.
I'm doing Weight Watchers. Work will reimbures me 50% of the fee if I complete a 3 month course. I'm 3 weeks in. I've lost 6lbs so far, which is great. I was annoyed that it was all in the first week and nothing the 2nd week. Weigh in #3 is tomorrow morning. I can honestly say, I have some quibbles with the whole "points" system, and even though I typically make filling food choices, I'm frequently battling hunger in the afternoon. And as someone that values home cooked, wholesome, natural food, I have some problems with a plan that advocates fat free half and half. Whatever, I'm committed. We're going out of town this weekend and I'm NOT going to live "on plan" or track points. I'm giving myself a break, dammit.
My goal is to lose 16lbs, which will take me back to what I weighed in 2006 at our wedding. If I'm back to by pre-pregnancy weight by Miles' 1st b-day, that would be great. Will I ever have a bikini body again? Unlikely. The extra belly skin has little to do with fat and the stretchmarks are very obvious. Oh well, I knew from the start that I'm no Heidi Klum.
Oh, and I had a bunch of points that "expire" at midnight, so I went out to T@rget, got some prepared cookie dough, and baked chocolate chip cookies in the toaster oven at work. I ate 2 and shared the rest with the people on my floor. I'm popular now :-)
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| Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
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3:46 pm - Back in the saddle again
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I was just telling the wee last night how much I miss regular blogging. Not that I've ever been good at doing it regularly, but I miss talking about non-baby stuff online. How about a completely frivolous post to get back in the swing of things.
The topic is cupcakes. They are rather en vogue these days, at least here in the DC area. The washington post did a contest 2 years ago and one of the big glossy mags in town is doing one right now. We have cupcakes from caterers, bakeries, a mobile cupcake van, and quite a few free standing "cupcakeries". Now, I like a good cupcake, and I think I make a pretty decent one, if I do say so myself. The wee LOVES cupcakes, and she just happens to love mine more than a little. But keeping a steady supply of mine in the house would be bad for everyones waistlines. And we also enjoy the sense of adventure to be had in sampling cupcakes from places we visit. Here's a list of ones we've had in the past year or so, and our thoughts.
• Bittersweet cafe in Alexandria- terrible! We tried the Guinness cupcake and the chocolate mousse cupcake. The cakes were dry and bland, the frosting was greasy and tasted and felt like Crisco. We threw them out after 1 bite.
• Baltimore Cupcake Company- after the schlep we made to get these, what a disappointment! Both the khalua and crème and the lemon were tossed after a bite.
• Hello Cupcake- mmm, these taste like homemade. Nicely flavored cake, moist, fluffy. Classic American buttercream made from powdered sugar and butter. We’re fans of lucy (Raspberry Lemon), all the variations of coconut, peanut butter blossom, prima donna (chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream). Dulce de leche was a tad too sweet, even for me. They have a gianduja that I’m aching to try.
• Lavender Moon- so, I like one flavor of theirs (Vanilla Bean Lemon Curd), but everything else has been a disappointment. Flavors are off, or too complex/ heavy.
• Buzz- not impressed with these, but they were edible. Don’t recall the flavors. I guess they were forgettable.
• Georgetown Cupcake- Hurray!! Overall, these winners and they skew more upscale then homey. Sometime a little TOO gourmet in fact. Their ganache topped cupcakes are a bit too rich for the wee. We both adore the salted caramel. The peanut butter chip was great. In the fall, I had gingerbread spice cupcake that was very nice, and the mocha one is great too.
Ok, that's it for now. Perhaps something less silly for tomorrow!
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| Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
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9:46 am - Nothing in life is certain except...
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RANT
So, back in 2007 I worked for company A. Company A got acquired by company B in April 2007. They took over payroll, etc and company A ceased to exist. Company B submitted W2's to the IRS for the entire tax year of 2007 to include all income and taxes from both company A and company B payroll. However, at the same time, the 3rd party payroll vendor that had been doing payroll for company A also submitted statements to the IRS (but not to employees) stating the income from January-April 2007. Can you see where I'm going with this?
When I (and many others who were part of the company A/ company B acquisition)filed my 2008 taxes the IRS flagged me for underpayment of my 2007 taxes and sent me a nasty letter. Fortunately, company B was made aware of the situation before I actually received my IRS letter and sent out an internal communication about it, so I knew what to expect. The 3rd party vendor has submitted a correction to the IRS which in theory will make this problem go away. But still, I have to send stuff in to the IRS and just trust that it will all be fine. Because if it's not, I can expect a big nasty tax bill sometime after April 22 of this year. Lovely!
END RANT
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| Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
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2:50 pm - What do you want for Hanukkah?
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I imagine that around this time of year, most people get asked this, or something similar, a few times. But I have to be honest, this year I have found it hard to come up with things. I feel so lucky. I have what I want. And sure, there are silly little things that would be nice to have, but I don’t need any of them. We need stuff for the cupcake, but I know that will come later (though not too much later). These people are really asking ME. What do I want?
Last night over dinner I talked it out with the Wee and I came to the conclusion that I really want to make a difference for just a few people. That would be a great gift for me. Of course, I would love for my present to be successful pregnancies, healthy babies, secure fulfilling jobs, and supportive loving partners and families for all of the wonderful people out here in this blog space and beyond. But we all know that those things are just a tad bit out of my ability. So instead, I’d like to try and make more of a difference in the day to day lives of a family that I know.
I know that I can’t answer the main question with “please help so-and-so”. And I don’t really have much money to offer them. But I’d like to do what I can.
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| Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
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12:48 pm - Stranded at the drive-in
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Well, this sucks.
There was a potluck planned for work today to welcome a coworker back from maternity leave. She sits on the 1st floor with the rest of my team. I sit on the 2nd floor. I signed up to make a pumpkin roll and despite my cold, I made it last night. It's beautiful and yummy and presented on a sliver platter. I'm not exagerating.
At 10:30 this morning, I ask one of my team members what time we are doing the potluck. She informs me that only 1 other person made anything and it's another dessert. So the new plan is to go out for lunch, then come back to the office for desserts. I say, "fine what time?" and she says she'll send me an appointment.
By 12:30 I hadn't seen an appointment come thru nor had I heard from anyone, so I went down to their cubes. They are all gone. The nice IT guy in the adjacent cubes told me they'd gone out to TGI Fridays at 12:00. No one called me or even thought of me. I am up here, all alone in my cube, crying.
And if they think they are getting any of this pumpkin roll, they've got another thing coming!
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| Monday, October 20th, 2008
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1:53 pm - Everything old is new again
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This is especially for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92) interfecta but I imagine a few others will get all starry eyed by it too.
On Saturday evening in Bethesda, MD the wee and I happened upon Accessories of Old It's a charming little store front that sells new old stock of sewing trim, buttons, appliques, jewelry, sequins, hair do dads, and other yummy little vintage focused items. I was DROOLING. Prices were reasonable, too. I walked away with 2 yards of some lovely yellow golden military style braid with a tiny hint of metallic shimmer in it for $1.75 a yard. It would be very easy for me to get carried away there.
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| Friday, October 17th, 2008
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10:15 am - Like my mother and her mother before
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There's a little person inside me. I am 13 weeks pregnant.
This was taken 10/16/2008. My due date is 4/22/2009. For those of you that know my family, this may be amusing. There are many, many birthdays in April in my family.
I seem to have passed to worst of the horrid sickness and exhaustion of early pregnancy (knock on wood). The wee and I are excited and facinated and lucky. And oh so very happy.
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| Thursday, September 25th, 2008
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12:49 pm - Adventure, adventure!
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So, the wee and I like our Corollas. When we met, I drove a '99 and she drove an '02. About a month ago, she bought herself a shiny new '09, and I sold my old '99 and took possession of her old '02. I had vanity plates on my '99 and I wanted to put them on the '02. And the wee wanted to take the plates from the '02 and use them on her '09. Sounds easy enough, right. ( Not so much. )
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| Monday, August 11th, 2008
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2:40 pm - Away out here they got a name for rain and wind and fire
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Last week I took a little business trip out to Park City, UT. It's in the mountains above Salt Lake City and in the winter it's big skiing country and the home of the Sundance Film Festival. Also was the site of several events during the 2002 Winter Olympics.
In the summer the weather is very dry and the air is wonderfully crisp with temps reaching the mid 80's durign the day but dropping to the 50's at night.
I took an afternoon away from meetings to explore the scenery, including a ride on some of the ski lifts to the top of a mountain and back. ( Enjoy some pictures! )
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| Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
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8:26 pm - and they call it Bella Notte!
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| Sunday, July 13th, 2008
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11:22 am - Gonna give you barley, carrots and pertaters
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Our take from the farmer's market this morning:
Plums, tomatoes, blueberries, sour cherries, salad greens (with edible flower!), eggplant, cucumber, and EGGS!!!
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| Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
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4:18 pm - After all Miss, this is France!
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| Monday, July 7th, 2008
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10:01 am - It's sleek and chic and magnifique
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Don't you just love it when something jumps out at you from a shop window? There it is, on the mannequin. perfect style, perfect color, in you go hope hope hoping that it will be a price you're willing to pay. And low and behold, it is!! Off the mannequin and out of the window and into a dressing room it goes. Once on, it is indeed as fabulous as you thought it would be and 5 minutes later, as the shop closes for the day, you are back outside (in the pouring rain) with your new favorite dress safely in your possession.
I am now wearing said dress at work, where I've been getting compliments all morning. And I feel fantastic in it. It's this dress short sleeved, in a cherry red with tiny white swirly polka dots. A lovely floaty matte finished rayon. Machine washable, even! Love, Love, Love!!
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| Sunday, June 29th, 2008
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10:03 pm - Cool drink of water, what a sweet surprise
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Sour cherries from the farmer's market this morning became the world's best cherry pie for a dinner party tonight.
I finally discovered how to get the right texture for the liquid in the pie. I pitted the cherries and let them sit in some sugar and corn starch along with their own juices. When I filled the pie I added the fruit only, then zapped the reserved liquid for 2 min until it thickened into a nice glaze consistency. Spooned that over the fruit, added the lattice, and when the pie was done I had a perfect filling. Not runny at all. MMMM, pie!
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| Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
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10:17 am - Then I thought about the game
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Monday night we attended "Night out at the Nationals", the annual "gay" night with DC's ML Baseball team. The new stadium is very nice, our seats were fine, the food choices were wonderful, and the Gay Men's Chorus sounded fantastic. But the best part of the whole evening was that after a 70 minute rain delay there was an astoundingly beautiful double rainbow.
And, oh yeah, the baseball was ok. We left just before the 7th inning and the Nats lost to the LA Angels 3 to 2.
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| Sunday, June 15th, 2008
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11:02 am
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Our take from the Greenbelt Farmer's market this morning.
Tomatoes, white corn, pink lady apples, cucumbers, asparagus, blueberries, and sweet cherries. All from local farms within 150 miles. Love it!
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| Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
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3:53 pm - I could cry to think of all the irony I've missed
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Today the technology is out to screw me.
1. First thing this morning, stupid email program was at database capacity even though I was well under the mail file limit. Archived anything over 180 days old. Database still stuck. Was unable to send email for over an hour until Help Desk fixed it.
2. Came back to my cube from a brief meeting at 11am to find that I had a horrid scary error message on a blue screen instead of my login screen. Called Help Desk for 2nd time. That took 30 min to correct.
3. This afternoon, huge important web class/conference call for clients. I use our web based recorder to record the session so that we can share it with clients that were unable to attend. The session goes well, but my recording has no audio, despite my having tested the mic and the recorder just prior to starting the session and immediately after the session. That's right, I have 100 minutes of beautiful visual with NO SOUND.
I cannot even begin to express how angry and upset I am by this. If I were my co-workers, I'd hate me. I told them the situation right away and it's now been over an hour and I haven't heard from any of them.
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