Insert Pithy Title Here

Two resolutions started!!

2011-01-03T11:16:00.003-06:00

1. I've already had a pint of water this morning. That's a pint more than I would have had by now. At work, I start my day with a diet Dr. Pepper in my big, plastic XYZ Company summer festival mug filled with the ~~best~~ second best chewing ice ever (best ever being Sonic, duh). On any given day, I'll repeat that once or twice. But I'm home today, and I'm terrible at staying hydrated when I'm home. I'm especially bad at drinking plain water. I love Crystal Light, but water's better for the body. I may eventually have to consider whether the flavoring will prompt me to get more hydration, but for now, I'll try to stick with water. After my work-day-only chemical fizz-bomb, that is.

2. Adding blogs with which I'd like to keep up to my feed reader. I'm a big out-of-sight, out-of-mind person, so if a blog isn't on my feed reader, I can 99.999999% guarantee that I'll forget about it for months at a time. I added about 15 blogs to my feed yesterday, and another one so far today. I should also remove the ones who haven't updated in ages, but they're not causing any harm just being there, so maybe I'll just let them be. I'm also going to try to follow a greater number of local people on Twitter and online in general. And not just follow, but actually interact. Even if means me making the first move, about which I'm just awful. Hope it doesn't make me seem too stalkerish, but I'd like to get to know this city and its people better than I do. We know far too little about the city and far too few people for having been here almost 4 years.

Breaking my own rule

2010-12-29T13:12:00.003-06:00

For many years, I've refused to make New Year's resolutions, complaining that it didn't make any sense to do only it at the New Year, and that you just set yourself up for disappointment anyway.

Yeah, nice excuses.

There will be resolutions this year. Still unsure as to whether I'll be sharing them, but they'll be made, and will hopefully be kept.

New year, new life.

Artisan - Portrait of the Composer

2010-12-11T10:45:00.002-06:00

More than the other Artisans, Composers are in tune with their senses, and so have a sure grasp of what belongs, and what doesn't belong, in all kinds of works of art. While the other Artisans are skilled with people, tools, and entertainment, Composers have an exceptional ability-seemingly inborn-to work with subtle differences in color, tone, texture, aroma, and flavor.

Although Composers often put long, lonely hours into their artistry, they are just as impulsive as the other Artisans. They do not wait to consider their moves; rather, they act in the here and now, with little or no planning or preparation. Composers are seized by the act of artistic composition, as if caught up in a whirlwind. The act is their master, not the reverse. Composers paint or sculpt, they dance or skate, they write melodies or make recipes-or whatever-simply because they must. They climb the mountain because it is there.

This ability to lose themselves in action accounts for the spectacular individual accomplishments of some Composers, and yet on their social side they show a kindness unmatched by all the other types. Composers are especially sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, and they sympathize freely with the sufferer. Some have a remarkable way with young children, almost as if there were a natural bond of sympathy and trust between them. A similar bond may be seen between some Composers and animals, even wild animals. Many Composers have an instinctive longing for the wilds, and nature seems to welcome them.

Composers are just as plentiful as the other Artisans, say nine or ten per cent of the population, but in general they are very difficult to observe and thus greatly misunderstood. Very likely the difficulty comes from their tendency not to express themselves verbally, but through their works of art. Composers are usually not interested in developing ability in public speaking, or even in the art of conversation; they prefer to feel the pulse of life by touch, in the muscles, in the eyes, in the ears, on the tongue. Make no mistake, Composers are just as interested as other types in sharing their view of the world, and if they find a medium of non-verbal communication-some art form-then they will express their character quite eloquently. If not, they simply remain unknown, their quietness leaving their character all but invisible.

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So, there's a bit about me... how about you?

2010-09-11T11:40:00.002-05:00

I was getting ready for work. I had just sat down, robe on, towel on my head, settling in to watch an episode of A Baby Story, as was my morning ritual. Before I changed the channel, I caught a breaking news story saying that a plane had crashed into the WTC. Bryan had just walked out the door to go to work, I called him back inside. He left a few minutes later, and I called my dad at work to tell him, but he already knew. I saw the other plane hit on live TV. I called him again almost immediately after, and he said "oh my God. Something's not right." Something was very definitely not right. I tore myself away from the coverage to get ready since I was already late, and the first tower fell while I was on my way to work.

Having two uncles working in NYC at the time, I lasted two hours before I couldn't take being in public anymore and went home. One uncle worked in Midtown, but he had a morning meeting on Long Island and never made it into the city that day. The other had worked in the Towers, so we were all terrified, but we didn't know until after the fact that his office had moved to a building a block away. We didn't hear from him until after 10:00 that night - that's how long it took him to get home. He'd watched the second plane hit from his office window, then ran 30+ blocks to Penn Station, where he waited for hours to get on a train.

It took me 3 days to cry. Just as I was getting home from work, whatever radio station I was listening to played Amazing Grace. I sat in the driveway and bawled.

Help yourself by helping others

2010-09-02T00:01:00.005-05:00

As the five people who read my blog know, my husband and I recently lost a friend to suicide.

I also have many friends and even some family members who have medical issues relating to the brain and how it works. Their conditions (okay, and my own as well, if we're being honest) run the gamut from depression, anxiety, Asperger's, schizophrenia, dissociative disorder, agoraphobia, ADD, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, bipolar disorder... and these are just people in my life in one way or another. All of these conditions affect other areas of life as well. One of my own conditions results in fairly bad insomnia, which, in turn, has the potential to affect so many other things.

Even a slight chemical imbalance can wreak absolute havoc on a person's life and the quality thereof.

It's not "just" feeling a little anxious, it's feeling like you have an elephant sitting on your chest just daring you to think about going to work.

It's not "just" being a little foggy because you didn't sleep well last night, it's being so tired from anxiety-induced insomnia that you run the risk of falling asleep at the wheel if you do make it out the door.

It's not "just" feeling a little blue now and then, it's the agonizing feeling that you're completely worthless, that there's no way out from under your burdens and that everyone in your life would be better off without you.

It's not "just" feeling a little fat, it's looking in the mirror at 85 pounds and seeing Jabba the Hut staring back at you, so instead of the apple and diet Coke you allow yourself twice a day, you cut out the apples, add a pack of cigarettes and increase your cardio from 6 hours a day to 8 so that maybe next month you'll be down to a Mimi from Drew Carey size, when in reality you'll actually be a skeleton in a hospital bed.

It's not "just" checking the coffee pot two or three times to make sure it's off before you leave for work, it's having to touch a doorknob 9 times, and if you don't, something truly awful will happen.

It's not "just" jumping at the loud boom of fireworks, it's a soldier completely unable to join his or her friends at a 4th of July celebration because they'll flash back to Vietnam, or the Gulf, or Iraq and go into a trance like they're right back there on the battlefield.

Can you imagine what life would be like if any of that applied to you? Yet so many mental illnesses are stigmatized by our society, because it's not something you can "see," like the cast on a broken leg or the bald head of a cancer patient.

Chances are, you know someone who has suffered from some form of mental illness at some point in their life. If you don't think you do, you probably do and just don't know it outright. Hey, it might even be you.

On October 3rd, I will be participating in a 5K walk sponsored by my local chapter of NAMI. NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an organization committed to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness through awareness, education, support and advocacy. I originally thought I'd walk in honor of the friend we lost so recently, but upon reflection, I'm walking for all of us.

To look at me, you'd never think I'd make it 1K, let alone 5K. I'm challenging myself by walking for such an important cause - won't you please challenge yourself by supporting me?

Please. If not for me, for the friends and family of those you know who have been affected by mental illness. For yourself.

Many thanks.

I will not apologize

2010-08-24T22:27:00.002-05:00

I am very set in my beliefs. I believe in a woman's right to have domain over her body. I believe two adults should have the right to marry each other, regardless of their gender. I believe in religious tolerance and that we, as Americans, should be tolerant not just when it's easy, but also when it challenges us. Especially when it challenges us.

The one thing for which I've gotten the most grief, though, isn't any of the big political issues of the day, it has nothing to do with religion or the free exercise thereof, oh no. What do I get the most grief about?

I absolutely freakin' LOVE Crocs.

Now, mind you, it's not the blaze orange Mario Batali clog thingies I have a passion for. Crocs has several adorable styles. Have you seen them? I'll wait...

See? So cute.

And they are seriously the most comfortable shoes I have ever put on my feet. I'm glad they keep coming out with new styles, because I fear I'm now spoiled. I have some non-Crocs shoes that are still quite comfortable (these immediately come to mind), but I wore some cute, formerly-comfortable dress flats to a funeral last week, and my feet just burned.

I love me some Crocs, and I apologize to nobody.

At a Loss

2010-08-12T22:35:00.004-05:00

Please please please - if you are reading this, believe me when I say that if you're in a bad way, our door is open.

Brett, I know it must have seemed like there was no other way, but we would have found a way, come hell or high water. You had so many friends who would have done anything to help you, if only we'd known you were hurting so badly. I am so sorry we didn't know you were so troubled.

I hope you have found the peace that eluded you in your all-too-brief time here. You will truly be missed.

Happy birthday!!

2010-06-22T13:49:00.002-05:00

You know who you are. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is likely the happiest birthday you've had in quite a while. May you have many happy years together with your new bride and the expanded family she brought you. :)

Been a while...

2010-03-09T12:59:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I'm not the greatest at keeping up a blog. First foray after almost 9 months of silence is a meme, sorry - I'm afraid I don't have much more than that right now.

Here we go! It's the 5-5-5-5-5.

Question 1: Where were you five years ago?

1 - Living in Beaver Dam, still in the apartment we moved into a week before we got married. The building was built the year before I was born, I couldn't blow dry my hair without the kitchen lights flickering, the galley-style kitchen was small and stuffy, the laundry room was clear on the other end of the building and downstairs, and there was a wall of dark paneling in the living room. But our south-facing bedroom window let in an fantastic amount of light and had a great view of the courtyard, the office window had an amazing tree directly outside it that flowered in the spring, and the balcony had an overhang that allowed us to be out there even in the pouring rain. God, I miss that place.

2 - Managing an outside sales office for a small printing company. My boss was a complete tool, but the sales guy was cool.

3 - Hosting weekly open house-type gatherings for our friends. As much as I complained about them sometimes, I kind of miss those, too.

4 - Less than a year into having our first kitty, Snowball.

5 - Still in my 20s.

Question 2: What is on your to-do list today?

1 - Doctor appointment

2 - General straightening and tidying of the living room and kitchen.

3 - Laundry

4 - Clean the office

5 - Make sure my Baboo knows exactly how much I love him.

Question 3: What five snacks do you enjoy?

1 - Cheese and crackers

2 - Pretzels (with ice cold skim milk)

3 - Dove ice cream bars

4 - Hummus and pita chips

5 - CHIPS AND SALSA

Question 4: What five places have you lived?

I'm leaving out my parents' house, since that pretty generic.

1 - My Grandma's house. My Grandma lived in a college town, and when I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go to college, she said "oh, why don't you just go to Stony Brook and come live with me?" My college search stopped right then and there. I had the run of the entire upstairs, with 3 bedrooms (mine being the sunniest), a bright, airy full bathroom and my own thermostat. We'd watch TV together at night (usually Food Network) and on Sunday mornings I'd wake up peacefully to the sound of Grandma playing the piano. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had I made a different choice, but I wouldn't give up those 4 years with my beloved Grandma for anything.

2 - With my in-laws. During my last semester at college, I met a guy online (12 years ago yesterday, to be exact). Four months later, I moved halfway across the country to be with him. Except that we were both broke, so we lived with his parents.

3 - The aforementioned apartment in Beaver Dam. It only had one bathroom, and we swore that our next apartment would have two.

4 - A 3-bedroom apartment in Fond du Lac. We loved having that extra bedroom, we had a one-car garage, there was definitely enough storage and the laundry room was right outside our apartment door. Our bedroom (the biggest we've had to date) faced a field, where I saw my first mechanical hay baler - I was tickled every time a bale would come flying out the back of it. And at the front of the field was a fundie church that clearly started life as a manufactured home, which we lovingly referred to as "Our Lady of the Holy Double-Wide." It is also where we lived when we welcomed our little Buttercup and where I first took up scrapbooking. But it faced a busy street, so it was challenging in nice weather, because we'd want the cross-ventilation of having all the windows open, but then we'd have all the traffic noise. It was also where we lived when I found out my beloved Grandma had passed away. Still only had one bathroom.

5 - Our current home, a rented condo conversion. Definitely a step up for us at the time we moved in. Private entrance (no more musty hallways!), in-unit washer/dryer (no more quarters!), first floor (no more hauling groceries upstairs!), and - best of all - MADISON!! So full of excitement and promise, great neighbors, great complex manager. But this has also been the scene of much anger and depression over layoffs (both of us, though not at the same time) and money, surviving on unemployment, a marriage crisis and many tears. This city has kicked our asses since 3 months after we moved in. We'll be here 3 years next month. I will have fond memories of this place as the place where we hosted our first Briner gathering, where Bryan discovered his love of mixology, where we may indeed wind up getting our first dog. It's our first place in the Golden City at the "End" of Highway 151, but something tells me there may be some measure of relief when we go. It'll be a while though, we just signed on for another year. Still one bathroom.

Question 5: What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1 - Real estate. I'd buy my Grandma's house. After she passed away, my uncle fixed it up and is currently renting to a visiting college professor and his family. Apparently they're staying longer, because they've expressed interest in buying it. My grandparents bought that house brand-spankin' new, before it was even built. It was always the one constant in my life. It kills me that other people are living in it, I don't know how I'll react when my uncle sells it. I'd also buy a brownstone on Central Park, a house here somewhere in Madison (probably in the Vilas neighborhood), an apartment in Paris and maybe one in Hawai'i.

2 - Travel. Travel, travel, travel. First order of business in that regard would be to buy an apartment on The World.

3 - Philanthropy. I don't have any concrete ideas, but there would definitely be something education-related, something about affordable child care, programs to get healthy food into poor communities, caregiver assistance, assistance to humane societies, money to my high school's music program that turns out so many gifted musicians but struggles with budget issues, etc. etc. etc.

4. Pay off the debts of my family and friends and put them all through college if they want to go/go back.

5. Save.

I'm supposed to pick 5 people to do this meme, but after 9 months, I'm not sure 5 people even read this blog anymore, so I'll just put it out there: do it if you want. :)

It's not midnight here yet!

2009-06-22T23:22:00.001-05:00

And I didn't forget. It's still June 22nd.

Happy birthday!

You know who you are.

My car, the archaeological dig

2009-06-18T22:35:00.004-05:00

Today, I waved goodbye to the car I've had since March 2, 2001. The best car I've ever had. The car I'd had longer than all three of my previous cars combined, the car that needed under $2,000 in repairs over the course of the 8+ years I drove her. My Victoria. I cried all the way home, and then some.

She practically fell into my lap. I knew I wanted a Lumina - my mom had one and loved it, as did a few of her coworkers. My credit union preapproved me for a loan, provided the car fell into their acceptable range of model years. I was on a mission. I saw an ad in the paper, "Two Luminas New to Our Stock!" I called, and the price was right. Away we went to the small-town dealer.

I remember the test drive like it was yesterday. Prior to Victoria coming into my life, I'd had a few clunkers, and driving her for the first time, I felt like I'd entered The Promised Land. Black! Shiny! Classy! Holy crap, I'm a grownup! Driving down a back country highway, I looked over at the passenger side of the dash, saw the woodgrain trim and thought "I canNOT believe this is going to be my car!" I don't know what it was about the trim, but it wasn't anything that had been part of the "decor" of my previous vehicles. A couple of hours (and a trip back to the credit union for the check) later, she was mine.

Despite the fact that I'd lived with my then-boyfriend (now husband) for almost 3 years, this car was what finally made me feel like a grownup. I joked that driving a black sedan almost made me feel like I'd joined the mafia, but in reality, I finally just felt. Like. An adult. Victoria allowed me to get a real! decently paying! job in the Golden City at the End of the Highway, rather than toiling away for under $18K a year as a secretary at what was supposedly one of the highest-paying employers in the town (highest-paying doesn't mean crap at $8.45 an hour). A round trip to Madison - the west side, no less - just would not have possible in my previous vehicle. So I was driving a grownup car, making a grown-up wage at a grown-up job. Sure, there would be hardships in my future, but I was Going Somewhere.

When I cleaned her out for the final time this afternoon, I was reminded of just how much Living I'd done in that car. My cars sometimes double as mobile storage devices. If something's okay in the car, and I have no need for it to be in the house, it tends to stay in the car. In the glove compartment were a postcard I bought when we road-tripped to NY 3 weeks after 9/11, some silver rings I used to wear when I was in my "ring on as many fingers as I can" phase and a smushed penny from Navy Pier that I got when I went to visit a friend to whom I haven't spoken in 6 years. In the seat pockets behind the front seat, along with an atlas, were a couple of long-forgotten DVDs I'd won in some contest when I worked for the cable company. In the trunk was a leftover box of stuff from when I cleaned out my desk the day I left the cable company, AND a leftover bag of stuff from when I cleaned out my desk when I left the insurance company. Also in the trunk, I found some training materials from the company I work for now, but the materials were from the first time I worked there. I also found a silver plastic tray I'd used for food presentation during a bridal shower for a friend whose divorce was finalized 10 days ago.

And of course, the floral bead that's hung from the rearview mirror in every car I've owned.

All this history, and I sit here wondering why my eyes are puffy, my nose is red and I have a splitting headache, 9 hours after I saw her for the last time.

Thanks for the memories, Victoria. You were the best car I could have ever asked for.

Not sure this makes sense...

2009-04-16T16:40:00.003-05:00

With so much attention focused on United Airlines' new policy requiring obese people to pay for two seats, I felt the need to weigh in (pun fully intended).

There's a reason I fly Midwest. Yes, a reason other than the fact that they offer several non-stop flights on a MKE-LGA route. Yes, other than the faboo chocolate chip cookies. My ass fits in the seats. It wouldn't if I flew any other airline, unless I paid many times the price to fly first class. If I take up two seats, I can see the need for me to purchase two seats.

I like Southwest's way of doing it - if the flight is not full, your second seat is refunded. That makes sense to me, because you could have just used one of the extra (empty) seats as your second seat. I've seen people use empty seats as workstations, purse holders, etc., with no extra charge, so why not a butt holder? ;)

The one thing that doesn't make sense to me about Southwest's policy is this: if two obese people are traveling together, they are each required to purchase an additional seat, despite the fact that except in the most extreme circumstances, they can sit side-by-side in the 3-seat block with the armrests up. The Q&A on their website lists the reason as "open seating cannot guarantee that there will be an entire row open for two Customers to sit together and share the middle seat on each leg of the trip." So then how do they know that with open seating, there will be two seats together for a "customer of size" traveling solo? Their answer to that question is "The Customer who has purchased two seats must be an active participant in preserving his/her additional seat. We encourage Customers of size to preboard to locate adequate seating..." So why exactly is it that two customers of size traveling together couldn't preboard so they could find 3 seats together?

Anyway, back to the original issue. If my body is larger than one seat, I don't have a problem paying a second fare. I'd be more comfortable anyway. The last time I was on a non-Midwest flight, I was incredibly uncomfortable, and highly embarassed - it's embarassing enough to have to ask for an extender (though I've gotten less embarassed about it as time has gone by - I mean, really, I'm not fooling anyone, so I doubt anyone is exactly floored when I ask). I'm uncomfortable enough as it is, anyway - the last time I flew, the woman sitting next to me texted a colleague not even 2 minutes after I sat down about how her greatest fear had been realized because she had this giant fat lady sitting next to her - and since it was Midwest, I didn't even come close to "spilling over into her seat," as some would put it (yes, I saw it. Yes, I'm nosy. So if you don't want the giant fat lady sitting next to you on your next flight to lean over and tell you to get over yourself because you're not so fabulous either, then don't bitch about her right in front of her face).

Now, if only I could get a refund when there's some free-footed toddler "invading my space" by kicking the back of my seat for the entire flight, that would be some progress.

Cardstock, you've ruined my plans!

2009-03-16T23:39:00.002-05:00

Now that I've made good on the reason I spent pretty much zero dollars on scrapbooking supplies over the last 14 months or so, I decided I could buy a few little things on a recent trip to the store.

I got a couple of 4x6 cardstock mat stacks, with the intention of folding each sheet in half and making them into tiny little note cards - for a quick hello or thank you, for when you don't really have anything else to say.

As anyone who's worked for a printer or done a lot of paper crafting can probably tell you, there is a right way and a wrong way to fold paper. The fibers in a sheet of paper run in one direction, and if you fold across the fibers rather than with them, you'll get that funny, ripped-looking edge to your fold. Unfortunately, the only logical way to fold these pieces of cardstock is across the fibers. It's not pretty.

*sigh* Now I have to figure out what else I can do with them. I'm sure I'll come up with something, but I'm pretty disappointed.

Crankiness DEFIITELY unwarranted

2009-03-04T10:18:00.002-06:00

In my last post, I talked about having to call my insurance company.

I think my phone has actually morphed into a giant Easy Button since then. After we got through the pleasantries, like the subscriber number and the date of service, my conversation with the claims rep went something like this:

Me: "Well, my policy has a $100.00 ER co-pay and no co-pay on labs, and I was looking at this EOB, and..."

Claims Rep: "WHOA!"

Me: "yeah, that's not right, is it?"

Claims Rep: "No, it's definitely not. But it's an easy fix! We'll get on it right away, and notify the hospital, too."

Other words were exchanged as well, but that's the gist of it. They didn't have a long hold time, either. Including dialing, IVR greeting, navigating the IVR, hold time and talking to the claims rep, my total time invested in this was probably less time than it took to write this post.

Hooray!

At least there's a 50% chance this will be easy

2009-02-25T08:37:00.002-06:00

There was an ER visit in the Pithy Title household last month (don't worry, we're all fine). Our health insurance carries a $100 ER copay and a $0 copay for lab work. So, imagine my surprise when I opened the hospital bill to see a balance of over $1300 staring me in the face.

Luckily, the insurance company's explanation of benefits arrived the same day as the bill. Seems that rather than applying the $100 copay to the entire visit, they applied a $100 copay to each line item, including all the labs.

Their claims department isn't open when I get home from work, so of course the one day this week I've managed to haul my sorry butt out of bed early enough to deal with it before work, I get the following message:

"You've reached the answering service for the claims department at XYZ Insurance. The call center will be in a staff meeting until 10:00 this morning. Please try your call again later."

headdesk
headdesk
headdesk

I've had this insurance company before, and they were nothing less than wonderful the first time around, so I'm hoping this will be easy, and that my current crankiness is unwarranted.

Teh dumb. I haz it.

2009-02-07T16:23:00.002-06:00

We have a bakery here in town called The Silly Yak Bakery. They bake up mounds of gluten-free goods.

I seriously thought they just decided to give it a cutesy name.

Today, it finally dawned on me that Silly Yak sounds an awful lot like Celiac.

*forehead slap*

Sometimes, it just hits you

2009-01-24T15:08:00.002-06:00

Lately, I've found myself eschewing the jewelry section at Target in favor of fun, handcrafted earrings on Etsy and Artfire. The ones that draw me in the most are made with pretty glass or gemstone beads, and I only just realized why. See this?:

It's a lamp bead, very similar in both shape and color to the beads that hung from the lamps in my Grandmother's living room. In my Etsy travels today, I came across a pair of earrings made with beads that exact color, and the memory of being 8 years old and thinking the lamp beads would be awesome earrings came flooding back.

And while I'm at it, here are the links to my favorite jewelry artisan's Etsy and Artfire pages. Check her out!

This. Very this.

2009-01-12T21:08:00.001-06:00

Nobody told me it was a MEAL!!!

2009-01-04T17:59:00.003-06:00

As I've come to realize is often our M.O. on Sunday, we eat at least one meal outside the home. This is fine with me, because Sundays are fairly lazy around here, and it's often our only meal. Today was no exception. We were originally going to go to Lombardino's, but in an effort to 1) be somewhat fiscally responsible and 2) actually get something done around the house, we opted for something cheaper and closer to home.

We chose poorly.

Or, rather, the choice of restaurant was fine - we just made poor choices once we got there. Delicious choices, but bad for productivity. And too many choices for it to qualify as fiscally responsible.

We went to Laredo's. Now, don't get me wrong. I loooooooove Laredo's. I've been on a "______ + chips" kick lately, and any Mexican place worth its margarita salt will defnitely be able to satisfy that. However, I wish someone - anyone - would have warned me that my soup was not really soup. It was a meal in itself.

The menu currently up on their MenuPix page doesn't list the Sopa de Mi Cocina. I believe the menu at the restaurant itself described it as chicken, shrimp, pico de gallo and avocado in broth, or something like that. There is nothing on that list I don't like. What the menu conveniently neglected to mention - which for the $8.95 price tag, I probably should have been able to figure out - is that they take a bowl roughly the size of one of those oversized coffee mugs (you know, the kind you usually use for soup anyway) and fill it about 3/4 of the way with shredded chicken, put a generous portion of pico de gallo on top of that, pour in enough (delightfully flavorful) broth so that it comes to the top of the chicken, then garnish it with 5 or 6 perfectly grilled shrimp and 4 large chunks of avocado.

It. Was. Heavenly. To paraphrase the ubiquitous "young ditzy female" judge from the original Iron Chef, it made my mouth incredibly happy.

Coupled with the chips and salsa, I was so full once I finished the soup that I didn't even look at my entree.

As for fiscal responsibility, that's something we struggle with when we go out to eat. To illustrate, I would have been fine eating that soup and nothing else. Bryan would have been fine with the appetizer he ordered and nothing else. Had we ordered just those two things and stuck with water for a beverage, we would have been out of there for just a little over $20, including a 20% tip. But no, we each also ordered an entree, I just had to have one of their specialty margaritas and Bryan had dos Coronas, so with tip, we spent 3x what we really had to. I suppose it's just as well, because we'll each easily get two additional meals from our entrees.

But oh my God the soup...

Radio's apology

2009-01-02T18:28:00.002-06:00

We've all had those moments - the ones where you're happily driving along, flipping stations on the radio, only to catch the very tail end of a song you'd love to hear in its entirety. It happened to me this morning on the way to work, as I caught just barely enough of the end of Salisbury Hill to even know it was Salisbury Hill.

This afternoon, the radio had another "gotcha" moment, then apologized. There I was again, flipping stations when I caught a station just as it was fading out Send Me on My Way. I started to curse the day's rotten radio luck, when I realized that Send Me on My Way was fading into...

Salisbury Hill.

Then when that was over, I happened across TripleM's Friday Phish Fry.

And once again, all is well with my radio universe.

My addiction

2008-12-26T21:54:00.006-06:00

On one of my boards, someone recently asked the question "what is your favorite perfume?" Most of the wonderful women there answered with one or two fragrances, with a few women stating that they don't care for perfume at all.

Me?

Ever since I bought my very first bottle of perfume*, I have been a fragrance junkie. I adore scented lotions, sprays and body washes. And it never ceases to amaze me how strong my scent association can be. Last year, I bought a case of conditioner I'd loved during my college days but had since been discontinued (Revlon Outrageous), because that's how much I love the scent. I lived with my grandmother while in college, and every morning I use this conditioner, I am transported to the upstairs bathroom at her house - the sunny, 1960s pink-tiled oasis** with the southeast-facing window where I got ready for class every day for 4 years.

*Fuzzy Peach from The Body Shop, which was purchased on a field trip to South Street Seaport - to this day, I'm still nostalgic for South Street Seaport and The Body Shop.

**Here's a pic to give you an idea - this isn't a pic of the actual bathroom, but it's the exact floor tile.

I mentioned in my reply that at any given point in time, I probably have at least 15 different fragrances hanging around the house. A few are in heavier rotation than others, and I am prone to going on kicks. Right now, I'm on a White Musk kick (another Body Shop scent), having worn it almost exclusively for at least two months. And while I do enjoy some of the more expensive scents, I do own quite a few inexpensive ones as well - I don't exactly have the budget to feed my addiction exclusively with designer fragrances.

My post got me thinking, and I became curious enough to take an inventory. I'll preface the inventory by saying that some of the more expensive ones either came heavily discounted from TJ Maxx, or are tiny bottles, the size you pick up for 10 or 15 bucks at Walgreens when you know you like it but don't have the 50 bucks to buy the full-size at Macy*s.

Seven scents from Bath and Body Works alone: Rice Flower & Shea, Japanese Cherry Blossom, Sweet Pea, Sensual Amber, Mandarin Mango, Warm Vanilla Sugar and Moonlight Path (a few of these came in a variety gift pack I got for free when I bought my mother-in-law her favorite for Christmas last year, but I enjoy each of them)
The aforementioned White Musk
Diamonds & Emeralds
Jessica McClintock (this was my Grandma's favorite - I wear it when I'm particularly missing her, including every day for about a year after she passed)
Narcisse
ici
Colors
Burberry Brit
A couple of ancient, discontinued Avon scents that I wear once in a blue moon (Dreamlife and Little Black Dress)
A purse-sized spray tube of a Glow by J. Lo. knockoff (received as a stocking stuffer in a work exchange, but shoot me now, I actually DO like it).
My most recent purchase, Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker.

However, the one that is a constant and has been since the first time I smelled it is Trésor by Lancôme. No matter what else I have in my stinky arsenal, Trésor is always there in one way, shape or form.

There was once a part of me that wanted to be that person that people are reminded of upon smelling a certain perfume, but I love fragrance far too much to stick with just one. Bryan didn't like Trésor at first, but he says it grew on him, because it smells like, well, me. But I wear a ton of other stuff, too.

And for the edification of nobody in particular, but I feel it must be said - I am NOT one of those people who bathes in it. I may HAVE a lot of it, but it's used courteously.

All that having been said, it now occurs to me that I need to find some new fragrances. Some of the ones I listed - actually, most of the ones I listed - are now only available on internet fragrance outlet websites. Maybe I should find some new fragrances I can actually get in stores, huh? Ah well... just another excuse to add to my collection.

shakes head

2008-12-15T21:38:00.002-06:00

With news stories like these, how can anyone still believe homosexuality is a choice? When a pair of gay penguins are the best parents in the zoo...

Not sure how to put this into words, but I'll try

2008-12-10T21:24:00.004-06:00

I just watched a Momversation video on whether online friends are as important as "IRL" friends.

My response is an emphatic YES, but somehow, that just doesn't do it justice.

First off, my closest, most important, best best BEST friend EVER is someone I met online. Most people would, of course, consider this person very much an IRL friend at this point, because hey, I married him, and really, what's more IRL than that?

And could I possibly have used more commas in that incredibly run-on sentence? That's what I get for blogging as though I'm speaking and not as though I'm writing a thesis.

But anyway...

I can honestly say that I would not be the person I am today if not for the internet. My parents didn't have a lot of friends while I was growing up. I'm sure they had a lot of "friendly acquaintances," as Alice from finslippy referred to them in the Momversation, but there wasn't a whole lot of socialization. How much of it can be attributed to the fact that they worked opposite shifts, how much of it can be attributed to my mom's extreme insecurity, shyness and homebodyness and how much of it can be attributed to the fact that we really didn't have a lot of money... I'll never know what the percentages were. But the bottom line is that my parents didn't exactly set any examples for us in regard to making and keeping good, solid, lasting friendships. As a result, I was quiet and shy - being the fat, four-eyed nerd didn't help, but I've known plenty of people who were either fat or four-eyed or both, who managed to be quite popular. Not me. I just didn't know how to be that person. The one who made friends easily. The one who was unafraid to be myself for fear of losing what few friendships I had. To this day, I can be very outspoken, but typically only with the people with whom I feel exceedingly comfortable. On the inside, I can still be the quiet, shy little girl, scared to disagree with a friend for fear that they won't be a friend anymore. The internet has helped with that quite a bit, because as I've gotten more and more used to being myself online, I'd be lying if I said that it hasn't spilled over into my real life interactions. Not to mention the fact that I've met quite a few of my online friends in real life, and interacting with them the way I do online has gotten me more and more used to actually - gasp! - being myself IRL.

I'm a classic illustration of the socially awkward child who didn't blossom until they found the fertilizer that is the internet. My parents have never been early adopters. I was in junior high by the time we got our first microwave and our first VCR. They only got cell phones about 2 years ago. My mom still records her soap opera on a VCR, and the last time she came to visit, I don't think she really ever got the hang of the DVR remote. But when we got our first computer... back in the golden month of December 1997 (!), a whole new world opened up to me. I started visiting chat rooms - places where I could be myself. The person who wasn't fat and insecure and quiet and shy. The person who could say what she felt, because if the people there decided they didn't like her, she could always find a new place to go, somewhere she'd never have to "see" or talk to them again. Real life just doesn't always work that way, and let me tell you, that was the most liberating feeling EVER. I conversed with all sorts of people, all over the country.

That computer allowed me to begin the process of becoming the person that my insecurities about face-to-face interaction never could. It allowed me to start the process of becoming... me.

Within 11 weeks, I'd met the person with whom I'd spend the rest of my life. It didn't stop there though - I loved the newfound freedom anonymity brought, and I continued for many many years - and still continue - to delight in being myself and making new friends, both online and off.

Within a year, I'd moved halfway across the country.

Within two years, I'd found two wonderful groups of women, both on iVillage, on completely separate boards. I still converse with the core group from one of them on an almost-daily basis. Some of them are now internet-famous in their own rights, and I couldn't be more proud. *sniff* The other group, I still have no idea how I found these wonderful women. The first group was geared toward women my age, but the other board was a debate board in one of the iVillage parenting communities. I'm not a parent and I suck at debate - but I was fascinated by the board and the wealth of knowledge and ideas (and nipple forks and Golden Vaginas and Buckley Manifestos). I still suck at debating, but many of us have stuck together through 3 or 4 (or more?) board moves. While I don't post much on that board, I read it every day. I know I'm there, many of them know I'm there, and I'm now friends with a bunch of them on Facebook (and I know there are more, but I'm having trouble putting IRL names with screen names), so we're definitely in touch.

Within four years, I was introduced - by my husband - to yet another group of fabulous people. Ironically enough, I now participate on that board more than he does, and I'm now one of the admins.

I've even reconnected with people I knew years ago, but somehow lost along the way.

And most recently, through the magic of local blogs and online communities, I've started to converse with people who actually live nearby, as well - two of whom I'll be meeting on Monday, one of whom I recently found out is one of my new coworkers, some of whom I eventually hope to meet.

All of the wonderful people I've met, all of the wonderful people I have yet to meet... all in some way have helped shape who I am today.

So yes, my online friends are just as important, just as life-affirming, just as dear to me as my "IRL" friends.

And after all that, I still don't feel like I've done my YES answer justice. But hopefully I've provided at least some perspective.

This made me smile

2008-12-04T23:11:00.000-06:00

Happy Gobble Gobble!

2008-11-27T10:31:00.002-06:00

Because I can't possibly top it, please enjoy what I feel to be the best Thanksgiving blog post ever.

Channeling Emily Litella

2008-11-24T19:43:00.003-06:00

Those of you who are among my Facebook friends and who follow me on Twitter already have an overview, so feel free to skip...

Opportunity found time to stop by after all.

The story begins Thursday the 13th. I got a call from a company I worked for back in the day. Seems they had a position open for which I'd be perfect. Still had to go through the normal application/hiring process though.

I had a phone interview Friday afternoon, during which they scheduled me for a face-to-face for Tuesday the 18th. The face-to-face was seriously the best interview I'd had in my working career. The supervisor and I got along great, and I aced the mock sales call he had me do (I hadn't sold anything in a year and a half, and I amazed even myself with how quickly everything came back). He's even originally from NYC, so we gave each other crap about baseball for a little bit (he's a die-hard Yankees fan). I left the building feeling on top of the world, very confident in getting a positive phone call later in the week.

Two days later, Thursday the 20th, I had the rug pulled out from under me - the company is extremely committed to hiring from within (which I knew), and while I was the strongest external candidate, they had to go with qualified internal candidates first. They had enough qualified internal candidates to fill the open slots, and I was turned down.

I cannot express what a blow that was. My jaw practically hit the desk when the recruiter told me, and she actually sounded apologetic. There was, however, another job open for which I'd be a good fit, for which she was also the recruiter. She told me she'd be speaking with the hiring supervisor and would call me the following week (Thanksgiving week), most likely to set up an interview.

I wasn't feeling well on Monday the 24th, and stayed home from work. I actually slept until almost 2:00. Not even 5 minutes after I woke up, the phone rang - it was the recruiter. She said she wanted to touch base regarding the other position, then said "there's been an interesting development with the original position." One of the internal candidates to whom they'd offered the position declined, leaving a slot open for me! She gave me the choice of taking this position, or waiting to see about the other.

Now, this is a company I never wanted to leave in the first place. Some of you may remember it as a job I enjoyed, but left after 2.5 years because it was a 110-mile round-trip commute - at $60 a week and rising (not to mention the 550 miles of wear and tear on my car, preventive maintenance, etc), my commuting expenses were becoming prohibitive. We now live 8 miles from the building, so the commute situation is infinitely better. The pay is great, the benefits are awesome, the company is stable (made it into the Fortune 500 this year and steadily growing). Of course I took the sure thing.

And in a fun little bit of serendipity... when I worked there previously, there was an apartment complex facing a highway I traveled during my commute displaying a huge banner that said "If you lived here, you'd be home now." I frequently cursed that banner, knowing that once I passed it I'd still have at least another 45 minutes to go before I got home. The banner is still there. And home? Same exit as that complex. :)

Quote of the Day

2008-11-22T09:32:00.000-06:00

As seen on one of my message boards:

Heck, bail me out. It won't even cost you 6 digits.....

Amen.

Opportunity had too much going on at home to knock now, may stop by later.

2008-11-20T15:48:00.003-06:00

I just got the call.

The recruiter softened the blow by telling me that they really wanted me but since the company is committed to promoting from within, they had to go with internal folks. She said the hiring supervisor thought the interview was fantastic, that I was definitely one of their strongest candidates, that I would have been an awesome fit, but that they had more internal candidates than they had open positions.

But no matter how powerful the softener, the words "we've decided to move forward with other candidates" still sting.

Fear not, however - there is light at the end of the tunnel that is decidedly NOT an oncoming train. There is another position open for which she'd like to consider me, and may be giving me a call next week.

I may have had the rug pulled out from under me today, but I'll just put on some slipper socks and soldier on.

Fingers crossed!

Interesting CNN Quick Vote

2008-11-20T12:08:00.002-06:00

Apparently, the 30% who chose "no" have never worked in retail during the holidays or in a call center.

Or, I suppose, in any type of customer service-related position at all.

I've said it before - maybe not here, but during other phases of my blog life - I think every adult should be required to work in some sort of customer service position for at least a year or two before getting any other job. It could be like the draft - everyone is required to serve, except we'd be fighting a war on the disease called rudeness, starting with two of the symptoms - the fact that so many people just don't understand what it's like to be treated poorly by complete strangers, coupled with the fact that a lot of people's brains change the words "customer service" to "customer servants," and modify their treatment of associates and representatives accordingly. Maybe if they'd been been on the receiving end of it, they're fine-tune their approach and we'd all be happier.

I try to refrain as much as possible from discussing my job here, but suffice it to say, every job I've ever had has been customer service-related (even the sales job - especially the sales job), and I have never had a job where I haven't been treated poorly by a customer who feels they've been wronged - current job included , which is especially ironic, given the fact that other professionals are calling me all day, not just your Average Joe.

As a result of being in customer service for *mumble*teen years, I'm a lot nicer to reps than your run-of-the-mill customer. But the downside is that I also expect more. Sounds like an interesting combination, I know, but all it really means is that I'm more patient and forgiving of minor delays and slip-ups that are likely beyond the rep's control (long lines, computer snafus, customers in front of me who do nothing but bitch - I'm actually prone to go all crazy white girl on them rather than the rep), while at the same time not putting up with behavior that I know would get me fired. My husband has called me high-maintenance on occasion, but I've got an incredible handle on what's appropriate and what's not. And treating folks like they're poop on the bottom of your shoe because they stand on the other side of a counter and are there to help you is just flat out inappropriate.

NaBloPoMo FAIL!!

2008-11-19T19:27:00.001-06:00

I forgot to blog yesterday. Perhaps I was too busy being cryptic and making 8 dozen cornbread muffins.

Oops.

Blogging for bloggings sake

2008-11-17T21:47:00.003-06:00

Something I said to my father today really resonates now, when I have to say something - anything - to keep up with NaBloPoMo.

"There are so many blogs out there about absolutely nothing - it must be nice to come across one that's talking about something."

And here I am, posting something completely random, because I made an online pledge to blog every day this month. And of course, I can't let the interwebs down, now can I?

Is it still irony when I'm here, saying absolutely nothing, in an attempt to acknowledge that I really, truly have nothing to say?

Or is it just really flippin' sad?

In an attempt to say something, I could use some good thoughts Tuesday morning at 8 AM Central time. Opportunity is still standing on the sidewalk, and I'll be trying to entice him to knock.

Cnty McCnterson

2008-11-16T12:22:00.003-06:00

The title is censored for the benefit of folks who don't care for that word. Me? I'll use it, it just has to be under very special circumstances. And I think it applies here. Actually, I don't think it's strong enough.

Yes, I know it's a controversial issue. Yes, I know both sides are heated and passionate. But this ~~woman~~ ~~person~~ waste of oxygen effectively ruined someone's life because of a dispute that couldn't have been worth more than a few thousand dollars. It's just beyond the pale.

Both lose in aborted immigrant-citizen home sale
By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press Writer Kate Brumback, Associated Press Writer 57 mins ago

ROSWELL, Ga. – Like all illegal immigrants, Lorenzo Jimenez knew the knock on the door from immigration agents could come at any time.

Still, he had enough faith in the American dream to buy a house in this Atlanta suburb, even though signing the papers meant raising the risk: He put his 2-year-old, American-born daughter's name and Social Security number on the title.

And it worked, for a while. Jimenez and his family lived happily enough for several years alongside "regular" citizens.

Nicole Griffin's mom lived a few doors away, and when Griffin visited, she said, her kids played with the Jimenez children. When Jimenez put his four-bedroom, two-bathroom home up for sale last spring, wanting more space, Griffin was immediately interested.

A contract was negotiated but when the sale appeared to go sour, Griffin raised a new issue: that she was a citizen and Jimenez wasn't. She told local media, immigration officials, his boss and others that he was here illegally. She even put signs in the yard of the house exposing his residency status.

As a result, agents came knocking last month, and now Jimenez is fighting to keep from being deported. He also lost his job.

"I'm very sad and very worried," said Jimenez, 32. "I can't sleep because I'm thinking about my family. What's going to happen? I don't know."

Griffin insists her intent was to buy the house, nothing else. The 28-year-old single mother of two maintains she was wronged first, so she acted to protect her interests. She has no regrets.

"At the end, do I feel bad the family got in trouble? No, not at all," she said.

Those who enter the U.S. illegally often say they're just striving for the same things that most American citizens want out of life — a good job, home ownership, maybe a chance to get a little bit ahead. But the ambitions of citizens and non-citizens can collide and, as the painful entanglement between Jimenez and Griffin shows, both sides can wind up feeling like victims.

Jimenez, who is Mexican, has been in the U.S. for about a decade. When he bought the house four years ago, the real estate agent handling the sale told him he could get a better interest rate using his daughter's information on the closing documents than he could using the federal tax identification number he uses to pay income tax here.

Jimenez later filed papers to have his own name added to the title, and that's how it stayed until Griffin spotted the "for sale" sign and $164,500 list price this spring.

With both sides enthusiastic about the sale, a deal was reached and the closing was set for May 15.

Griffin, a payroll clerk and first-time homebuyer, asked to postpone the closing until June 1 because she had problems locking in her interest rate. Jimenez agreed but asked that she move into the house as planned and pay rent until the closing.

Shortly after Griffin moved in, her attorney said there was a problem with the title on the house, namely that Jimenez's young daughter's name was on the title but her signature wasn't on the sale documents. Attorneys said some extra paperwork — establishing a conservatorship to watch out for the child's interest, the first step in getting the title transferred solely to her father — would clear the title, and everyone agreed to postpone again.

Griffin didn't pay the rent, however, claiming she was promised three months free since the delay was Jimenez's fault. She has an e-mail from his real estate agent, Alina Carbonell, saying he'd made the offer.

Jimenez's lawyer, Erik Meder, told her that offer was never firm and insisted she pay rent or vacate the house.

Locked in a letter war with Meder, Griffin escalated her actions. She contacted the FBI, the Roswell Police Department, local media, the state attorney general's office and the governor's office, among others. She asked her congressman, U.S. Rep. Tom Price, for help, saying she felt Jimenez and Meder had deceived her. Price's office, in turn, contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Brendan Buck, a Price spokesman.
"I am a law-abiding American merely trying to purchase a home," Griffin wrote in mid-July in a letter to American Homebuyers, a nonprofit that helps low- to moderate-income families buy homes. "An illegal family fraudulently obtained a mortgage using a 1 yr old SSN, and appear to have all the rights in this situation — How can this be when they shouldn't even be in America?"
She said she contacted anyone she could think of who might be able to help the sale go through.
Jimenez said she started making his life a nightmare. He claims she caused cosmetic damage to the house and intentionally clogged the plumbing, both of which she denies.
Griffin also went after Carbonell, the real estate agent. She contacted the Georgia State Real Estate Commission to try to get her license revoked. Carbonell said the threat to her reputation and to her career caused her so much stress she had to take a leave of absence.
Griffin said she reported Carbonell because the agent knew Jimenez's daughter's name was on the title from the beginning but didn't tell her right away. (Carbonell was not the real estate agent who originally advised Jimenez to use his daughter's name.)
In September, Meder got a judge to order Griffin to pay retroactive rent and get out of the house within a week.
Griffin then went to the upscale Atlanta restaurant where Jimenez worked as a cook and told his boss he was undocumented, which Jimenez said resulted in his firing.
"It was my last resort," Griffin said, "but once I realized my family had seven days to get out of a house that a family's not even legally supposed to own, I did go to his employer and I did let his employer know."
She also put bright red signs in the yard reading, "This house is owned by an illegal alien." When Jimenez tore them down, she put up new ones.
Griffin said she wanted the neighbors to share her outrage over what was happening.
"I don't feel bad for anything that happens to the Jimenez family at this point," Griffin said recently, "because no one feels bad that all I tried to do was buy a house, and I ended up living back with my mother."
In early October, plainclothes ICE agents showed up at Jimenez's apartment. They asked him about his residency status and his purchase of the house, then handcuffed him and took him away. He was released a few hours later and is due before a judge in January and could face eventual deportation.
His lawyers plan to apply to keep Jimenez in the country permanently, a process that could last several years. While it's pending, he will be eligible for a work permit. But even if he gets one, Jimenez will be living in limbo. His application to stay could be rejected, which means he still could be ordered to leave the country.
Jimenez has taken the house off the market but doesn't want to move his family back in amid the uncertainty, so they're still in the apartment that was supposed to be a transitional stop until they bought a bigger place.
Griffin hasn't tried to buy another home, in part because she can't afford to, so she and her kids are still staying with her mother.
Down the street, the Jimenez house sits empty.

Breakfast happiness

2008-11-15T17:48:00.002-06:00

Have you ever had an egg poached so perfectly that you thought - just for a minute - that you could be content eating poached eggs for the rest of your life?

I hadn't, either... until this afternoon.

After dropping my car off to be fixed, we went to Mickey's Tavern for "breakfast" (it was around noon - weekends are for sleeping late), where I had the vegetarian Benedict. I ordered the vegetarian not because I don't eat meat (because heaven knows I love meat), but because the combination of tomato, sautéed mushrooms and sautéed spinach sounded like they'd match beautifully with hollandaise sauce.

They did.

But seriously, the eggs were the stars. The whites were firm but not rubbery, and the yolks... oh, the yolks. Still a lovely golden yellow, and custardy alllllllmost to the point of ooze but not quite. Perfection.

Oh, and only $2.50 for a mimosa. Yum!

Not as cryptic as you'd think

2008-11-14T23:05:00.003-06:00

I had a conversation with a little someone called Opportunity today. Or, well, Opportunity's representative. It was a nice conversation, we got along well, and I think she liked what I had to say. As such, I have been given the chance to meet personally with Opportunity next week. I can just about see him standing on my sidewalk now. Whether he knocks will be a story for another day, but I know that if he does, I will fling the door wide open and welcome him in. And the anticipation is killing me.

Confidential to my sister...

2008-11-13T06:00:00.001-06:00

Wishing the happiest of happy birthdays to my lovely li'l sis. I know this last year has pretty much kicked your ass, and I know this new one will be tons better. As they say - you've come a long way, babe - I love you!

Then:

Now:

*rowr* - You rock!

Today blows

2008-11-12T11:13:00.005-06:00

The day started so well! I got up, showered and made-up in more than enough time to finish getting ready at a leisurely pace and maybe even stop at Starbucks for a hot cocoa before work. It was A Good Thing. I was Happy.

Um... yeah - cancel that fantasy.

Neither one of my hairdryers would work in the bathroom, and I wasted far too much time trying to make it happen. I finally brought them both into the office/craft room (I use my craft table as a vanity in the morning, so it's not a stretch), got one of them to function and dried my hair there.

Then I realized when I took my clothes out of the dryer (I don't "iron" so much as "tumble"), that the dryer was still on high from when Bryan did towels yesterday. My clothes never see anything hotter than low, so there was a moment of panic and a few moments of shirt-stretching.

Then while I was getting dressed, my deodorant broke - you know when you go to put it on, and it's so close to the end that it just crumbles off the base and chunks fall all over the floor? Fun times. Off to the bathroom to grab the travel-size stick we keep in our "Guest Services" box.

Then I got to work, made it through first break, then quickly began to feel like crap. So I came home, and now I find that a message board that I co-admin is down (for the second time in five days), and only one of the admins (sadly, not me) has any degree of contact with the actual site admin, and even that has to go through someone else (for any board folks who may be reading, yes, we're looking into other options).

It's not even NOON!!!

EDIT: Apparently the board's up and the error I got was just a fluke. Thank goodness.

Bleh

2008-11-11T20:02:00.002-06:00

I have a comfy couch, a full DVR, a snuggly kitteh... but sooooo much to do.

All I want to do is lay on the couch with mah kitteh.

Should I be the defiant grownup that says "I'm the grownup and I can say 'screw cleaning' if I want," or should I be the responsible grownup that cleans?

Oy.

Strange

2008-11-10T18:00:00.000-06:00

For some reason, I feel like today's someone's birthday.

Okay, well, I know it's someone's birthday but someone I know. A birthday I shouldn't be forgetting.

Happy happy to all the 11/10s!

I feel better!

2008-11-09T14:30:00.001-06:00

When we first moved to Madison, I got what I thought would be a great job. Pay was good, benefits were good, and for the most part, I enjoyed it. However, it became apparent after a few months that the job was not a good fit, and thus began a 6-month period of unemployment.

It was actually pretty nice for the first few weeks - after all, it was the longest "vacation" I'd had since I'd started working, period. Going to bed and waking up at the same time as my husband - and just being able to be together - was wonderful, as we'd been working opposite shifts for a while (including the better part of the year or so leading up to the move). And of course, just flat out not having to go to work was nice, too.

After a while though, it began to take its toll. I left that job a few days before the first anniversary of my Grandmother's death, which had hit me incredibly hard. The loss of the job itself finally hit me as well - the job had been wildly mis-represented to me, and despite them telling me I had progressed wonderfully, and as hard as this is for me to admit, I still wound up being told it wasn't good enough. Being good at my job is a giant factor in my sense of self-worth, and being told I wasn't good enough after being told I was great didn't do anything for my psyche. The fact that I would have been absolutely miserable had I stayed there much longer didn't help as much as one might think.

Add to that the fact that while Bryan and I knew Madison pretty well, it was our first time actually living here, the Golden City at the "end" of Highway 151, where we'd both wanted to be for quite some time, and we had no means to go out and explore it. So here we were, stuck in a new place, not knowing very many people, missing our friends and jobs in our old city - a woman who was quickly sinking into despair and the husband feeling out of sorts having to deal not only with missing the old place, but also his increasingly depressed, increasingly schlubby wife.

As though there's actually a good time for depression to happen, mine came at the worst possible time - the confluence of a time of having to care enough to look for a new job and a time with no health insurance or prescription coverage. I totally let myself go - I stopped caring how I looked, I wore the same clothes day in and day out, and I'm pretty sure there were a few period where I didn't leave the house for a few weeks at a time. I was so worried about money that the only reason I even got a haircut during that time was because my mother-in-law treated me to it for my birthday. It was to the point where when I started going on interviews again, Bryan remarked that it was so nice to see me dressed up, since he hadn't seen it in so long.

Even once I found a new job though, things didn't go so smoothly at first. Since being good at my job is so integral to my happiness, starting a new job is always rough for me. I wasn't taking home much more than I had on unemployment, so money was tight. We were in the middle of an historically dreary, snowy winter. I slipped and fell on some ice less than 4 weeks after I'd started the new job and had the stress of wondering whether the responsible party would cover my medical treatment (yes, they did), and then, of course, the first three months of the new job without health insurance (thus the worry of who was going to cover the medical bills from my fall and of course no treatment for the depression that lingered).

But over the last six months or so, things have gotten exponentially better. The snow melted, the sun came out, I've settled into the job quite well, my medical insurance finally kicked in, and I've been able to start taking care of my health again - mental and physical. While we're still working opposite shifts, Bryan and I have settled into a do-able routine and are making it work. Between us, we've gotten three raises in the last 6 months, and while it's still short of where we'd been, we're back on track as far as bills and budget.

And since all of that has come to pass, my regirlification has commenced. In the past two months, I've gotten a fabulous new haircut, some really good conditioner, treated myself to a great new purse, have started a skin care and makeup regimen that really seems to be working for me, and have started to care about how I look again. It feels fabulous.

And it couldn't have come at a better time. The snow is starting to fly again (there are flurries outside my window as I type), and "they" say this winter could be worse than last. But I'm not completely dreading it. I organized and am overseeing a 50-person Secret Santa exchange, 24/7 Christmas music will again be hitting the airwaves, and soon I'll be knee-deep in holiday crafting - I've got 100+ Christmas cards to make, as well as some cool ornaments for an ornament exchange (and possibly for gifting, as well). I look better ("good" will come after a year of faithful gym-ratting), I feel better, and I'm ready for it.

The love of my life

2008-11-08T23:04:00.002-06:00

I didn't send this to PostSecret... but it totally fits.

I love you, Pumpkin!

I was up that late, anyway

2008-11-08T14:11:00.001-06:00

This kind of makes me with I hadn't stayed home to savor the joy all by myself.

Go Campbell!

2008-11-07T18:07:00.001-06:00

Seen elsewhere on the web...

2008-11-07T06:52:00.000-06:00

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk, Martin walked so Barack could run, Barack ran so our children can fly." ~unknown

Yes they can.

Pundit Kitchen Speaks Truth

2008-11-06T18:10:00.003-06:00

Not just college students, either. Thankfully, our current abode has an in-unit washer and dryer, but where we used to live, the nice ladies at our bank always knew when we were out of laundry money - I'd make a $20 withdrawal and ask for it in two rolls of quarters.

Strange

2008-11-05T21:34:00.001-06:00

Was just trying to change my Facebook status update, and it kept crashing Firefox, but went through just fine in IE7.

Yes we can.

2008-11-04T22:49:00.000-06:00

And we DID.

Tired feet, happy heart

2008-11-03T17:49:00.002-06:00

Remember that post where I thought that since I don't live in the city proper, I wouldn't have to wait so long to vote?

Um... yeah.

Two and a half hours later...

Oh, and it turns out that I wasn't registered. That's funny, because I distinctly remember registering at the poll on the day of the Primary.

But anyway, it's all water under the bridge, because...

Good Humor

2008-11-03T06:14:00.002-06:00

I like Good Eats. It was one of the first cooking shows to which I actually paid attention. Sure, I loved watching The Frugal Gourmet, The Essence of Emeril and How to Boil Water (the Sean Donnellan version) with my grandmother - those are actually some of my favorite memories of fun we had together. But Good Eats was probably the first cooking show I watched to learn how to actually cook, as opposed to "cuisine." *read the paragraph about halfway down the page to get that reference if you're not a Terry Pratchett fan and don't already get the reference

But seriously? This guy's Alton Brown parodies crack me up.

Blah blog blah blog blah

2008-11-02T15:32:00.001-06:00

I signed up for NaBloPoMo - maybe it'll get me back in gear. Now... let's see if I remember.

Destined to Early-Vote

2008-11-02T15:20:00.004-06:00

I love going to the polls. I get a rush out of standing in line with my fellow citizens, eager to mark my ballot next to the name of the person I feel would best advocate for the needs of the citizens they'd represent.

But I've hit a snag.

Despite the fact that we've both been summoned for jury duty within the last 6 months, the better half and I have discovered that neither of us is on the rolls. Neither of us really want to take the chance that we'll get to the front of the line on Tuesday and have them not allow us to vote. You can register day-of in Wisconsin, but that doesn't mean I'm not anxious about it.

*grumble*grumble*grumble* Effin' Van Hollen. Yeah, the lawsuit was thrown out, but why do I feel like there was a reason we're not listed as being registered? I registered when I voted in the flippin' primary, less than a year ago.

So we'll go tomorrow, after I get home from work, and we'll both bring every piece of information we have that the State of Wisconsin accepts as proof of residence, and cast our ballots a day early.

Something I don't quite "get"

2008-11-02T15:05:00.002-06:00

The whole Prop 8 thing.

Why is the question of two consenting adults pledging to love each other and take care of each other forever even a voteable issue?

There are states in this country that would ban interracial marriage and interracial adoption if they were left open to a majority vote.

Why is gay marriage up to a vote?

So where exactly is it that I live, anyway?

2008-11-01T13:22:00.002-05:00

Much the way it's been for most of my life, I do not always give the same answer when someone asks me where I live.

I grew up on Long Island. If the person who asked where I lived was someone who lived on LI, was from LI, or even knew the area in general, I'd give them the name of my town. If the only thing someone knew about Long Island was that it's the fish-shaped island sticking out of NYC, I'd just tell them I lived on Long Island. It saved the hassle of "Stony Brook? Where?"

Same goes for where I am now. I technically do not live in Madison proper. One of the residential roads on which I travel to get home is the dividing line between Madison and my town, according to the map. If we were to make our current domicile our permanent home (which we won't), our children would attend classes in the Madison Metropolitan School District. The old, abandoned railroad tracks not even a few hundred yards from where I sit right now are also a dividing line.

So I guess you could say I'm from the wrong side of the tracks.

And in this election cycle, I couldn't be happier - or at least I'll hopefully feel that way come Tuesday.

Call me old-fashioned, I like to go to my polling place on Election Day itself. I just wouldn't find the same level of satisfaction from completing my ballot at the city clerk's office or dropping it in the mail. But the stories I've heard about early voting lines in Madison being hours long make me (hopefully not prematurely) glad I live on the wrong side of the tracks.

It's BIG. SRSLY. No joke.

2008-10-24T21:07:00.003-05:00

Upon attempting to explain how big a Mutsu can get, I've been met by all manner of skepticism. I guess people just don't believe that the apple world can manufacture such a behemoth. But I, The Amazing Katnac, will now blow your...

...mind.

(C'mon... seriously? I mean I know it's not exactly a family blog, but... but... jeez, people!)

Here it is, being weighed in (yes, that's in ounces, folks):

And again, for the croppers in the hizz:

And for the technogeeks:

And with a soda can (my favorite soda), for the rest of you:

There. Believe me now? And this isn't even the largest one I've had. And if I'm lucky, I'll be getting more tomorrow. :)

Happy Kat!

2008-10-21T12:14:00.003-05:00

Also titled... "Oh, By the Way."

Mutsus make me happy, too.

Yes, this weekend was vacation, but we were only an hour away from home, and some of my girls who'd come in from out of town wanted to hit the Dane County Farmers' Market - and really, who wouldn't want to see the largest producer-only farmers' market in the country? Who was I to say no?

So we took a day trip back home (for me), checked on the kids, then went to the market, where, in addition to half a pound of glorious 12-year cheddar, I purchased 11 pounds of my favorite apple (which, to be honest, only got me maybe 13 or 14 pieces of fruit).

Aaaahhhhhhhhhh.

Happy Kat!

2008-10-20T20:07:00.003-05:00

Breaking down and just doing it makes me happy.

For years, there is something I have wanted. Something that I have always felt costs far too much money to ever justify.

I was on vacation this weekend, and part of my vacation was to include a visit to a spa with some of my girlfriends. Having waited far too long to make appointments, and having one of the girls drop out of the trip completely, prompted us to skip the spa and go shopping instead.

We went to the Tanger Outlet, and there I saw it. No, her... at a store I very deliberately visited. I fell in love. I looked at the price tag. I was horrified. I looked at the sign that said 40% off. I hemmed and hawed. I looked for something more "economical" (in quotes because that word is generally not synonymous with the brand). I found out that a simple $1.00 cash donation to breast cancer research would get me an additional 25% off, on top of the already-significant 40% savings, and I started to waver.

My friends who were with me certainly gave me enough encouragement to go for it. I work hard. I'm not one for expensive gadgets. Wiis and Xboxes and Playstations don't thrill me. The only thing I need my cell phone to do is make and receive calls and texts. I don't buy CDs or DVDs. I don't play any online MMORPGs, don't pay for any online subscriptions, and the priciest thing I've purchased for myself this year is some makeup that not only looks good but has the added benefit of giving me healthier skin. Oh, and I've had my hair cut once this year. The only thing I really spend any significant amount of money on is scrapbooking supplies, and I've been on a purchasing hiatus for most of this year. My husband and I have (albeit very rarely) dropped that amount on a nice dinner out without a second thought, so why not on a quality piece of merchandise? I had the money to do it since we didn't go to the spa. I would have spent that money at the spa without feeling guilty about it, so why not use it to buy something tangible? After all, we'd been very diligent in saving up for this trip, and the spa was part of my reward. Skipping the spa didn't mean I was any less deserving of my reward.

One of them even went so far as to have me give it... um, her... a name, so I would feel extra guilty leaving her at the store.

The website says her name is Sophie, but I'd called her Gabby in the store, and Gabby she shall remain. She really is everything I've looked for in a purse for so long. She has my ideal number of interior non-zippered pouches (two - one for my cell phone, one for my camera) and my ideal number of zippered pouches (one, for sentimental stuff and other things I don't want floating around). The rest is just open space, just the way I like it. She is virtually unadorned on the outside, just the way I like it. She has enough room for a small makeup bag, my wallet, a planner, something to read, and my keys, all without being comically gigantic, just the way I like it. She is a luscious chocolate brown pebbled patent leather with a beautiful cotton candy pink lining - I love the combination of brown and pink and am amazed at how quickly I fell for a non-black purse. She has that "quality brand-new leather purse" smell, which is so much more intoxicating than new car smell.

I totally caved, and I couldn't be more pleased. So I guess you could say that my new Coach bag makes me VERY happy.

Jerkwad

2008-10-14T18:08:00.002-05:00

To the owner of a black Exploder traveling south on Fish Hatchery Rd. this afternoon.

I had my signal on. I had it on for quite a while. So why is it that you hung back, looked like you were letting me in, then sped up and blared your horn at me like I cut you off when I got into your lane?

Dumbass.

Nature ruins my plans

2008-10-12T15:06:00.002-05:00

We were going to go to an orchard today to get a load of my favorite apples - when I thought about it a couple of weeks ago, I realized I haven't had one in about 7 years (!!!). But when I called the orchard to find out what their hours are, they said the apples I want aren't ready yet.

This is killing me!!! I want a Mutsu, dammit! LOL.

I suppose it's not a bad thing, I guess - it's like 80 degrees here today and I'm not feeling very fall-festive anyway.

That one? THAT ONE??

2008-10-08T18:09:00.001-05:00

Just... wow.

Thank you, Taj!

2008-10-05T21:43:00.002-05:00

I love Indian buffet. My two favorite Indian restaurants here in town only have their lunch buffets running during the week, so I typically don't get to have Indian food unless I'm having a night out with my ladies, since I don't work close enough to an Indian restaurant and only get 35 minutes for lunch anyway, and I won't get myself takeout for dinner because if I'm sitting at home eating takeout by myself (damn opposite shifts), I'm not paying 15 bucks for an entree.

Enter Taj. I only recently found out that they offer lunch buffet 7 days a week and today was the first opportunity I'd had to try it.

While their basmati rice was a little on the dry side, while I prefer Maharaja's naan, while I prefer India Darbar's chicken tikka masala, Taj will still get my weekend business, because hey - their buffet is open.

Thank you, Taj.

I wish I could have been like him at that age

2008-10-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

For the boobies!

2008-10-02T21:52:00.003-05:00

Please take some time out of your busy schedules to click on through to the 7th Annual Blogger Boobie-Thon, contribute in some way, and help find a cure for breast cancer. (NSFW, BTW)

It's that time again...

2008-09-30T06:38:00.002-05:00

The friend I spoke of in June is on the road with FEMA again, this time in Texas, helping out in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. He's already posted some pictures and will be journaling his experience as time and internet connection will allow. And again, if you can spare some positive thoughts and encouragement for him and the people affected by the storm, please do.

Happy Kat

2008-09-28T14:43:00.003-05:00

The first extra-hot shower of fall makes me happy.

Alongside the gorgeous color palette, the crisp air, bright blue skies and the fact that my favorite apple of all time is ready in mid-late October, there is nothing quite like the feeling of the first true mirror-steaming shower of fall.

During the hot, humid summers, I take showers that are tepid at best. I just can't stand the feeling of hot water when I know I'm just going to continue that muggy, damp feeling when I leave the bathroom. But today? The temperature is forecast to be 70, but we haven't gotten much beyond 60. It's overcast, and there's a slight chill in the breeze coming in the window. And I've just emerged from the first extra-hot shower I've taken probably since March.

Even though I know it's not the greatest for the skin, I love the skin-tightening feeling a hot shower brings to my chilled-from-open-windows-and-no-heat arms, back and neck, and the degree of clean I feel on my face from having my pores well and truly steam-opened and cleaned.

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh.

Hey... free stuff!!

2008-09-22T21:27:00.003-05:00

The very generous (and glorious) Lisa has offered up a wonderful cookbook and some kitchen goodies - all you have to do is tell her what you love best about fall, and you've got a chance to win! Good Luck!

Happy Kat

2008-09-20T22:28:00.004-05:00

When I was in high school, I remember bonding with my father over episodes of Beavis and Butthead. I didn't know what was more amusing - the show itself, or the way my father, white-collar worker with a very blue-collar sense of humor, derived such glee from such low-brow, simple humor. Sometimes, it just goes to show that every once in a while, one really does need to check one's brain at the door and allow one's self to be amused by something utterly ridiculous.

Oh, and he does spot-on impressions of both.

So yes, old Beavis and Butthead videos on YouTube occasionally make me happy.

What did you just call it?

2008-09-13T16:22:00.003-05:00

I grew up calling it a ponytail holder, my husband calls it a hair tie (and having been here for 10 years, I've picked up the term), a friend at work calls it a ponybopper.

I'm sure you know that I'm talking about the elastic band that holds your hair in something resembling the hair growing out of a horse's rear end.

So what do you call it?

Is Dane County seriously that hard up?

2008-09-07T09:53:00.003-05:00

...or is it just that busy?

Wait, don't tell me... I know the answer.

I was an of-age resident of Suffolk County, NY for 4 years and an of-age resident of Dodge County, WI for 7 years. My husband was an of-age resident of Dodge County for 16 years. We were both of-age residents of Fond du Lac County for 1.5 years.

Within 16 months of living in Dane County, we've both been called for jury duty for the first time ever.

My number was never called, so I didn't actually have to go. It's fine with me, because while it might have been nice to get a glimpse into the legal process, I wasn't looking forward to sitting around all day, nor was I looking forward to downtown parking, about which the City admittedly does NOT speak glowingly.

My husband reeeally wants his number to come up (just pleeeease Dane County, not on my birthday? kthx). Working second shift, I'm curious as to when exactly he's supposed to sleep if he gets called, but I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

It's the most wonderful tiiiiiime of the yeeeeear...

2008-09-05T17:52:00.002-05:00

Politics. Oy.

In response to Glenn Beck's take on the Fairness Doctrine...

The true harm to our Democracy has nothing to do with a lack of liberal talk radio. And this is coming from someone typically classified as a "liberal."

Personally, I don't care for political talk radio. I think it's ALL far too extreme. I've given equal time to both sides and have been absolutely and equally disgusted by both. And I have conservative friends and acquaintances who feel the same.

Rather than asking where all the liberal talk radio is, because anyone with a brain knows that market demand and the Almighty Advertising Dollar rule that arena, a better question might be "why HAS the market demand for conservative talk radio been higher than the market demand for liberal talk radio?"

I honestly believe this country is split fairly evenly when it comes to the broadest, highest-level definitions of "liberal" and "conservative." But in adding the qualifier "extreme" to either one, the disparity becomes exposed. Based on my personal experience, I believe there is a much higher number of extreme conservatives than extreme liberals. Or at the very least, a higher number of moderate conservatives who are tolerant of the extreme conservative viewpoint than moderate liberals who are tolerant of the extreme liberal viewpoint. Bottom line, conservative talk radio has a higher number of willing listeners, because while many moderate liberals are completely turned off by liberal talk radio, many moderate conservatives - whether or not they completely agree with everything said - aren't actually disgusted by some of the more extreme viewpoints.

Again, I am led to these conclusions by personal experience. While my personal politics admittedly fall a little to the left of center, you'd never know it based on what I've been called by many conservatives I've run across. While I'm actually quite moderate, I've been called everything from a "liberal whiner" to a "bleeding heart dumba$$" to an "Evil Baby-Killing Hippie Druggie Commie Sociopath" (and no, I'm not making that last one up).

I honestly couldn't care less about political talk radio. I don't care that it's there, I wouldn't care if it fell off the face of the earth. What I care more about are the people who hold the hosts up as modern day Gods, omniscient deities who are to be obeyed, worshipped and agreed with at every turn. It scares me to think that there are so many people out there who rely on any of the talking heads to tell them what they should think. This isn't the military, where - as a friend of mine on his way to his third tour in Iraq once said - "if we want you to have an opinion, one will be issued to you." So many people in this country have come to rely on outside influences (the media, family members, church leaders, teachers, etc.) to spoon-feed them their opinions, rather than really taking the time to research the issues and form opinions of their own. We have become a nation of lazy, ill-informed people. THAT'S the true harm to our Democracy.

Or, excuse me, Mr. Beck... our Constitutional, Democratic Republic

Happy Kat!

2008-09-02T23:06:00.003-05:00

My boys adding a W makes me happy.

Especially at this point in the season.

Especially when I have a little three-way office rivalry going on with a Cubs fan and a Brewers fan.

Especially when my boys beat the Brewers and the Cubs lose.

I'm up far later than I intended, but I'm going to work tomorrow a very Happy Kat.

The thing that sucks about being a foodie

2008-08-31T23:08:00.010-05:00

Yes, I used the word "foodie." Live with it.

Anyway, the thing that sucks about being a foodie is the lack of being able to go out and enjoy a nice dinner without a running critique of the food - what it needs, what it could do without, how one could improve on it in one's own kitchen.

For our anniversary dinner, we went to Cloud 9 Grille (the choice of which was due in no small part to our possession of a gift certificate), and critiques, they were a-flowin'.

I will admit that the first thing I did when we managed to roll ourselves in the door at home was check JM and Nichole's review over at Madison A to Z. A few of the dishes referenced in their review are no longer on the menu, so it was nice to see a different perspective.

Menu descriptions in italics.

For our appetizer, we split the white cheddar and sweet corn fondue with fresh breadsticks and homemade tortilla chips. The breadsticks were split and toasted and wonderful. The tortilla chips were incredibly thick, and tasted faintly like the other foods that have gone for a hot, bubbly swim - we enjoyed the extra flavor, others may not. One of my foodie pet peeves is that many restaurants don't understand or take into consideration a standard cheese equation: melting + adding other ingredients = less flavorful cheese. The fondue was tasty, but would definitely have benefited from a sharper cheddar.

I had a cup of their American Onion Soup similar to French onion without the sherry wine. - With melted provolone cheese and a crouton. This was seriously one of the best onion soups I've had. French onion soup is one of my favorites, and I am often disappointed when I order it. More often than not, it seems to be a case of "let's throw some sliced raw sweet onion in a pot of water and add some bouillon cubes and maybe some sugar." As a result, it is very watery, the onions are far too crunchy, and the only true flavor is an overwhelming sweetness. And there is always way too much cheese on it. Don't get me wrong, I love cheese, but even I know when to stop. This soup was beautifully rich, thick and savory, to the point where hubby and I suspected a demi-glace (pre-packaged no doubt, but still lovely). The onions appeared to have been lovingly caramelized. The crouton and cheese were pulled off quite well, also.

For his entree, hubby chose the Grilled Rib Eye 12 oz Served with mashed potatoes and vegetables, The steak was cooked perfectly and was tasty, but not any better than anything he's had elsewhere, and certainly not as eye-rollingly good as the one he had at Smoky's. I'm not typically a fan of restaurant mashed potatoes, so I didn't taste them, but they looked grainy to me. And, if you're going to try to make them look nice by garnishing them with sliced scallions, for heaven's sake, don't plop them on the plate with a disher - très lunchlady. Hubby loathes asparagus in any form, so one of the first things he did was transfer the grilled green spears to my plate. After suffering many years in a hate-hate relationship with asparagus (due to my mother's love of canned vegetables), I have recently discovered an affinity for the fresh stuff, so I was excited. Unfortunately, the asparagus was way overseasoned. And by "seasoned," I mean "salted." It was inedible.

Libra that I am, I could not decide between the salmon and a steak, so I chose the Grilled Wild Salmon and 5oz. Filet Mignon 4oz cut served over our mushroom risotto and topped with lemon butter sauce with seasonal vegetables. The salmon wasn't actually served over the risotto, they were on opposite ends of the plate. I normally wouldn't bemoan such a technicality, but it was unfortunate, because the risotto would have been greatly improved by the lemon butter sauce - had there been enough of it, anyway. The risotto, described elsewhere on the menu as seared portabello, shitake and crimini mushrooms over creamy risotto, had probably been made much earlier in the evening, as it was fairly gloppy, not the smooth creaminess I'd been anticipating. It wasn't very flavorful, either, despite being topped with a mound of shredded parmesan. It was almost like a dry, savory, crunchy rice pudding - you know the kind I mean - the stuff that looks so good in the deli, but is just so incredibly disappointing once you get it home that it immediately becomes garbage can fodder. I cannot abide dry, crunchy rice pudding. The mushrooms were difficult to find, and the pieces I actually found were woody. When I originally placed my order, our server asked how I'd like "both" cooked, so I assumed she meant both the salmon and the filet. I asked for medium rare for both. The filet was cooked perfectly. The mushrooms atop it, notsomuch. The salmon ended up being cooked all the way through, but I suppose I shouldn't complain (too much), because while it was not medium rare, as I requested, it wasn't overcooked, as is so often the case. It was still moist and flavorful, and deemed "not bad," by my husband, who normally has no use for salmon that's not a) served raw over a ball of rice, or b) served smoked on a bagel and schmear.

The one place they almost redeemed themselves was dessert. Upon taking the first bite of his Apple Crumble Tart baked with brown sugar and served with cinnamon streusel and vanilla ice cream, my Groom exclaimed "sweet zombie Jesus!" and proceeded to devour the rest of it with the zeal of a cult member. Half of my dessert, Chocolate Stout Cake a flourless chocolate cake served with strawberry ice cream in an almond lace cup, was equally amazing. The cake, about the diameter of a hockey puck and about half as thick, was to die for. The strawberry ice cream was standard megamart fare. Unfortunately, the almond lace cup, while it could have been so good, sported edges about as black as a cajun fish filet.

We retired to the bar area for an after-dinner cocktail. We each ordered the drink we consider our personal tests of any alcohol-serving establishment to which we've never been - a martini and a cosmopolitan (I'll let you guess who ordered what). Both were mediocre. The martini "showcased" a few pussy, tiny little olives, and the cosmo was bright shocking pink and served with a lemon wheel. Neither was impressive in the least. I noticed that their rail gin was a brand I'd never heard of, Taaka, which retails for $7-10 a liter. The martini was $7.00. A liter is approximately 33 ounces. You do the math. I know the markup on cocktails is significant, but at 3-4 ounces per martini, that's more than a little ridiculous.

There were a couple of hits, but some definite misses. I can honestly say that I will likely only be back if a friend reeeeally wants to go there, or if I reeeeeally want to see that awesome Madison view again. But likely only for drinks and appetizers, and then, only for drinks that come from a screw-top bottle. Smirnoff Ice, anyone?

It may have sounded bad, and we were marginally disappointed in what we got for the money we spent, but there were a couple of shining stars, and it wasn't a bad evening. It was a nice night out with my husband, which we don't get nearly often enough. But for the money ($85 before gift certificate and tip, plus another $14 plus tip at the bar), we probably could have gone to any number of other restaurants in town and had much better food.

Happy Kat!

2008-08-31T17:53:00.002-05:00

Paint-Your-Own-Pottery places make me happy.

We went here today. I love being creative. I don't always have the best ideas, and the ones I have don't always come easily, but once they've arrived, implementing them is very relaxing to me. And after being glazed and fired, my finished product always looks better than I thought it would.

I did a coffee mug, which I'll probably bring to work to use as a container for pens and stuff, and hubby did a pie plate to match the fruit bowl he did a couple of years ago.

They're closed until the 11th for inventory and a ceramics convention, so if it's not hideous, I'll post a pic of my creation shortly thereafter.

Six years ago today...

2008-08-31T17:52:00.001-05:00

...my pantyhose fell down.

Happy anniversary, Pumpkin!

Cranberry Orange Disaster

2008-08-29T06:28:00.002-05:00

We're having a Wisconsin-themed potluck at work today, featuring things that are produced or popular in Wisconsin. Not wanting to do something completely obvious, I volunteered to bring something cranberry-related. Many people do not know that Wisconsin is the largest cranberry producer in the country, so it makes sense.

Off to the store I went, to gather ingredients for a wonderfully fragrant Cranberry Orange Cake. Sure, it might start with a yellow cake mix and a box of vanilla pudding, but I don't care - it's awesome. I saw the muffin display and was sorely tempted to just get a few packages of cranberry muffins since it was fast approaching 9:00 PM, but I wanted to bake something. I zested an orange and chopped cranberries while watching Barack Obama make history by accepting the Democratic nomination, and restrained myself from doing a deliberate face-plant into my 325*F oven while the cake was baking. Seriously, this cake smells great.

So anyway, when I bake, I use this wonderful concoction called AB's Kustom Kitchen Lube to grease my baking vessel of choice. It's an Alton Brown creation, and consists of equal parts flour and shortening. I have never had anything stick while using it. I swear it's better than Teflon. I heart it and want to have its slick little babies. But last night, I couldn't find my container of KKL, so I did what I've seen so many other folks do, and used the butter wrapper to grease the pan. I gave it a dusting of flour and continued on my merry way, deluding myself into thinking that all would be well.

Picture if you will... the Budweiser frogs:

Diz

Asssss

Tur!

It stuck. I tried coaxing it out with a butter knife run along the edges, but the bottom wasn't havin' it. I inverted the pan, and half the cake fell out, in two chunks. The other half still resides in the pan. I just had some for breakfast. It kicks ass.

On one hand, kick ass cake for us. On the other hand, I'm off to the store before work to pick up those cranberry muffins after all.

I needed that

2008-08-28T17:47:00.005-05:00

I've been exceedingly cranky lately, and this was a great mood-lifter. Cracked me up.

NSFW. And don't watch if you don't want to see the occasional boob flash.

Today's secret word is... douche!

2008-08-27T21:57:00.003-05:00

What is this douchebag hoping to accomplish with the words "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat" next to an image of the smoke-spewing Twin Towers? Does he not remember that a Republican was President on 9/11? Is he trying to imply that the establishment that allowed 9/11 to happen by ignoring the information that was served up to them on a platter is the establishment that's going to keep it from happening again?

Death to the superfluous apostrophe

2008-08-23T12:38:00.001-05:00

I can't decide if these guys are two guys after my own heart, or a pair of total douchebags who can't leave (not quite) well-enough alone.

Okay, fine. Funny sign. Can't stop laughing. Happy now?

2008-08-20T17:26:00.002-05:00

Har har freakin' har.

Dorkitudinal Improvisation... complete!

2008-08-09T15:02:00.005-05:00

Here's the result of my envelope-making "extravaganza." I made a whopping one envelope. As it turns out, that's really all we need, since all I'm carrying around is my personal spending money and my gas money, and all hubby has in addition to that is the grocery money. Everything else gets paid on line, every week, a fourth of the normal monthly bill. I greatly appreciate the places that will allow you to pay more than what's due, and am not so happy with the places that won't (I'm looking at you, Verizon Wireless).

Hubby made mention a few weeks ago that the "cash for different purposes" all got mixed together in his wallet last time, so I'll make some sleeves, but those are cake and require no template.

But now that I have something of an envelope template down and ready to go, I may make more. If you click on the picture, it'll bring you to the tiny Flickr set I created. There's another picture showing teh internets the - gasp! - 3Dness of it all.

Where's that eyeroll smilie when I need it?

Very-recently-wedded bliss

2008-08-09T00:30:00.006-05:00

Prompted by something I saw on the 'net about wedding day disasters, I thought I'd share. Not a disaster, but funny nonetheless...

My husband and I were very lucky. We planned an outdoor wedding with no backup plan for inclement weather. It was overcast that day - the perfect weather for great photos - and the only "hitch" that day was ours.

However, our first conversation as man and wife will never be forgotten. We'd just said our vows and been pronounced man and wife, and as we were walking back down the aisle, I had a slight "wardrobe malfunction," as evidenced by the following conversation:

Me: "Oh s***!"
Him: "What's wrong?"
Me: "My pantyhose just fell down."

I spent my time as part of the receiving line with my hose around my knees - and with 14 attendants and well over 100 guests, the line was long and crawled at a snail's pace - then immediately went to the ladies' room to remove hose and shoes and change into my cute and comfortable white slippers I'd purchased for the occasion.

There are only two or three pictures in which you can see my feet, and it would not have noticeable at all had I worn the slippers the whole day. I totally should have skipped the stiff, uncomfortable, expensive shoes altogether.

But anyway, so yeah, not quite what I expected for my first conversation as a married woman. I guess it just goes to show that while your wedding day can be the best day of your life - as mine was - you're never too far away from real life.

Hi, my name is Kat and I'm a dork.

2008-08-06T19:49:00.003-05:00

Through all of our financial trials and tribulations, one thing that has always worked for us is the envelope system (I came up with the idea for us long before I'd ever heard of Dave Ramsey, but I have a few friends who swear by him, including one who has had his "I'M DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEE!" moment on Dave's call-in show).

We do very well on the envelope system when we actually remember to use it (i.e., when I remember to go to the bank on payday and withdraw and parcel out the cash). We fell off the wagon when we moved here and I found myself unemployed three months in, but after our recent acceptance of the fact that we have no room in our condo for a baby, it's envelope time again. We'd like to have a baby before I'm no longer able (excessively early menopause runs in my family... like seriously... mid-to-late 30s), and in order to do that, we'd like to buy a condo larger than the one in which we currently reside. Well, just because we can't afford it now doesn't mean we shouldn't start saving (duh), so back to the envelope system we go.

All well and good, only, I can't find the box of coin envelopes we bought last time, and they weren't quite the right size, anyway.

Oh, wait. Yeah. Did I mention I own probably over $2K worth of scrapbooking supplies?

I bet you can see where this is going.

Yup... beeeeeeeeg dork.

But hey - at least they'll be the right size. And since the better half is in charge of the savings, I'll make sure the paper's not too girly. ;)

Happy Kat!

2008-08-06T19:39:00.002-05:00

Summer Rolls make me happy.

Rice paper wraps surrounding a yummy mix of thin rice noodles and salad-type filling, served cold with a flavorful dipping sauce. Especially delicious to a cilantro lover such as myself.

They really are summer on a plate.

The Sun'll Come Out...

2008-07-31T20:15:00.005-05:00

In the face of tragedy, Nicole Belle writes quite a moving piece.

I've been trying to find words to describe how I feel about this. Most closely associating with the belief system of Unitarian Universalists, and having friends and acquaintances who regularly attend Unitarian services, it frightens me to know that this could have happened in any state, in any city, in any Unitarian gathering place. This could have happened to one of my friends. A few years in the future, who knows? I'm still on the fence as to whether I'll ever go, but It could have been me and my children. For being loving. For being welcoming. For being accepting... of ALL.

Even the wife of one of the men who wrestled the shooter to the floor, rather than calling him some choice words, described him as "a man who was hurt in the world and feeling nothing was going his way. He turned the gun on people who were mostly likely to treat him lovingly and compassionately and be the ones to help someone in that situation."

But apparently, in his eyes, those people deserved to die.

It ma not be a very Unitarian thing to ask, nor a very Catholic one for that matter (the faith in which I was raised), but I'll ask it anyway: Why is this man not being referred to as a terrorist? When non-white non-Americans go on the attack, for reasons they claim to be religious (no matter how much of a bastardization of their actual religion the reasons may be), especially when they feel the victims' lifestyles are too liberal, we have an overwhelming tendency to refer to them as terrorists.

So... why? Is he too white? Is he too American? Does he espouse too many of the conservative values that so many in this country hold so dear? Can these people not bear to refer to someone who was seemingly one of their own in the same terms as the people we've been fighting since shortly after the eleventh of September?

I don't get it.

Rest in Peace, Greg McKendry and Linda Kraeger.

I'm a big ol' sap

2008-07-26T13:08:00.002-05:00

This video makes me cry every time. And my mom's vet tells her that cats don't have or show emotion. *snort*

Two years...

2008-07-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

A little something I posted on an old blog a couple of years ago (with a couple of details corrected):

Let me tell you a little bit about my grandma.

Virginia Ann was born on March 2, 1928. Well, she was supposed to be Virginia Ann, but the priest wouldn't baptize her with the name Virginia since it wasn't a saint's name. So she was baptized Ann Virginia.

When Virginia - "Ginny" to her friends and "Ginger" to her siblings - was a teenager, she had a friend with a "gentleman friend" in the Navy's 4th Beach Battallion during WWII. Virginia was looking for someone to correspond with, so her friend's man set her up with one of his buddies, Erwin. Long story short, Virginia and Erwin married after the war and had three beautiful sons, each five years apart. M in 1947, T in 1952 and A in 1957. They lived happily in the suburbs, buying their dream house in Stony Brook, NY in the late 60s. Virginia was a homemaker and Erwin a... well, he was a bunch of different things, including a New York City fire chief. But most of all, he loved Virginia. Erwin passed in 1975, 10 days before his 53rd birthday, leaving Virginia a young widow at 47.

Virginia never found anyone special to spend her time with, much less remarry - when a cousin and I asked her about this years ago, she said that she didn't even want to bother trying, because nobody could replace her husband.

I grew up with a strong matriarch - she was always in charge. We lived with her when I was born and my parents didn't know what they were doing, and my aunt and uncle moved in for a month or so when my younger cousin was born and they didn't know what they were doing. She enjoyed doting on her "chickens," but was always quick to let them know when they were full of "friggin' crap." :lol

I moved in with Grandma when I went to college - it made sense. I divided my time between her house and my parents' house for all 4 years. She bought me my first car. I was her "nurse" when she had quintuple bypass my first year of college - I cleaned her wounds, dressed her back up, brought her to all of her doctor appointments. I tried my best to take the best care of her I could.

After college, I moved away to be with my now-husband. I know Grandma missed me, and I missed her. I'll never forget the Easter a year and a half after I moved away, when I decided to surprise my family for the holiday - only my parents and my sister knew I was coming. When I walked into my Grandma's house, she started jumping up and down - well, as much as she could, anyway, gave me a huge hug and said "oh, my Beenie's come home!" My father told me later that it had been the biggest show of emotion he'd seen from her in over 30 years.

I hadn't mentioned it here, but Grandma's been in the hospital since Memorial Day - she'd gone in for some back pain and wound up having a toe amputated. She didn't like to cause a fuss, so she'd never told anyone that it had swollen and turned purple (she was diabetic and had neuropathy). She hadn't been doing so well last week, with fluid in her lungs and no sensation in her legs, but they said it was from having been in bed for 2 months. Mom called with an update a few days ago, saying Grandma was doing much better, regaining feeling in her legs and breathing much better. Tey were making plans to move her to rehab later this week. But for some reason, I couldn't shake the voice in the back of my head that kept telling me she wouldn't be going back home.

Unfortunately, I was right.

Grandma passed at around 7:10 PM Eastern. She had a massive heart attack. The doctors tried to revive her 4 times, but at no time did she come back for more than 20 minutes. The family decided - and as much as it hurts to say this, I agree with them - that it was time to let her go.

After 30 years, my grandmother has rejoined her beloved husband, and together they will watch down on the rest of us and tell us when we're full of "friggin crap."

I love you, Grandma. SO much. And I'll miss you - more than you will ever know. And I will always - ALWAYS be your Kathleenie Beenie.

Has it really been two years, Grandma? It seems so long ago, but it seems like yesterday. I still miss you like crazy.

Raindance

2008-07-23T19:52:00.005-05:00

Casey recently posted about leaving her moonroof open during a downpour, ending her post with a comment about how washing your car makes it rain.

A-flippin' men to that!

A few weeks ago, we were having some absolutely gorgeous weather, weather which was supposed to remain absolutely gorgeous for at least 4 more days. My car was filthy, so I brought it for a wash.

The next day I was at work and of course the torrential downpour came. Oops. The first words out of one of my coworkers' mouths was "aw shit. Okay, who washed their car?!"

Happy Kat!

2008-07-14T22:02:00.001-05:00

Apparently, failblog makes me happy, because I giggled inappropriately for at least 5 minutes when I came across this gem:

Yes, I'm 12.

Happy Kat!

2008-07-10T21:15:00.002-05:00

Lightning bugs, fireflies, glowybutts... whatever you call them... they make me happy.

Snap, cra.. oh, wait. Just "snap."

2008-07-08T08:41:00.002-05:00

It's been too long since your last eye exam when you wake up one morning and your glasses snap in half when you put them on.

It got me to thinking about how long I've had this particular pair, and I realized that I got these glasses a little over 4 years ago, when I left a job with great overall benefits but a hellacious commute for a job with no commute, but no vision plan, either.

Gee, wonder why I picked that time to get new glasses? ;)

Heh - time for a new pair. Thankfully, there's a place in town that has 1-hour service that takes both my plan (eye exam) and hubby's plan (materials).

I'm quite picky (as anyone who wears something on their face all day every day should be), so this may take a while - wish me luck!

Sad

2008-07-07T22:15:00.003-05:00

My favorite pizza place has closed. I had no idea it was closing, and I can't find any news of it on any of the local websites. The better half and I tried to go there for dinner tonight and found the space completely empty. I peered in the window and didn't even see the counter.

The people who ran it used to run a place on Canal St., and it was a little slice of heaven to this transplanted NooYawkuh. When my sister was visiting and felt homesick, I brought her there for lunch. She walked in, took a whiff and sighed, "home."

It may be slightly melodramatic to say that I'm devastated, but I'm definitely... well... meh.

This sucks, Beavis.

HowTF am I supposed to decide?

2008-07-06T22:18:00.003-05:00

My husband and I were chatting with a friend today about vehicles and gas mileage. The subject came up when I mentioned that I may be in the market for a new vehicle in about a year or so (my beloved Lumina is approaching the 200K mark, and I'd really like for her not to become a money pit), and my husband is less than thrilled with me because the vehicle I would love to have (at the moment) only gets 24MPG (shut up, I know). He keeps asking me when I'm going to wise up and not be absolutely petrified to drive a Fortwo. I brought up an article I'd read recently (which I can't find now), where the Fortwo actually came in third in gas mileage, behind the Toyota Prius and a Honda something-or-other (instinct says it was probaby the Insight, but for some reason, I remember it being the Civic hybrid).

As a large person, it's not like I'd fit comfortably in any of them, but I digress...

Our friend was telling us about an article he'd read, suggesting that the Prius was actually less "green" than a Hummer. I did a little bit of Googling and found that the situation is not quite as bad as some people on the internet have made it out to be, but have still been given the impression that while the Prius gets MUCH better gas mileage, it's not exactly going to win any awards for overall environmental impact over the life of the vehicle.

I was reading a few things about the flex-fuel Impala a few weeks ago and found that its fuel efficiency while on ethanol is so much lower than when on gasoline that it doesn't make financial sense for the end-user to fill-er-up with E85. But ethanol burns cleaner. But the processes used to produce it still have negative environmental implications.

And then there are vehicles that use electricity, which is mass-produced by burning coal (yeah, there's something fabulous for the environment), until more folks in appropriate places are convinced that wind energy and solar energy might be better for us (I'll admit to not having done an appropriate amount of research to expound further with any modicum of intelligence).

Is there anyone out there who makes a vehicle that effectively balances environmental impact and fuel efficiency? No wonder people don't care - I care, I'm relatively intelligent, and my head's about to explode.

PSA for the Day

2008-07-05T19:56:00.002-05:00

If you rent, PLEASE pick up renters insurance. You own more than you think you do, and it's worth more than you think it is.

This happened in my neighborhood last night. Not in my complex, but close enough to make one think. Something from the article struck me as particularly sad:

...about 40 people have been affected by the fire. Most... do not have renter's insurance.

We've had renters insurance for several years, and while I'm 75% sure we have enough, we've acquired enough belongings since the last time we had our coverage assessed that I'm looking into the cost to increase the coverage, just in case. To me, it's worth a few dollars more per month to be absolutely certain.

Happy Independence Day

2008-07-04T12:14:00.002-05:00

As we celebrate the anniversary of American independence with fireworks, grilled food and 3-day sales, let us keep in mind the many in this country who still are not free. A word from the wise Rabbi Sherwin Wine:

There are two visions of America. One precedes our founding fathers and finds its roots in the harshness of our puritan past. It is very suspicious of freedom, uncomfortable with diversity, hostile to science, unfriendly to reason, contemptuous of personal autonomy. It sees America as a religious nation. It views patriotism as allegiance to God. It secretly adores coercion and conformity. Despite our constitution, despite the legacy of the Enlightenment, it appeals to millions of Americans and threatens our freedom.

The other vision finds its roots in the spirit of our founding revolution and in the leaders of this nation who embraced the age of reason. It loves freedom, encourages diversity, embraces science and affirms the dignity and rights of every individual. It sees America as a moral nation, neither completely religious nor completely secular. It defines patriotism as love of country and of the people who make it strong. It defends all citizens against unjust coercion and irrational conformity.

This second vision is our vision. It is the vision of a free society. We must be bold enough to proclaim it and strong enough to defend it against all its enemies.

Happy Fourth.

Oh my

2008-07-04T00:21:00.002-05:00

Still reading the ancient blog.

Here's something I posted on November 24, 2003, with a title of "Foreshadowing?"

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." ~ George W. Bush, December 18, 2000

Yikes.

Yeah, I kinda figured...

2008-07-03T23:22:00.004-05:00

I Googled a friend tonight, hoping to find some contact info I'd lost (not like it wouldn't have just been easier to call one of our mutual friends, but I digress), and came across an ancient blog of mine, and of course I got to reading.

I saw something I'd posted about 4 years ago, after I'd taken the Belief-o-Matic test. Just for shits and giggles, I thought I'd do it again...

1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Secular Humanism (94%)
3. Liberal Quakers (92%)

The quiz actually ranks 27 different religions, but I think my top 3 sum me up pretty well.

"You can't arrange 'em by penis."

2008-07-01T18:25:00.002-05:00

You'll get it in a few minutes. And if you're in IT, you'll probably laugh.

Lush

2008-06-28T00:54:00.003-05:00

An airplane bottle of rum is just the right size for a medium Mango Julius.

Not that I would know anything about that, because I would certainly never take my Mango Julius into the ladies' room at the mall and spike it so I could enjoy a refreshing, fruity cocktail during a pedicure.

Neither would any of my friends. Especially not my friends who get pedicures with me.

I hear it's damn tasty though.

Yum! Ouch.

2008-06-27T06:24:00.003-05:00

The husband and I, along with a local friend, met up with our FEMA friend last night at Smoky's Club, a restaurant Midwest Living magazine has called the #1 steakhouse in he Midwest. It was awesome. The steak was indeed fabulous, and the cocktails, mixed by Madison's own Martini Bob, were incredible. A great time was had by all.

Note to self: a meeting of friends, an 8:00 PM reservation and Martini Bob are a dangerous combination on a work night. I'm trying to eat more healthfully, but I think a McDonald's hangover breakfast is in order.

Ouch.

New to the blogroll... this one's important

2008-06-24T23:17:00.003-05:00

A message board friend of mine is currently in Madison, on the road with FEMA, helping out here in the flood-ravaged upper Midwest. He started a blog he's named 2008 Storm Journal and is hoping to record his experiences. He'll be away from his family for a while, so please stop by and give him some encouragement.

Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, CockSucker, MotherFucker, and Tits

2008-06-23T05:38:00.003-05:00

I love words. I thank you for hearing my words. I want to tell you something about words that I think is important. They're my work, they're my play, they're my passion. Words are all we have, really. We have thoughts but thoughts are fluid. Then we assign a word to a thought and we're stuck with that word for that thought, so be careful with words. I like to think that the same words that hurt can heal, it is a matter of how you pick them. There are some people that are not into all the words. There are some that would have you not use certain words. There are 400,000 words in the English language and there are 7 of them you can't say on television. What a ratio that is. 399,993 to 7. They must really be bad. They'd have to be outrageous to be seperated from a group that large. All of you over here,you 7, Bad Words. That's what they told us they were, remember? "That's a bad word!" No bad words, bad thoughts, bad intentions, and words. You know the 7, don't you, that you can't say on television?

RIP George Carlin.

Green-eyed monster

2008-06-19T21:25:00.002-05:00

Right now, I am HUGELY jealous of a friend and his prolific tomato patch.

When it comes to tomatoes, it sounds like he could take them or leave them, but to me, they are So. Much. More. than something to tolerate.

In my opinion, one of life's greatest pleasures is walking out to the garden - barefoot, of course - on a warm, sunny summer day, picking a plump, ripe tomato off the wine, smelling that smell that only a fuzzy tomato stalk can leave on your fingers, plopping down in the middle of the grass, using nothing but your shirt to rub the garden dust off, then eating that luscious fruit like it was an apple.

Le sigh.

I have no garden, so I must live vicariously.

Insert Pithy Title Here

Two resolutions started!!

Breaking my own rule

Artisan - Portrait of the Composer

Help yourself by helping others

I will not apologize

At a Loss

Happy birthday!!

Been a while...

It's not midnight here yet!

My car, the archaeological dig

Not sure this makes sense...

Cardstock, you've ruined my plans!

Crankiness DEFIITELY unwarranted

At least there's a 50% chance this will be easy

Teh dumb. I haz it.

Sometimes, it just hits you

This. Very this.

Nobody told me it was a MEAL!!!

Radio's apology

My addiction

*shakes head*

Not sure how to put this into words, but I'll try

This made me smile

Happy Gobble Gobble!

Channeling Emily Litella

Quote of the Day

Opportunity had too much going on at home to knock now, may stop by later.

Interesting CNN Quick Vote

NaBloPoMo FAIL!!

Blogging for bloggings sake

C*nty McC*nterson

Breakfast happiness

Not as cryptic as you'd think

Confidential to my sister...

Today blows

Bleh

Strange

I feel better!

The love of my life

I was up that late, anyway

Go Campbell!

Seen elsewhere on the web...

Pundit Kitchen Speaks Truth

Strange

Yes we can.

Tired feet, happy heart

Good Humor

Blah blog blah blog blah

Destined to Early-Vote

Something I don't quite "get"

So where exactly is it that I live, anyway?

It's BIG. SRSLY. No joke.

Happy Kat!

Happy Kat!

Jerkwad

Nature ruins my plans

That one? THAT ONE??

Thank you, Taj!

I wish I could have been like him at that age

For the boobies!

It's that time again...

Happy Kat

Hey... free stuff!!

Happy Kat

What did you just call it?

Is Dane County seriously that hard up?

It's the most wonderful tiiiiiime of the yeeeeear...

Happy Kat!

The thing that sucks about being a foodie

Happy Kat!

Six years ago today...

Cranberry Orange Disaster

I needed that

Today's secret word is... douche!

Death to the superfluous apostrophe

Okay, fine. Funny sign. Can't stop laughing. Happy now?

Dorkitudinal Improvisation... complete!

Very-recently-wedded bliss

Hi, my name is Kat and I'm a dork.

shakes head

Cnty McCnterson