Holy shit on a shingle, I have a pinched nerve in my neck and/or shoulder. I can't figure out where exactly the source of the pain is, because both my left side of my neck and my left shoulder are in a tremendous amount of pain. I've been up since 2am because any slight movement involving my head, neck or shoulders sends excruciating shoooting pains into those spots.
Being up at 2am against your will is not fun. There is nothing on television, but I noticed that Half Pint from Little House on the Prairie (Melissa Gilbert) is hawking shampoo.
I also watched two back to back eps of Cops this morning at about 3am. People in remote areas (well, pretty much anywhere, to be perfectly honest) are amazingly stupid, but I'm sure you already knew that.
I stayed home today to do some office work and get a bit of rest, and while making coffee I felt for some reason that my toaster oven needed to be cleaned.
WTF.
It went something like this: scrub, ow, scrub, ow, scrub, wipe down, ow, scrub, OW MOTHERF**CKER!
What is WRONG with me?
But god bless my little PRM. A while back she gave me this funky little heating/cooling pad that's full of buckwheat shells that you can either heat it in the microwave or freeze it. It looks like a big neck pillow that's really pliable and it smells kinda weird, yet comforting when it's warm. My heating pad wasn't helping because it's long and flat, and the area that I need heat is kinda scoopy, kinda curvy (neck, shoulder) and I couldn't get it to cooperate. I heated up the buckwheat (o-tay! lol) "pillow" and draped it over my shoulder, nuzzling it next to my neck.
AAAAAHHHHHH. Relief!
I'm tempted to take some Vicodin, but I don't know. The pain is bad, but not bad enough to warrant prescription drugs. We'll see, I guess.
For now, dark chocolate and a cup of coffee are making me feel a lot better. :)
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Barely Time To Blog!
It's true. Between a class last week and an emergency project I've been working on this week, I am extremely behind on my regular stuff, so it looks like it's going to be a working weekend. GREAT.
I am missing blogging, jewelry making and cooking.
Although last night I made BBQ pulled chicken breasts in the Crockpot and it is AWESOME. Super simple - about 4-ish lbs of chicken breasts, some of my sister's favorite BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's - I don't care for it, but I it doesn't bother me to use it) and a bottle of Lawry's Mexican Chili Lime Marinade/Sauce. I also added a cup of low sodium chicken broth and set it on high for about 5 hours. At around the 5 hour mark, the chicken was falling apart, but the liquid was really, really thin. As I shredded the chicken up, the liquid absorbed into it and it didn't all come out as drippy as I had thought. It will make great sammies or even a scoop on a salad.
Now as most people know, I typically like to experiment with herbs, spices, fresh veggies, etc, but I have no time to experiment right now. And of course I miss it, but I gotta eat, you know?
I think I'm going to make veggie chili this weekend. Maybe I'll add some of the pulled chicken. Extra flavor!
Work is good. Busy busy busy. My god, I can't keep up. My girls (SuperGirl and now the new receptionist who we'll just call NewGirl for now) are doing a great job helping me, but there are some things that I just can't have them do. Too complicated, too confidential, that kinda crap. But I'm okay.
CBN and I haven't been able to coordinate for another Zumba class, and I miss it. We are going soon -- maybe next week. We're working on that. Although it gave my foot a chance to rest -- I think I jacked it up in Zumba, but who knows. I like the class and will continue to go...of course until my foot breaks. Let's hope that doesn't happen. :)
Hmm...what else, what else. Well, I had a boo boo on the tip of my nose that is a scab and I'm self conscious that people may think it's a boogie. TMI, lol
Oh wait! I did want to say that I went clothing shopping the other day and I'm down 1-2 sizes. Wha? Huh? I mean I've been working out, but the eating hasn't too great (I need to work on that) and I really didn't feel like I've lost weight. I'm probably maintaining or losing very little at this point, which is good, but it needs to be better. I think the size loss was probably weight loss related, but also related to the fact that I don't like to wear tent sized clothing anymore. I used to hide underneath my clothes, the baggy-er the better. Now I wear things that are a bit more fitted (but not tight) and I'm comfortable with it. Sure, I'm fat, I'm self conscious, but the baggy clothing makes me look preggers, and I ain't preggers. lol
I'm pretty happy with the changes over the last few years. I think about it every so often and am glad I'm no longer the person physically and emotionally that I used to be.
Ok, I've started and stopped this about 4 times, so it's time to get back to work. Later Skaters! :)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
It's Official...
I was at T's tonight for dinner, and drove the PRM's car because I didn't want to deal with street parking when I came home (it's such a pain).
The after dinner snuggle went kinda like this:
Me: "I have to go soon."
T: "Why? Stay here."
Me: "I have to work tomorrow...and I have to bring the PRM's car back home."
T: "Give me your phone. I'll call your mom and say that you're lost."
Me: "Or you could tell her that my boyfriend won't let me go."
T: "Oh, so that's what we're calling it?"
Me: "Huh? Calling what?"
T: "Am I your boyfriend?"
Me: "Am I your girlfriend?"
T: "Answer the question."
Me: "Well, yeah. I always thought so, but this is the first time I say it out loud."
T: "Me too."
Me: "Me too...what?"
T: "You're my girlfriend."
Huh? Me? Wow. It was cool to hear him say that. And for me to say it, too. :-)
The after dinner snuggle went kinda like this:
Me: "I have to go soon."
T: "Why? Stay here."
Me: "I have to work tomorrow...and I have to bring the PRM's car back home."
T: "Give me your phone. I'll call your mom and say that you're lost."
Me: "Or you could tell her that my boyfriend won't let me go."
T: "Oh, so that's what we're calling it?"
Me: "Huh? Calling what?"
T: "Am I your boyfriend?"
Me: "Am I your girlfriend?"
T: "Answer the question."
Me: "Well, yeah. I always thought so, but this is the first time I say it out loud."
T: "Me too."
Me: "Me too...what?"
T: "You're my girlfriend."
Huh? Me? Wow. It was cool to hear him say that. And for me to say it, too. :-)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Feelin' Stupid
I've been in a class for the last 2.5 days...The Fundamentals of Cost Accounting. Yeah, I know, you probably fell asleep just reading that! LOL
It wasn't that bad of a class, but the only problem I had was that almost every example, every formula, every ratio was directed toward the manufacturing industry...and I'm not in manufacturing. Ugh. My industry is considered "service".
And no, I'm not a prostitute. :)
But the instructor kicked ass, he agreed that a lot of what we covered didn't quite apply to the industry I work in, and he plans to tell the school that they need to cover cost accounting for the service industry AND update their materials. He ended up bringing in a bunch of material that he uses at the university he teaches at, which I totally appreciated. It was really detailed and easy to follow.
AND he wants to help me find classes and is available for questions and/or advice. He rocks!
I really felt like such a moron in that class. So many formulas, we moved at warp speed through a book that was about 3 inches thick - I really felt that the class should have been cut into two parts. Too much info, plus as he's using the examples for the manufacturing industry, I'm trying to apply it to the service industry, got myself all turned around and eventually lost. Yikes.
But I did walk away with some things that I will use in my financials and day to day accounting, and I have to go back to school. I have to.
Now to find the money to do that... :-(
Oh well, I'll figure it out, I'm sure.
And now I'm 2.5 days behind on my work, and it's 10:30pm on a Friday and I'm working at home. I hate this.
I'm done bitching. For now. :)
It wasn't that bad of a class, but the only problem I had was that almost every example, every formula, every ratio was directed toward the manufacturing industry...and I'm not in manufacturing. Ugh. My industry is considered "service".
And no, I'm not a prostitute. :)
But the instructor kicked ass, he agreed that a lot of what we covered didn't quite apply to the industry I work in, and he plans to tell the school that they need to cover cost accounting for the service industry AND update their materials. He ended up bringing in a bunch of material that he uses at the university he teaches at, which I totally appreciated. It was really detailed and easy to follow.
AND he wants to help me find classes and is available for questions and/or advice. He rocks!
I really felt like such a moron in that class. So many formulas, we moved at warp speed through a book that was about 3 inches thick - I really felt that the class should have been cut into two parts. Too much info, plus as he's using the examples for the manufacturing industry, I'm trying to apply it to the service industry, got myself all turned around and eventually lost. Yikes.
But I did walk away with some things that I will use in my financials and day to day accounting, and I have to go back to school. I have to.
Now to find the money to do that... :-(
Oh well, I'll figure it out, I'm sure.
And now I'm 2.5 days behind on my work, and it's 10:30pm on a Friday and I'm working at home. I hate this.
I'm done bitching. For now. :)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Halloween, Roseanne Style
I'm a little late posting this, but hey, better late than never, right?
Halloween was pretty uneventful. We got the usual crowds of children, but the evening was cut short due to THIS:
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/pregnant.woman.shooting.2.1284761.html
This happened about four blocks from my house. Jeez. It's halloween. Can we put the guns down for one night? I remember back in the day I was running from flying eggs and shaving cream. Not bullets.
The trick or treating stopped around 8pm and we couldn't figure out why. Well, now we know! :-(
Anywho, it was a laid back evening. I worked during the day, and ended up just chillin' around the house with the fam.
And of course, I couldn't miss the Roseanne Halloween episodes. This one is my favorite!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iDsbAxhMIk&feature=related
Happy Belated Halloween! Hope everyone's was a happy (and safe!) one. :)
Bloggers Meet The PRM!
Yeah, that's right! My friends and fellow bloggers, Christina and CBN have finally met the little lady who brought this very blogger into the world 38 (OMG) years ago! lol Well, at this point, 38 years and 8 months! :)
I love this friggin' picture. Look how short my jacket AND pants are. The PRM was big on getting the most mileage out of our clothing! LOL
Anywho, we attended a cooking class at The Chopping Block, which was taught by my healthy eating hero, which is none other than the lovely Dawn Jackson-Blatner. The girls were interested in taking Dawn's class, and the opportunity had finally presented itself!
Class was great! The theme was "Appetizer Bonanza!" We made things like...
Thai Lettuce Tacos - very yummy and fresh, but I'm thinking some seasoned tofu or chicken would have made a great addition, turning into more of main course, but that's okay, right?
Then came the Herbed Goat Cheese and Zucchini Rolls, which I thought were EXCELLENT. I'm not a goat cheese person - well, I can't eat it all by itself, but pair it up with something tasty like grilled zucchini and herbs and, well, YUM!
Apologies for the crappy picture. My phone was not cooperating. It looks like a pig in a blanket! lol
Then came another goody - Samosas with Indian Pesto. Spicy, but oh so very, very good!
And then the dessert I couldn't stop eating - Dark Chocolate Covered Grapes! Sounds weird, but tastes great! The grapes were sweet and juicy and paired perfectly with the dark chocolate, which had chopped almonds sprinkled on top:
The PRM was feeling a little tired, so she wasn't her usual jovial self. But hey, there will be other classes for the girls to get to know her better. She did think the girls were lovely and wants to do a lunch or dinner sometime soon. Aww. :) I have the best mommy EVER.
And thanks DJB for another kick ass class! :)
Sal The Beadbox
My bead buying has gotten a little out of hand over time, and the Rubbermaid box I purchased at the craft store when this whole addiction began is starting to burst at the seams! lol
I knew I needed to get organized, but I wanted a storage container that would hold EVERYTHING and was portable as well. Hey, you never know when I'll have to bead on the run! lol
So picture this...I'm at the Home Depot on Saturday with The Mexican MacGuyver, which is as I'm sure you know, HIS SECOND HOME, where I'm picking out a basic toolkit for the office. He's drooling over the drills and whatnot, when all of a sudden, he picks up a toolbox (the Husky brand, how appropriate, lol) and goes, "Hey...this is a NICE toolbox...you think this would work for your jewelry crap?"
Yeah, he calls everything "crap". Even his own hobbies are "crap". So it's not an insult. It's his word for "stuff". I'm used to it.
I grab the box and say, "OMIGOD it's PERFECT!". And it is. I love it. Best 13 bucks I've ever spent.
And I've named it. His name is...Sal. Short for Salvador, TMM's middle name.
It's a manly bead box that's in touch with its feminine side. And I love that TMM picked it out!
I knew I needed to get organized, but I wanted a storage container that would hold EVERYTHING and was portable as well. Hey, you never know when I'll have to bead on the run! lol
So picture this...I'm at the Home Depot on Saturday with The Mexican MacGuyver, which is as I'm sure you know, HIS SECOND HOME, where I'm picking out a basic toolkit for the office. He's drooling over the drills and whatnot, when all of a sudden, he picks up a toolbox (the Husky brand, how appropriate, lol) and goes, "Hey...this is a NICE toolbox...you think this would work for your jewelry crap?"
Yeah, he calls everything "crap". Even his own hobbies are "crap". So it's not an insult. It's his word for "stuff". I'm used to it.
I grab the box and say, "OMIGOD it's PERFECT!". And it is. I love it. Best 13 bucks I've ever spent.
And I've named it. His name is...Sal. Short for Salvador, TMM's middle name.
It's a manly bead box that's in touch with its feminine side. And I love that TMM picked it out!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Twenty Four Songs
I've been giddy with excitement to get home and tell you all about something, but I needed to get in front of the scanner first, which I was able to do today.
T made me a mix tape. But let me start at the beginning.
Last Thursday night, I was sick as a dog, doing my pre road trip running around, when I received a call from T, asking if he could see me before I went on the trip. He only wanted a few minutes of my time, and I was wondering what was up.
We ended up meeting for dinner at "our" little Thai place in Little Italy on Taylor, Golden Thai, and toward the end of the meal, he presented me with a small package. Hmmm.
Well, it started with this card:
Gulp. Oh my goodness. I moved on to the CD, here's the cover:
Double gulp. Huh? For me?
And if you're wondering, the significance of "twenty four"? We replied to my personal ad and we started talking on March 24th.
I immediately flipped the CD over to check out the track list. Here's what I found:
I opened the CD. Here's what the disc looks like:
How pretty! He knows I'm a huge fan of daisies, although I think these are mums. I didn't say anything. :)
Then my eyes gravitated to the liner notes. Here's part one:
It's me! LOL It was a pic I took of myself a while ago, then played around with it in Photoshop, coming out to this result. I emailed it to him and said, "Look, I'm the girl in the A-ha video!" lol
Then I opened the liner notes:
Ok, let's review, clockwise from the top right.
1. The squirrel is a reference to the movie, "Up", when the dog (Dug), introduces himself to the old man, trying to sound very articulate (for a dog), but becomes distracted by a squirrel.
2. Adventureland was our first date movie, on April 4, 2009.
3. The wine flight was from date #3 at Andies in Andersonville.
4. The books are a reference to one of the songs on the CD (more on that later).
5. The hand holding picture was featured in one of the first cards he ever gave to me.
6. The teddy bear is a reference to one of the songs on the CD (more on that later).
7. The next picture was the first meal T had ever cooked for me. (Ravioli, goat cheese with bruschetta and salad).
8. The puppy is a reference to my love of dogs.
SAH-WOON! Can you believe it???
I was instructed to not play the CD until the next day (the printing on the CD needed to dry), but I couldn't wait. And I was bad. I peeked at the track list. I swear I almost had to pull over because I couldn't see through the tears. Amazing. AMAZING!
So here's the track list:
I'm sure some of these have a meaning to T that may differ from mine, we'll compare notes soon. :-)
And on to the track list:
1. "What's Happening, Hot Stuff?" Dialog from Sixteen Candles, one of my ALL TIME favorite movies!
2. Everything's Different Now - 'Til Tuesday (T is a huge Aimee Mann fan!)
3. I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles (no explanation needed, lol)
4. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison (my eyes are brown, and he's always saying something about them)
5. Beautiful Girl - INXS (he's always telling me I am beautiful. Gosh, I sound so full of myself in that sentence, but in all honesty, it's hard to hear it. I'm getting used to it, though. :-)
6. Natural High - Bloodstone (I'd never heard this song before. The lyrics are pretty self explanatory, though, but I plan to check with T on this one.)
7. Stompin' At The Savoy - The Benny Goodman Orchestra (T loves jazz, we saw a concert a few months ago that was a tribute to Benny Goodman, which featured this song.)
8. Night and Day - Frank Sinatra (This one can be one of many, lyrics of course, but it's a Cole Porter song, which I think T is a fan of. It was featured in The Gay Divorcee with Fred & Ginger, and I know T is a fan of old movies. He stumped me on this one...but then again, maybe I'm overthinking it!)
9. Bookends Theme - Simon & Garfunkel (he's a big fan of this song)
10. Overkill - Colin Hay (we both love Men At Work, and Colin Hay (lead singer) did an acoustic version of this song that I LOVE.)
11. Save Me - Aimee Mann (he's her #1 fan! :-) This is a kick ass song.
12. Be My Downfall - Del Amitri (we both love Del Amitri, and I stopped listening to them a long time ago for some reason. T has rekindled my love for them.)
13. My Name is Dug - dialog from Up - explains the "squirrel!" thing
14. Puppy Dog - Ralph's World (for my love of dogs. I played this CD on the trip about 4 times and this was the PRM's favorite, lol)
15. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear - Elvis Presley (I think this is another one where the lyrics speak for themselves, lol)
16. Don't Make Me Dream About You - Chris Isaak (I LOOOOVE Chris Isaak!!!)
17. Take My Breath Away - Berlin (This song was playing as I was departing from date #2 (or 3?). We held each other while the song played. It literally took my breath away.)
18. It Must Be Love - Madness (I'm a bit of a ska fan, and I like Madness a lot. This song was on the 80's new wave channel on satellite radio the day after we exchanged those three little words and I pointed it out to him...he remembered. :-)
19. Take On Me - A-ha (a tribute to the picture in the liner notes)
20. Adventureland Theme Song - Brian Kenny & Ian Berkowitz (a tribute to our first date movie)
21. Just Like Heaven - The Cure (this is another one where I'm slightly stumped. I love this song, and it was on the radio when we were in the car one day. I belted out into song, and perhaps he is remembering this. Or it could be the lyrics. Again, I'm overthinking. :-)
22. Love Me Like A Man - Bonnie Raitt (Lyrics speak for themselves and it kicks ass!)
23. Here Comes Your Man - The Pixies (I'm assuming this one speaks for itself, too!)
24. Angel Eyes - John Hiatt (another one that speaks for itself)
25. Two of Us - Aimee Mann & Michael Penn (definitely speaks for itself, plus T loves Aimee Mann. This song came up in one our first conversations because the Aimee Mann topic came up, and I was trying to impress him by saying "this version of that song was featured in the movie "Sam I Am"". (he already knew it, of course! lol)) (aaaand, Aimee is married to Michael Penn, who is Sean Penn's brother! I can't remember if he knew that factoid, lol)
26. The Making of a Good Compilation Tape - dialog from High Fidelity (Great movie! Totally appropriate line for my mixtape!)
Here's the quote: Now the making of a great compilation tape is a very subtle art, many do's and don'ts. First of all, you are using someone else's poetry to express how you feel, this is a delicate thing. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules. Anyway...
27. Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet (well, duh. :-)
Whew. Wow. I'm outta words.
He's amazing, ain't he?
T made me a mix tape. But let me start at the beginning.
Last Thursday night, I was sick as a dog, doing my pre road trip running around, when I received a call from T, asking if he could see me before I went on the trip. He only wanted a few minutes of my time, and I was wondering what was up.
We ended up meeting for dinner at "our" little Thai place in Little Italy on Taylor, Golden Thai, and toward the end of the meal, he presented me with a small package. Hmmm.
Well, it started with this card:
Gulp. Oh my goodness. I moved on to the CD, here's the cover:
Double gulp. Huh? For me?
And if you're wondering, the significance of "twenty four"? We replied to my personal ad and we started talking on March 24th.
I immediately flipped the CD over to check out the track list. Here's what I found:
I opened the CD. Here's what the disc looks like:
How pretty! He knows I'm a huge fan of daisies, although I think these are mums. I didn't say anything. :)
Then my eyes gravitated to the liner notes. Here's part one:
It's me! LOL It was a pic I took of myself a while ago, then played around with it in Photoshop, coming out to this result. I emailed it to him and said, "Look, I'm the girl in the A-ha video!" lol
Then I opened the liner notes:
Ok, let's review, clockwise from the top right.
1. The squirrel is a reference to the movie, "Up", when the dog (Dug), introduces himself to the old man, trying to sound very articulate (for a dog), but becomes distracted by a squirrel.
2. Adventureland was our first date movie, on April 4, 2009.
3. The wine flight was from date #3 at Andies in Andersonville.
4. The books are a reference to one of the songs on the CD (more on that later).
5. The hand holding picture was featured in one of the first cards he ever gave to me.
6. The teddy bear is a reference to one of the songs on the CD (more on that later).
7. The next picture was the first meal T had ever cooked for me. (Ravioli, goat cheese with bruschetta and salad).
8. The puppy is a reference to my love of dogs.
SAH-WOON! Can you believe it???
I was instructed to not play the CD until the next day (the printing on the CD needed to dry), but I couldn't wait. And I was bad. I peeked at the track list. I swear I almost had to pull over because I couldn't see through the tears. Amazing. AMAZING!
So here's the track list:
I'm sure some of these have a meaning to T that may differ from mine, we'll compare notes soon. :-)
And on to the track list:
1. "What's Happening, Hot Stuff?" Dialog from Sixteen Candles, one of my ALL TIME favorite movies!
2. Everything's Different Now - 'Til Tuesday (T is a huge Aimee Mann fan!)
3. I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles (no explanation needed, lol)
4. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison (my eyes are brown, and he's always saying something about them)
5. Beautiful Girl - INXS (he's always telling me I am beautiful. Gosh, I sound so full of myself in that sentence, but in all honesty, it's hard to hear it. I'm getting used to it, though. :-)
6. Natural High - Bloodstone (I'd never heard this song before. The lyrics are pretty self explanatory, though, but I plan to check with T on this one.)
7. Stompin' At The Savoy - The Benny Goodman Orchestra (T loves jazz, we saw a concert a few months ago that was a tribute to Benny Goodman, which featured this song.)
8. Night and Day - Frank Sinatra (This one can be one of many, lyrics of course, but it's a Cole Porter song, which I think T is a fan of. It was featured in The Gay Divorcee with Fred & Ginger, and I know T is a fan of old movies. He stumped me on this one...but then again, maybe I'm overthinking it!)
9. Bookends Theme - Simon & Garfunkel (he's a big fan of this song)
10. Overkill - Colin Hay (we both love Men At Work, and Colin Hay (lead singer) did an acoustic version of this song that I LOVE.)
11. Save Me - Aimee Mann (he's her #1 fan! :-) This is a kick ass song.
12. Be My Downfall - Del Amitri (we both love Del Amitri, and I stopped listening to them a long time ago for some reason. T has rekindled my love for them.)
13. My Name is Dug - dialog from Up - explains the "squirrel!" thing
14. Puppy Dog - Ralph's World (for my love of dogs. I played this CD on the trip about 4 times and this was the PRM's favorite, lol)
15. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear - Elvis Presley (I think this is another one where the lyrics speak for themselves, lol)
16. Don't Make Me Dream About You - Chris Isaak (I LOOOOVE Chris Isaak!!!)
17. Take My Breath Away - Berlin (This song was playing as I was departing from date #2 (or 3?). We held each other while the song played. It literally took my breath away.)
18. It Must Be Love - Madness (I'm a bit of a ska fan, and I like Madness a lot. This song was on the 80's new wave channel on satellite radio the day after we exchanged those three little words and I pointed it out to him...he remembered. :-)
19. Take On Me - A-ha (a tribute to the picture in the liner notes)
20. Adventureland Theme Song - Brian Kenny & Ian Berkowitz (a tribute to our first date movie)
21. Just Like Heaven - The Cure (this is another one where I'm slightly stumped. I love this song, and it was on the radio when we were in the car one day. I belted out into song, and perhaps he is remembering this. Or it could be the lyrics. Again, I'm overthinking. :-)
22. Love Me Like A Man - Bonnie Raitt (Lyrics speak for themselves and it kicks ass!)
23. Here Comes Your Man - The Pixies (I'm assuming this one speaks for itself, too!)
24. Angel Eyes - John Hiatt (another one that speaks for itself)
25. Two of Us - Aimee Mann & Michael Penn (definitely speaks for itself, plus T loves Aimee Mann. This song came up in one our first conversations because the Aimee Mann topic came up, and I was trying to impress him by saying "this version of that song was featured in the movie "Sam I Am"". (he already knew it, of course! lol)) (aaaand, Aimee is married to Michael Penn, who is Sean Penn's brother! I can't remember if he knew that factoid, lol)
26. The Making of a Good Compilation Tape - dialog from High Fidelity (Great movie! Totally appropriate line for my mixtape!)
Here's the quote: Now the making of a great compilation tape is a very subtle art, many do's and don'ts. First of all, you are using someone else's poetry to express how you feel, this is a delicate thing. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules. Anyway...
27. Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet (well, duh. :-)
Whew. Wow. I'm outta words.
He's amazing, ain't he?
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Door County Update
I'm so sorry I've been so lame with the updates. The hotel's internet connection has been kind of hokey, and after successfully posting pictures to Facebook last night, the connection promptly took a crap on me. I got tired of trying, retrying, and waiting, so I gave up.
Tonight's connection is actually really great, so I'm going to take advantage and do a little write up and add in some pictures!
We arrived Friday afternoon at the Egg Harbor Lodge up in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin (Door County). It's a lovely place (My only complaints are the hokey internet and the REALLY small bathrooms. But other than that, they get two thumbs up from me and the PRM.). 25 units, pool (I've never used it), hot tub/whirpool (never used, either), all rooms face Lake Michigan (gorgeous), and the best part? Ya gotta be over 17 to stay here!!!!! :-) The absence of small, whiny, ankle biters sure makes a difference. Evenings are quiet. Mornings are quiet. I wake up to Mr. Sun peeking through the curtains, saying, "Good morning, Diana", not some little drooly yelling in the hallway, "MOOOOOOOOOOM!!!"
Seriously, dude. If I had kids, I'd be okay with it, but I don't go on vacation to be awakened at 6am by kids running around and screaming bloody murder. Thanks, but no. The cruise I took in March cured me from ever wanting to take another vacation like that during spring break!
Oops, I've fallen off topic. Let's take a look at the view from the balcony of my room:
Ain't it grand? :) I can't complain, that's for sure!
So we drove through the rain and arrived in Egg Harbor around 3pm. We dropped our stuff off and headed off to a local fave, Shipwrecked, for a quick bite to eat. I had the seafood chowder (thumbs up) and the brisket sandwich (thumbs up, the fries were eh, though). Only in Wisconsin can you get a brisket sandwich with cheddar cheese on it! LOL
My only complaint is that the waiter seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to get us out of there...and it wasn't even that crowded. Yeesh! After that we walked around a bit, checked out a couple of stores in town, and then headed back to the hotel around 7pm.
The thing about Door County, if you've never been here, the businesses pretty much roll up the sidewalks around 5 or 6pm. Stores close, most restaurants/cafes close, and all that's left are the big restaurants and the bars. And I'm not even sure how late they are open. I was tired from the driving anyway, so we went back to our room and chilled out for the night.
We were up at 7am on Saturday to get started on our day. We headed north to Fish Creek, which is where our favorite restaurant for breakfast is located, The Cookery. They were closed for a while due to a fire, but they rebuilt the place from the ground up, and it is beautiful! So modern, yet cozy. Before the fire, the place reminded me of grandma's kitchen.
Well, not my grandma. That's another story. lol
So here's breakfast. I had scrambled eggs, crabcakes and a lovely little salad. The PRM had oatmeal with cherries in it that was delish! Their biscuits are to die for, and they served us fresh, homemade strawberry rhubarb & tart cherry jam to go with them. I wanted to take the jars and caddy home with me!!
Anyway, after breakfast we headed out to do a little shopping and sight seeing around Fish Creek. That's when the germs I've been incubating for the last few days decided to make an appearance. I. got. so. SICK! It was awful. I was miserable. We had to make a run to the hotel for reasons I'll spare you on, but I've still been battling the flu from last week which has morphed into a small cold. I've been fighting it because I didn't want to cancel this trip and had been successful, until that very moment. Man, was I glad the hotel wasn't that far!!
After awhile, I felt better and we headed back to Fish Creek. On the way there, we stopped at the Cherry Hut. I love this place! Everything was BOGO because they, as everyone else around here, is closing up for the season in the next couple of weeks.
As I'm gathering up the goods, I feel sick again. AGAIN! This time, I broke out into a sweat and almost hurled on the floor. I paid for my stuff and told the PRM, "I'll be outside". The fresh air helped, but I needed to get out of there! When she returned to the car she took one look at me and said, "We're going back to the hotel, now!" Shit, did I look that bad?
Well, apparently I did. I high tailed it into the room, and after praising the porcelain goddess, I crashed on my bed and lay perfectly still for a bit. Mom got all caught up watching the movie "Must Love Dogs" and even after about 20 minutes, I was ready to go again, but she claimed to be into the movie (although later I found out she stayed on purpose so I could rest), so we stayed.
About two hours later we departed the hotel again. This time, we went back into Egg Harbor and visited The Chocolate Chicken, which is a local candy store that we LOVE. They sell coffee as well, and the Black Satin coffee is so damn good, I bought a pound and I can't wait to get it home to try it!
Third time's a charm, we tried Fish Creek again, where we stopped to visit some stores and take some snaps of the beautiful trees:
I managed to make it to Fish Creek and not get sick...SUCCESS! :-)
Then we headed up north to Gills Rock to check things out. Along the way, I found not one, but TWO bead stores! There was The Bead Bucket, then The Perfect Beads, both closeby to one another in Sister Bay or Ephraim (I can't remember). The Bucket was nice, very much the hippie vibe in a cute little shack (the girl behind the counter looked exactly like Anne Hathaway! lol), and I found out that they have a much bigger store in Green Bay, which I may try and visit on the way home! The Perfect Beads was closed, but we returned on Sunday and the shop rocks. I found so many beautiful beads and spent 1/2 of what I'd spend in the Chicago shops.
There's also a bead store in Fish Creek, but I managed to miss it. I'll have to seek it out next time! :-)
So yeah, I managed to feed the bead need, what can I say. I have no excuses. And I found some great deals on beads! lol
And check out these pumpkins at a local gas station in Sister Bay! They were $30 a piece!
We finally wandered up to Gills Rock and made it in time for the sunset. Ahhhh, how beautiful!
After Gills Rock, we headed back south toward Egg Harbor, and stopped in Fish Creek for dinner, since we were hungry. I KNOW. Fish Creek, AGAIN? I'm a glutton for punishment, I guess!
We had dinner at The Summertime Restaurant, which was fab. I couldn't take any pics of my meal (I had the pork chops) because it was pretty dimly lit in there. But trust me, it was delicious. And the waiter was the bomb. It seems a little serious and kinda snooty in the restaurant, and he's acting all bossy and Mr. Sarcastic to the customers, which is totally a joke, and completely hilarious! I think he was lucky the patrons played along with him!
And I managed to stay healthy. lol
After dinner, I was tired from the driving, so we went back to the hotel and settled in for the night.
Today's plan to was to stop in town to see the new health food store, Greens & Grains (awesome, BTW), then the specialty gourmet shop down the street from there for some sun dried tomato pesto for T, and then drive over to the other side of the peninsula, but we still wanted to visit The Perfect Beads and Bea's Ho-Made (I swear, that's how they spell it) Shop up in Gills Rock, so we headed back out there this morning. Route 57 pops up in Sister Bay (I think), and that took us to the other side of the peninsula. And there's nothing exciting to report. The other side is more residential than anything, but it was a lovely ride nonetheless.
And you're probably thinking I drove hundreds of miles over the last two days, but Door County is pretty small. I believe one lap all the way around is 50 miles. There was a marathon or something like that this weekend where people were running the entire peninsula. I salute you! It's been 40 degrees and raining here all weekend!!!!
So today was spent just hitting the stores and driving all over the peninsula, which was great and a lot of fun. When we looped back into Door County, we stopped at a few more stores and then back to the hotel to change for dinner.
Dinner was at Alexander's in Fish Creek (I know, you're wondering what my fascination with Fish Creek is, lol!!), which was FANTASTIC. I had the pesto crusted scallops which were to die for. My breath reeks from the garlic and I'm cool with it. :)
We then went on a scary ride in the pitch black darkness (there aren't a lot of street lights around here) to find bottled water. The local supermarket in Egg Harbor closed for the day (jeez), so we ended up in Sturgeon Bay (near Green Bay) where we finally found a gas station (there are not that many in Door County), gassed up The PRM's SUV, bought some water, and headed back to the hotel.
And that's all she wrote. We're off tomorrow morning to head back to Chicago and get back to reality. Boo. Hiss. I like it here. It's so calm, peaceful and serene. I can't wait to come back again!
Look how happy we look!
I love you, PRM! You didn't give me any awesome stories to take back to the blogosphere, well, there was the dooch-bag story and the fact that you think I ordered up T on Ebay (lol), but it was so great to spend time with you. I wish my sister could see you through my eyes. You are warm, funny, caring, loving, supportive, beautiful (inside and out), kind, adorable, and the best mom a girl could ask for. And you're wearing the earrings I made you! lol
I can't wait to make the trip up here again!
Tonight's connection is actually really great, so I'm going to take advantage and do a little write up and add in some pictures!
We arrived Friday afternoon at the Egg Harbor Lodge up in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin (Door County). It's a lovely place (My only complaints are the hokey internet and the REALLY small bathrooms. But other than that, they get two thumbs up from me and the PRM.). 25 units, pool (I've never used it), hot tub/whirpool (never used, either), all rooms face Lake Michigan (gorgeous), and the best part? Ya gotta be over 17 to stay here!!!!! :-) The absence of small, whiny, ankle biters sure makes a difference. Evenings are quiet. Mornings are quiet. I wake up to Mr. Sun peeking through the curtains, saying, "Good morning, Diana", not some little drooly yelling in the hallway, "MOOOOOOOOOOM!!!"
Seriously, dude. If I had kids, I'd be okay with it, but I don't go on vacation to be awakened at 6am by kids running around and screaming bloody murder. Thanks, but no. The cruise I took in March cured me from ever wanting to take another vacation like that during spring break!
Oops, I've fallen off topic. Let's take a look at the view from the balcony of my room:
Ain't it grand? :) I can't complain, that's for sure!
So we drove through the rain and arrived in Egg Harbor around 3pm. We dropped our stuff off and headed off to a local fave, Shipwrecked, for a quick bite to eat. I had the seafood chowder (thumbs up) and the brisket sandwich (thumbs up, the fries were eh, though). Only in Wisconsin can you get a brisket sandwich with cheddar cheese on it! LOL
My only complaint is that the waiter seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to get us out of there...and it wasn't even that crowded. Yeesh! After that we walked around a bit, checked out a couple of stores in town, and then headed back to the hotel around 7pm.
The thing about Door County, if you've never been here, the businesses pretty much roll up the sidewalks around 5 or 6pm. Stores close, most restaurants/cafes close, and all that's left are the big restaurants and the bars. And I'm not even sure how late they are open. I was tired from the driving anyway, so we went back to our room and chilled out for the night.
We were up at 7am on Saturday to get started on our day. We headed north to Fish Creek, which is where our favorite restaurant for breakfast is located, The Cookery. They were closed for a while due to a fire, but they rebuilt the place from the ground up, and it is beautiful! So modern, yet cozy. Before the fire, the place reminded me of grandma's kitchen.
Well, not my grandma. That's another story. lol
So here's breakfast. I had scrambled eggs, crabcakes and a lovely little salad. The PRM had oatmeal with cherries in it that was delish! Their biscuits are to die for, and they served us fresh, homemade strawberry rhubarb & tart cherry jam to go with them. I wanted to take the jars and caddy home with me!!
Anyway, after breakfast we headed out to do a little shopping and sight seeing around Fish Creek. That's when the germs I've been incubating for the last few days decided to make an appearance. I. got. so. SICK! It was awful. I was miserable. We had to make a run to the hotel for reasons I'll spare you on, but I've still been battling the flu from last week which has morphed into a small cold. I've been fighting it because I didn't want to cancel this trip and had been successful, until that very moment. Man, was I glad the hotel wasn't that far!!
After awhile, I felt better and we headed back to Fish Creek. On the way there, we stopped at the Cherry Hut. I love this place! Everything was BOGO because they, as everyone else around here, is closing up for the season in the next couple of weeks.
As I'm gathering up the goods, I feel sick again. AGAIN! This time, I broke out into a sweat and almost hurled on the floor. I paid for my stuff and told the PRM, "I'll be outside". The fresh air helped, but I needed to get out of there! When she returned to the car she took one look at me and said, "We're going back to the hotel, now!" Shit, did I look that bad?
Well, apparently I did. I high tailed it into the room, and after praising the porcelain goddess, I crashed on my bed and lay perfectly still for a bit. Mom got all caught up watching the movie "Must Love Dogs" and even after about 20 minutes, I was ready to go again, but she claimed to be into the movie (although later I found out she stayed on purpose so I could rest), so we stayed.
About two hours later we departed the hotel again. This time, we went back into Egg Harbor and visited The Chocolate Chicken, which is a local candy store that we LOVE. They sell coffee as well, and the Black Satin coffee is so damn good, I bought a pound and I can't wait to get it home to try it!
Third time's a charm, we tried Fish Creek again, where we stopped to visit some stores and take some snaps of the beautiful trees:
I managed to make it to Fish Creek and not get sick...SUCCESS! :-)
Then we headed up north to Gills Rock to check things out. Along the way, I found not one, but TWO bead stores! There was The Bead Bucket, then The Perfect Beads, both closeby to one another in Sister Bay or Ephraim (I can't remember). The Bucket was nice, very much the hippie vibe in a cute little shack (the girl behind the counter looked exactly like Anne Hathaway! lol), and I found out that they have a much bigger store in Green Bay, which I may try and visit on the way home! The Perfect Beads was closed, but we returned on Sunday and the shop rocks. I found so many beautiful beads and spent 1/2 of what I'd spend in the Chicago shops.
There's also a bead store in Fish Creek, but I managed to miss it. I'll have to seek it out next time! :-)
So yeah, I managed to feed the bead need, what can I say. I have no excuses. And I found some great deals on beads! lol
And check out these pumpkins at a local gas station in Sister Bay! They were $30 a piece!
We finally wandered up to Gills Rock and made it in time for the sunset. Ahhhh, how beautiful!
After Gills Rock, we headed back south toward Egg Harbor, and stopped in Fish Creek for dinner, since we were hungry. I KNOW. Fish Creek, AGAIN? I'm a glutton for punishment, I guess!
We had dinner at The Summertime Restaurant, which was fab. I couldn't take any pics of my meal (I had the pork chops) because it was pretty dimly lit in there. But trust me, it was delicious. And the waiter was the bomb. It seems a little serious and kinda snooty in the restaurant, and he's acting all bossy and Mr. Sarcastic to the customers, which is totally a joke, and completely hilarious! I think he was lucky the patrons played along with him!
And I managed to stay healthy. lol
After dinner, I was tired from the driving, so we went back to the hotel and settled in for the night.
Today's plan to was to stop in town to see the new health food store, Greens & Grains (awesome, BTW), then the specialty gourmet shop down the street from there for some sun dried tomato pesto for T, and then drive over to the other side of the peninsula, but we still wanted to visit The Perfect Beads and Bea's Ho-Made (I swear, that's how they spell it) Shop up in Gills Rock, so we headed back out there this morning. Route 57 pops up in Sister Bay (I think), and that took us to the other side of the peninsula. And there's nothing exciting to report. The other side is more residential than anything, but it was a lovely ride nonetheless.
And you're probably thinking I drove hundreds of miles over the last two days, but Door County is pretty small. I believe one lap all the way around is 50 miles. There was a marathon or something like that this weekend where people were running the entire peninsula. I salute you! It's been 40 degrees and raining here all weekend!!!!
So today was spent just hitting the stores and driving all over the peninsula, which was great and a lot of fun. When we looped back into Door County, we stopped at a few more stores and then back to the hotel to change for dinner.
Dinner was at Alexander's in Fish Creek (I know, you're wondering what my fascination with Fish Creek is, lol!!), which was FANTASTIC. I had the pesto crusted scallops which were to die for. My breath reeks from the garlic and I'm cool with it. :)
We then went on a scary ride in the pitch black darkness (there aren't a lot of street lights around here) to find bottled water. The local supermarket in Egg Harbor closed for the day (jeez), so we ended up in Sturgeon Bay (near Green Bay) where we finally found a gas station (there are not that many in Door County), gassed up The PRM's SUV, bought some water, and headed back to the hotel.
And that's all she wrote. We're off tomorrow morning to head back to Chicago and get back to reality. Boo. Hiss. I like it here. It's so calm, peaceful and serene. I can't wait to come back again!
Look how happy we look!
I love you, PRM! You didn't give me any awesome stories to take back to the blogosphere, well, there was the dooch-bag story and the fact that you think I ordered up T on Ebay (lol), but it was so great to spend time with you. I wish my sister could see you through my eyes. You are warm, funny, caring, loving, supportive, beautiful (inside and out), kind, adorable, and the best mom a girl could ask for. And you're wearing the earrings I made you! lol
I can't wait to make the trip up here again!
Friday, October 23, 2009
The Awesomeness That Is My PRM
We made it into Door County around 3pm today. It's been raining since we left Chi-town, but I'm not going to let that get me down.
I don't want to be rude to The PRM, so I'll keep it short and write more later. But here are some doozies that I had to share:
1. Somewhere in northern Wisconsin, she called a truck driver a douche bag, because he had cut me off in traffic.
Well, her version of the words were: dootch-bag. I can't stop laughing about that one.
2. At lunch, she was grilling me about T and asked me where I had met him. I said, "online". She said:
"Ebay?"
"Yeah, mom, I bought my boyfriend on Ebay."
I can't stop laughing about that one, either. I know you guys love her as much as I do. :)
Ok, I'll be back with more. And I hope to post some pics, too!
I don't want to be rude to The PRM, so I'll keep it short and write more later. But here are some doozies that I had to share:
1. Somewhere in northern Wisconsin, she called a truck driver a douche bag, because he had cut me off in traffic.
Well, her version of the words were: dootch-bag. I can't stop laughing about that one.
2. At lunch, she was grilling me about T and asked me where I had met him. I said, "online". She said:
"Ebay?"
"Yeah, mom, I bought my boyfriend on Ebay."
I can't stop laughing about that one, either. I know you guys love her as much as I do. :)
Ok, I'll be back with more. And I hope to post some pics, too!
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