Acting Debut

The PRM asked me to take her to the Taste of Chicago on Sunday, and being the fricken awesome daughter that I am, I took her.  My sister was also invited, but she whined about homework and having to write a paper all weekend, so we left her at home and headed out on our own. 

 

We had such a great time!  We tried eats from:

 

Robinson's No. 1 Ribs - we had the boneless rib sandwich, which was good, no complaints there. 

Guey Lon - we had the tempura, it's a ritual for the PRM to have it when she goes to the Taste.  Eh, I could have spared myself the 8 or 9 tickets it cost to buy it and spent it on something else, but that's just me.  It's fried food.  Cold fried food.  I was over it by the 1st bite.

 

We sat in the "Humana Senior Pavilion" to nosh on the first round of grub and I swear I was the youngest one there, which made me feel kind of great.  lol  After that we walked around for a bit, but the PRM was on a mission...

 

Arya Bhavan - we has the samosas.  SPICY, but crazy good!!  They included a mixture of three sauces that were spicy-sweet and very good.

Sabor Latino - this was the only Puerto Rican joint among the food booths and the PRM made a beeline to this place.  We had the steak jibarito, which is a steak sandwich, but instead of bread they use fried plantains.  And they add this garlic sauce that, is orgasm inducing.  The entire sandwich is so so bad, but so so good! 

Franco's Ristorante - for watermelon Italian ice.  Refreshing and delish!

 

After that we were stuffed like little piglets, so we headed over to see our friend and favorite dietitian, Dawn Jackson Blatner, as she was doing a cooking demonstration at the Taste, just like she did last year.  Outside of the little girl sitting three rows in front of us, who stood on a chair and faced the crowd for the entire demonstration as she made a buffet out of the inside of her nose (blech), it was a good time.  Dawn is so energetic and entertaining.  The tent was packed with people, which was great to see. 

 

Dawn cooked Fried Brown Rice with Asparagus and Almonds and a Grape & Mint salad.  Yum!

 

And I'm starting to think Dawn is some kind of honorary member of my family or something -- this lady sitting next to me made some stupid comment about what Dawn was cooking and I looked over and GLARED at her, as if she was putting down my PRM!  lol   Don't mess with my people, lady!  lol

 

After the demo the PRM was ready to eat again (lol), but I said I couldn't.  I was pretty stuffed and satisfied.  I told her to go ahead and get whatever she wanted, but she decided against it.  I offered to take her out for coffee, but before we could plan anything, she said,

 

"I WANNA SEE THE BEAN!"

 

Wow!  lol  We were about a block or two away, so I took her to see The Bean.  And I even videotaped the special occasion.  So here you go, folks, in her acting debut, THE PRM! 

 

Oh wait, one more thing -- what's so cute about the entire video (outside of that little backpack she's wearing) is that she doesn't realize the camera I'm using has a video function, so she keeps stopping to pose.  You'll see.  You can hear me laughing in the background saying, "I'm videotaping, keep walking!"  And then there's the shot of my spastic hands.  lol

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVFM16gChW0

 

Hey, leave me a comment if the video doesn't work.  I kind of have it on a bit of a lockdown.

 

Enjoy.  Another great day with a really great lady.  I heart my mamasita.  :)

Nuthin' But Love

So on the flipside of telling one employee about her excessive time off, I helped out another who has a severe case of sunburn.  I'm good like that.  :)

 

Super Girl (my assistant) went out in the sun yesterday and since she doesn't use sunscreen, she is well done today.  It's true, I saw it. 

 

Poor kid was just in here whining about the pain and I offered to help her put aloe on her back.  Here's the scene in the handicapped stall in the ladies room just now:

 

Super Girl:  (hissing sounds)  God, it hurts so bad.  It burns!

Me:  Holy crap, what did you do to yourself?!?!  (no joke, this kid fried herself extra crispy!!)

 

Laughing, and then the aloe flows:

 

Me:  Does that feel better?

Super Girl: Oh god, yes.  It's so cold, but it feels good!

 

Craaaap.  There was also talks of bra straps and sport bras, "hold your shirt up" and things like that.  lol

 

The women from across the hall are a BUNCH of busy bodies and the ones that were in the bathroom at that moment are probably in their office running their mouths off already.  lol  
 

Hey, it's gay pride week, right?  I was just doing my part.  lol  Not really.

Disciplinary Action

Oh, how I hate my job sometimes.  Especially when my staff can't seem to keep it together and come to work.  Or just do their jobs in general. 

 

The last few weeks have been filled with unexpected texts messages from one of my staff members at 6 o'clock in the morning, telling me her woes of the day that will either cause her to be late or not come in at all.  I let a few of them slide, but after last week -- sick day Monday, left early Thursday because she was moving (and asked me for the time off the day before), and then the move, plus car issues created some shit that kept her from coming in at all on Friday.  WHAT? 

 

In a nutshell, I've had it.  And I had to throw the warning shot out there to her because I had an employee like her a few years ago where things ended up getting out of hand and my boss ended up firing her for me.  It was nuts and I hated the fact that someone else had to do my dirty work.

 

Anyway, I told my current employee where she stands with her time off -- she's used all of it up, so any future time off will result a payroll deduction, and I mentioned my concerns.  Let's see how that goes, won't we?  :)   I really can't deal with this shit right now, but I also can't let it fester.  If she really doesn't want to be here, I'm sure I can find someone else who does.

 

And on a side note, who the fuck moves at 3pm on a weekday AND gives their boss less than 24 hours notice?  I would understand if you were in a high rise because I've heard that you need to schedule the dock time, but even that you have to schedule in advance.  Or hey, maybe an eviction, but she's moving from one two flat into another, both in shitty neighborhoods and she wasn't evicted.  So spare me, please. 

Pitter Patter Pitter Patter

Opened my email this morning and the first on the list was from T.  It's titled, "24 Things I Like".  Oh my.  :) 

 

(blushing, blushing, blushing)

 

Here's a sample:

 

3. The sound of your laughter.
4. When you blush.
5. Daily emails.
6. Lunches with you. Dinners too. Don't forget breakfast.
7. Your excitement over all things cooking.
8. Texts goodnight.

24. The fact that the list could be longer than twenty-four things.

 

He's swell, ain't he???  :)

Part Of The Job...But I Still Hate It

I sat in on my first termination this morning.  I didn't do the term, but it was horrible nonetheless.  I was shaking so bad that my pen flew across the room while I was talking to him about the HR related stuff. 

 

And the look on the guy's face just about killed me.

 

I'm gonna go puke now.  :-(

Simply Natural Cooking Class

On Saturday, I went to The Chopping Block for another class with my favorite dietitian, Dawn Jackson Blatner! Her classes were called "Healthy In A Hurry", and have been renamed "Simply Natural Cooking", which is quite appropriate! She uses all natural ingredients, no artificial anything.

The theme of the class was "Meatless Meals Dad Will Love". It was great fun, as usual, and the recipes were FAB. Wow! The one recipe that hands down blew me away was a ranch salad dressing we made. No dairy - it was made with CASHEWS. And it was delicious. That woman never ceases to amaze me!

Here's the recipe. And here's a snap of my salad. If you're on Facebook, I posted the same pictures a couple of days ago.

Then we made a Buffalo Strip Sandwich with pickled onions. We used tempeh, in place of meat. Dawn cut and grilled the tempeh, then dipped it in a buffalo sauce mixture. The sandwiches were made with Ezekiel brand hamburger buns, which are SO good. Avocado was spread on the buns, pickled onions and tomato were added and served up. This was a great sandwich. It was not as spicy as I thought it would be, which made it even better!

Along with the sandwich we made Sticky Sesame Green Beans. Another hit in my book. If the serving tray was in front of me, I probably would not have shared! lol


For dessert, we made a chocolate chip sunflower cookie, which was really great, because I'm always on the prowl for a new (and good for you) cookie recipe. We made it with coconut oil, I've always wanted to try cooking something with coconut oil since I'm hearing good things about coconut oil these days.

In addition, we used carrot puree (aka baby food) which can be swapped for applesauce. Since applesauce is something I normally utilize in my baking, I was into the idea of using carrot puree and plan to use it in the future!

She served the cookie with a small scoop of vanilla soy ice cream, which was sweetened with fruit juice.

All in all, another great class. I look forward to the next one! Yay, Dawn!

Music Corner: The Kaiser Chiefs

My summer song of the moment.

"It's cooooool...to know nothin'".

Oh, how true. :)

Music Corner: Goin' Emo With Snow Patrol

I'm really digging Snow Patrol.  And I'm probably the last one on the bandwagon as always.

This is a great song.

And I think of T when I hear this one. 

Dude, I'm so emo. 

Is this band considered emo?  I hope not.  Oh well, I'll be the one at the concert where the kids are saying, "uhhh, who brought their grandma???" 

Move it, kid, I can't see the stage.   :)

Previous Post Cleansing

Yeah, ok, the last post was a little gross, so allow me to cleanse your brain with more cuteness that is me. :) lol

This is me and my Titi, who I have mentioned in previous posts. She lived upstairs from us growing up and kept on eye on us afterschool and in the summertime. She was my mother's aunt, her father's younger sister.

She was a crazy spitfire and the biggest gossip in the family, but I loved her to death. She was married to a guy that was like 20 years her senior and he was one of the greatest men I've ever known in my life, outside of TMM. He taught me how to tie my shoes and told the best stories. :)

She was an excellent cook and could make a 3 course meal out of just a couple of ingredients. She was amazing. And she never made fun of the way I spoke spanish. :)

I miss you, Titi and Abuelito. I miss our visits at your apartment in Logan Square where I'd sit and catch up on the gossip rags you bought at the grocery store (you stored them on the TV cart for me) while you gossiped your little heart out about everyone under the sun and worked on your crochet projects. And after much insistence on my part that I wasn't hungry, you'd still cook for me and no way in hell would I pass up your pan fried chicken, and other goodies.

I hope you and Abuelito (spanish for "grandfather", who was her husband, technically my uncle, but because of his age and the fact that my paternal grandfathers were not a part of my life (TMM's passed away when dad was 18; PRM's was a gigolo that I met once or twice and died on the crapper like Elvis and disregarded my mother like yesterday's trash - another story for another day), so we considered Titi's husband a grandfather figure) are proud of the people my sister and I turned out to be.

Titi and Abuelito were complete opposites, the yin to each other's yang. She was strict, loving, a little crazy spitfire and funny as shit. He was gentle, loving, quiet and reserved, but funny when he wanted to be. I'm honored to have known you both and partially credit you for the person I am today.

Here's me with Titi. I was probably about a year old.

This is Abuelito, Titi's husband. Here he is with my sister, she's about a year old in this picture.

Good Thing I Worked At Home Today...

Not to be gross but I've been having some plumbing issues the last couple of days and I took an herbal laxative last night to try and "fix things".

I take this herbal laxative from time to time and it often takes a long time to work it's magic. Not today! Good thing I'm in the house!!!!!

Holy bananas, I think there is a small person up inside of me trying to get out! LOL

Sorry to gross you kids out. :( But my pain is your pain. ;)

Soyrizo

I was at Trader Joe's the other day and picked up a product called "soyrizo", which is the soy version of Mexican chorizo. As like the Mexican version, it's in the plastic casing that you have slice open and dump into a pan, although I think the soy version is fully cooked and of course doesn't render off the gallon of fat the regular stuff does. :) It looked interesting, so I gave it a try.

I'm working at home today, so I figured today would be a good day to try and cook with it. Growing up, we ate Mexican chorizo from time to time, but because it was such a fatty meat and not so good for you (I'm not going to even begin to tell you what it's made of, lol), it was kind of treat at our house. Yeah, some kids considered Twinkies a treat, we considered things like chorizo a treat. We're weird. lol

We'd prepare it by cooking down the sausage, draining the fat, adding eggs, seasonings, and cooking up the whole thing and serving it with tortillas and unlike my Mexican relatives, we included a myriad of fillings like lettuce, tomato, avocado, onions, fresh salsa, etc. Most of my relatives put the egg and chorizo mixture in a tortilla, add a little hot sauce, and eat it.

So I'm working on this soyrizo and it seems to be coming along nicely. I tasted it and my thoughts were, "yep, that's soy", although it is spiced nicely and tastes like what I remember from the last time I had the regular stuff. lol It looks like it was made with TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein), which I like to cook with. You can make great chili and Sloppy Joe's with TVP! :)

Since I'm already going against the grain by using soyrizo in a traditional recipe, so I also threw in some potatoes, so it's turning more into a tortilla espanola.

But I do know this. My Grandma Teresita (TMM's momma) is probably shaking her head at me from up in the heavens. Perdona me, Abuelita! (Sorry, Grandma)

Look how cute she is. :) This was at my cousin's wedding in the late 70's. I'm the even cuter one on the right. ;)

Cloud Gate

If you recognize this picture, you probably said, "hey, it's The Bean!". 

 

Well, the sculpture is actually called Cloud Gate, and I hear the thing is polished several times a day.  I wouldn't want that job, because I always see people touching the underside of the bean (sounds dirty) and I'd be snapping them with my polishing towel, just to get them to stop.  But that's just me.

 

Anyway -- the P's were going on a dinner cruise last night and I was asked to be their chauffer for the evening.  No biggie, I know that The Mexican MacGuyver has issues driving downtown AND paying for parking ("Parking should be FREE, Diana"  uh, huh.  umkay.  Welcome to the real world, my friend.), so when they asked, I obliged.

 

As we're driving along Michigan Avenue toward Burnham Harbor, the Puerto Rican Mamasita is taking in all of the sights as if she were visiting Chicago for the very first time.  Seriously, she just does not get out enough.  And for that matter, neither does he!  As we're passing The Bean, the following conversation takes place:

 

Diana:  "Hey Mom, look at The Bean."

PRM:  "Oooh, that's The Bean?  It's so shiny (well, she says chi-nee because of her slight accent)!"

TMM:  "Yep, they put that up to honor the Mexicans."

Diana:  "They did not!"

 

Laughter

 

PRM:  "Can I go inside The Bean?"

Diana:  "No, but you can touch The Bean like everyone else does."

PRM:  "I WANNA TOUCH THE BEAN!"

TMM:  "Don't worry, you'll be able to touch The Bean when you get home later."

 

Crickets

 

Diana:  "Oh my god, Dad.  You're all dressed up in your party clothes and you still manage to bring out the filth."

 

Hysterical laughter from me and TMM.

 

Wait for it...

 

Wait for it...

 

PRM finally gets it.   "Oh, TMM!  You're so bad!"

 

Those two need to get a room and keep that kind of talk out of my ears.  lol

Girlie Stores

In my last few outings with T we've done a bit of shopping and as he proclaimed on Sunday, "Oh, this is a GIRLIE store", I realized I've taken him into quite a few stores most men wouldn't think of stepping foot into...and he hasn't complained once.  Whatta guy!  :)

 

Ulta -- ah, Ulta.  How I love thee, you mecca of cosmetics, fragrance and other interesting stuff.  I worked at The Cosmetic Center (competitor) more than 10 years ago, so I can surely appreciate this store! 

 

For the record, T found a men's shaver that he got for a great price, so the trip to Ulta was not wasted, that's for sure.  ;)  I got a new lip gloss and face powder, too! 

 

Mojo Spa -- Holy crap I loves me some Mojo Spa.  That place is great.  It's owned by a chef turned beauty product genius, incorporating natural ingredients into her "recipes", thus creating some wonderful products for your face and body.  I'm a huge fan of Mon Cherie body cream (smells SO good), their soaps smell so good you want to take a bite out of them, as do the body scrubs, lotions and potions.  They have soy candles that as they melt, you can use it as a body cream.  How cool is that?

 

They also have spa services in the back, which I've been wanting to try, and if has been baking that day, you will be treated to a cupcake as you shop.  NICE!

 

T only got to see a little bit of this shop, as I was pretty much done with my shopping when he met me there.  He was at Reckless Records up the street purchasing CD's.

 

Michael's -- Wow, I wasn't sure what kind of reaction I'd get, but you could tell right away he was b-o-r-e-d.  I stocked up on beads while I was on vacation at this great store while making our way through Topanga Canyon called The Bead Lounge, then at Black Market Minerals on a trip to Gurnee Mills, so I need storage supplies.  I found some great boxes, a bead board (for making my "creations") and a few other goodies. 

 

On a side note, I'm finally organized, but I realized that I need more beads.  I know.  Just a little more variety.  Chicago has a few really neat bead stores, so I may just get up early on a Saturday, hit the gym and then go bead hoppin'.  I think I've forced a hobby on myself, so we'll see what happens. lol

 

Back to the story.  I rushed through Michael's as quickly as I could (but the beads were so pretty!! lol)  and I'm sure T appreciated it, but he never said a word.  He followed me around the store and I'm sure he was relieved when I headed toward the registers.  lol

 

And one more thing...

 

Would you believe he is okay carrying my purse?  Not that I ever make him or even let him do it, but he offers from time to time - like if I'm carrying something or fixing my hair and I'm in a moment of, "if I put my purse down I could probably get this done a lot faster".  Know what I mean?

 

And if we're at a store and I'm just picking up a couple of things, he takes them from me and carries them around for me until I'm ready to check out. 

 

Sorry, I'm not used to that, so of course I fought him a little at first.  lol  Stubborn, I guess.  He's such a gentleman.  It's so refreshing to be around someone like him.  :)

 

Although I have what I call the PRM Purse Syndrome, where I don't like to let my purse out of my sight and I usually keep it on my lap when we're in the car.  Hey, I grew up with the PRM always saying, "Watch your purse", "Zip your purse", "Don't leave your purse on the floor like that", so I'm paranoid. 

 

He teases me about my paranoia and while we were at Walmart on Saturday (HE HATES WALMART, lol) I put my purse on the top part of the cart (you know, where the little kid usually sits, with the little seat belt thingy), I said "you know, if my mom was here, her purse would go in this basket part AND she strap in her purse with the little seat belt".  It's true!  She does it all of the time!!

 

I think his eyes permanently rolled into his head after saying that, but hey dude, your wallet is in your pocket.  I can't fit my purse in my pocket.  My ass is already big enough, I don't need to add to it.  :)

Digital Transistion

Ok, I'm a day late posting this, but when I saw this, I was going to ask the PRM if she was paid for her appearance in the video. :)

The best part is when she's reading the website addresses at the end!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w34nNux4Xw

The Hangover

I saw "The Hangover" last weekend. I thought it was going to be a movie full of "guy" humor, so I was actually prepared to be disappointed. And yeah, there's guy humor, and it's not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, the movie is HILARIOUS. Go see it. I saw it with my sis and we laughed our asses off.

And uh, forgot one thing -- Bradley Cooper is HOT. :) (Don't tell T!!) lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzmkDDmoODA

69

Alright, get your minds out of the gutter, people. That's a percentage, not a position. lol

Oh wait, I guess I forgot to put the "%" in the title, huh? My bad. (heh heh heh)

So here's my deal - current debt reduction tally - 69% paid and counting. By this time next year, no mas debt-o. Gracias a dios (thank god).

When that day finally comes next year, I will do a happy dance and take all of you out for a steak dinner. Or for you vegetarians, a tofu dinner. I hear Karyn's is FAB and I've been wanting to try it! :)

I'm in a good mood today, so what the hell, embrace my 70's disco nerdiness and dance with me right now, wontcha? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOx81aG-EN4

Don't forget to clap your hands, as instructed in the song. ;)

I'm A Sick Puppy

I watched the Colossal Squid show on Animal Planet last night and all I could think about was the plate of calamari I could get from this guy. 

 

I know, sad.  :(   lol

Music Corner - Brett Dennen

I listen to Pandora at work pretty much throughout the day.  I'm over Chicago radio and I need background noise, specifically music. I'm sure I've talked about it in previous posts -- it's basically a free internet radio site.  You name an artist or song that you like and Pandora creates a radio station based on your selection(s).  And no commercials!  lol  Although I use the free version, so every few hours the site will stop playing and I have to click the "I'm Still Listening" button in order for the songs to continue playing.  No biggie.

 

For example, I currently have a "Jack Johnson" station.  Pandora selects other artists with similar music styles and will play those songs (along with Jack Johnson's).  I hear a nice mix of calm and easy music, which I really need during the day sometimes.  :)

 

Anyway, on my JJ station I keep hearing an artist named Brett Dennen.  I've heard a song or two of his on WXRT, but never paid attention until now.  I'm really digging his folksy pop sound and thought I'd share.  :)

 

Here are some of his tunes that I like:

 

Ain't No Reason

Make You Crazy - personal fave!

The One Who Loves You The Most

Darlin' Do Not Fear What You Do Not Know - live version, a fave as well.

Attention All Coldplay Fans

If you don't already already know about it, Coldplay is gifting their fans with a free download of their music, which is made up of nine of their songs, some of the hits, and they are all recorded live. 

Pretty cool.  :)  If you're a fan, get your free download here.  All you have to do is provide an email address.

I heart Coldplay.  :)  This is my favorite song by them.  It was featured in an episode of "Crossing Jordan" a few years ago and grabbed me so hard I spent hours on the internet trying to find the artist and name of that song.  And that's how I discovered Coldplay, lol. 

I mostly love the tempo of the song.  And of course, Chris Martin's voice.  :)

"God gave you style and gave you grace, and put a smile upon your face...ah yeah."

And then the song he wrote for Gywneth...so sweet.  :)

Franken-Doggy

Poor Lucky.  If you put me in a contraption like this, I'd be mad at you too.  :(

He had surgery earlier in the week to remove a small benign growth from the side of his head (you can kinda see the shaved part of his head in the picture) and the vet decided to do some kind of procedure on the incision that didn't require stitches since as he said, "Lucky is a little difficult to handle when he's not sedated", which meant he didn't want to put Lucky through the drama of having to take out stitches.

I agree with him, but come on, Doc, he's got allergies out the wazoo and scratches a lot.  The scratching is one of the reasons we had the growth removed in the first place!  We did our best to make sure he didn't scratch post surgery, but honestly, we can't watch him 24/7.

So I guess at this point you can kind of guess what happened.

The day after the surgery the incision opened up.  TMM jumped in and was able to close up the incision with gauze tape and when the P's took Lucky to the vet to check things out, the vet was impressed with Dad's handiwork and said to leave it as is, change the gauze as needed, and keep an eye on it.

WRONG.

As I was leaving to meet a friend yesterday morning, I stopped in to say hi and the PRM is on the verge of tears.  WTF?  Tells me her woes of how she stayed up all night with Lucky and then tells me, "look at his head".  Specifically, the incision.

OMFG.  My knees went a little weak.  The incision was WIDE OPEN.

Apparently, Lucky had scratched or rubbed his head on the floor (or in the cone, I didn't get the whole story on that one) and his incision opened up.  YIKES.

I asked, "do you need my help"...and then there was hesitation (as usual, because they don't like to ask their children for help.  Looking vulnerable to their children is against something they believe in or something along those lines.  In other words, they're nuts.  But I still love them.  lol).

So I asked again.  And again.  Finally, the PRM speaks up and says, "if you can go with your Dad, I can teach my class today because I can't reschedule it."

Seriously?  You teach Computers 101 to old people, which still continues to freak me out, because you yourself can't navigate your way around a computer, but that's another story for another day.  But I guess old people freak out if you reschedule on them, who knows.

Regardless, I told her to go to her class (I know it's important to her, but she was torn over the whole situtation, which I think was causing her so much hesitation) and I'd go with TMM to the vet.  She was relieved and seemed to be snapping out of the sense of despair I was getting from her.


So I made an executive decision, told TMM to get his ass in gear, excused myself with my friend, and off we went.

After waiting forever for the vet (it was ca-rowded in there, but I enjoyed hanging out with various dogs and cats!  :) we were finally called in and then after waiting another while, Dr. Mike finally came in, takes one look at Lucky and says to him in a scolding tone, "What have you been up to?"

Now this exchange was pretty funny to me, because usually Lucky growls and barks at the vet.  This time?  He faces me (back to the vet) and buries his head in my lap.  lol  Was someone embarrassed?  Should be!  lol

Then the vet looks at my Dad and says, "can you hold him down?" , and I'm sure you know what Macho Man would reply ("of course!"), and the decision was to have TMM hold down the dog while Dr. Mike and his assistant put staples on the incision.

Finally.  Why didn't you do that to begin with?  Sure, Lucky's a handful, but dude, we'll hold his furry ass down while you take out stitches/staples.  He's strong, but I've been lifting weights.  Wanna feel my guns???

TMM went in back with the crew and I went out to the waiting room.  Seeing all of these dogs makes me want another dog.  It also makes me want to sit on the floor and play with all of them, but I don't want to freak out the owners.  I swear I'm going to be the crazy dog lady in about 20 years.  If you come to my house and I offer you some meat loaf, check the garbage can to make sure I didn't make it out of Alpo or something.  lol

Ten minutes later I hear TMM saying, "Ok, Buddy, take it easy", while I hear the click of doggy nails on the floor.  I call out his name which makes him even crazier, and when he saw me in the waiting room, he ran straight toward me with a spring in his step and his tail wagging like crazy.  Yay!

The incision contains 8 staples and he's got kind of a frankenstein thing going on, which is kind of funny.  He doesn't appear to be in any pain, which is good.

After bringing him home, I offered to dog sit for the rest of the day since the P's were running on fumes from lack of sleep and also had errands and things they couldn't get to because of all of the doggy drama going on.  I made him a nice little bed in the kitchen with an old quilt I never use, gave him treats, water, and put the cone on whenever he started scratching.  He got the drift after awhile and stopped scratching.  He slept a lot throughout the day which was good and when the P's came home, he almost lost his noodle trying to get to them.  TMM is his BFF!  :)

I'm just glad he's okay.  I ran down there this morning to check on him and he seems to be like normal again, except he hooked up with his biker dog friends and got 8 piercings in his head.  lol  What a badass.  :)

Wacky Bingo Lady

My friend just invited me to come play Bingo with her and her friend next week. I have a feeling that after I leave I will become addicted and this is the way I'm going to look next time you see me. Then that reminds me of the episode of Roseanne where she goes to play Bingo and gets a little addicted...I miss this show! Well, I can do without the last two seasons! lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIagtS0igzM&feature=related Make sure you fast forward to the end, right around 6:30. It's the best part! lol

Coney Dog

Lucky had surgery on his head the other day.  It was a small growth (nothing major) that needed to be removed.  The vet used lasers or something along those lines to remove it and everything went fine and he looks great.   Then the urge to scratch it came on overnight.  And he opened up the incision.  It was bad, blood was everywhere.  The Mexican MacGuyver jumped into action and put butterfly bandages that he cut out of gauze on the incision and saved the day.  Even the vent was impressed!  Hurray for TMM!!  :)   As a result of all of this my little Lucky has to wear a cone because he keeps wanting to scratch the area with his hind legs.  That's not him in the picture, but it's pretty close.  He looks like a flower.  It's so cute when he lays down, I'll have to grab a snap of that soon.    Although I started calling him "Tulip" or "Flower" and I think TMM is thinking I'm calling the dog gay because he snaps at me, "it's called a cone, Diana".  So what if he is gay???  lol  TMM needs to loosen up.  :)   My poor baby.  He's in cone prison.  :(

One More Thing On The Previous Post

Ooh, I meant to say in the last post about that random email from one of those dating sites -- beard/hair guy sent me a "wink" (meaning he's interested in me), which is why they emailed me in the first place.   Oh joy, lucky me!  :(

Seriously?

Over the years I've subscribed to probably every dating site on the internet.  It's at a point now where I've forgotten about many of them, but they remind me with random emails from time to time.   And sure, I make a mental note to "unsubscribe", but then again, how would I get entertainment such as THIS?   The beard work is A-MAZING.  lol   Seriously?  lol

Another Confession

I'm afraid of doctors.  It's bad.  And as I get older I know that I have to bite the bullet and get my ass to the doctor because there are certain things I should be getting annual check ups for that I don't.   I know, I know.  Please don't lecture me.  :(   I've hated doctors since I was a child.  My mother found the worst peditrician in Chicago and forced me to see her until I was about 18.  I hated her with a passion.  She was horrible to me.  Just harping and harping on me about my weight and embarrassing me in front of my mother, the nurses and anyone else within earshot.  She never offered any kind of help, just "YOU'RE TOO FAT!"    No shit, really?   And when I turned 18, I stopped going.  And no one ever forced into another doctor.  Since then, I literally go to the doctor only if an appendage is literally hanging off of my body.   Sad, huh?   Well, now that I've taken so many steps to better myself mentally and physically, this is the next logical step.  Maybe it should have been the first logical step, but I've never been one to do things in order.    I found a great doctor (at least she sounds great) at Northwestern Memorial, which also has one of the top women's hospitals connected to it.  She specializes in obesity/weight management, but is also a general practitioner.  I'm going to start with a full physical and go from there.  I will need some referrals from her and hopefully she can hook me up with some other great doctors.   Holy shit, I hope I don't end up finding that I'm at death's door or something.  Jeebus.  :(   Breathe in, breathe out.  This is stressful for me.  I'm not being a drama queen by any means.  But I have to do it.  I know I have to!  I'm not getting any younger and there are reasons why I need to make sure I'm okay health-wise (fam, friends, T & most of all ME!).   Whew.  Felt good to get that out.  :)

Holy Bananas

I had a pile of overly ripe bananas that I didn't have the heart to throw out, so I made banana bread.   Three of 'em.  That's right, I had THAT many bananas.  Yeesh!  I brought some of my creation to work because I will eat it all, guaranteed.   Now every time I walk into the kitchen I want some.   Damn you, banana gods!!!  lol

Awwww

T sent me flowers today.  :)

What A Difference A Day (or two) Makes

If you read up on things a few posts ago, you found out that T & I said THE BIG THREE WORDS to each other.  I have no regrets and I still don't.  But a day or two later, after it all sunk in, I realized -- shit, I think it was too soon to say it.   And so did he.   Oh thank god.    I mean, I said it.  I said IT.  And I've never said it before, ever.  Sounds weird coming from a woman my age, but it's true.  And the moment building up to it was me thinking, "I just want to say it already!", and when I did I was elated.  To hear him say it back to me made the moment even better, of course.   And yesterday I finally came back down to the ground.  Whoa!  WTF did I just do???   Now don't get me wrong, I care about him a lot.  A lot.  He's wonderful, funny, neurotic in his quirky little way, caring, generous, affectionate, thoughtful, a little over analytical to the point where it's funny, a great listener, insightful, intelligent, corny, ok, ok, I'll stop.  lol  But you get my drift.  He's a great guy.  A total keeper.  No man has ever looked at or treated me this way ever in my "romantic career".  lol  Honestly, I thought guys like T only lived in movies or those trashy grocery store novels.   We talked last night.  And we agreed - the feeling is certainly mutual, but it's too soon just yet.    Damn, it's only been two months!  lol    So we made a deal - we also agreed that right now we do care for one another very much and that we're going to take things day by day.  We're going to gently shelve the L-O-V-E talk and revisit that sometime soon.  I'm good with that (and he was too), plus it took a lot of pressure off of the both of us. Whew.  I feel like a teenaged adult woman all at the same time sometimes.  I get carried away with my emotions/feelings and then when I hit the ground I see the big picture and thankfully to date, I only have to make minor tweaks to what I've said/done.   We also agreed that we know we'll be visiting that shelf again.   And when we do, we'll be confident about pulling that box down and sharing what's inside.  :)   I think I'm renaming this blog to "The Crazy Adventures of a Late Bloomer".  lol  :)

Conan!

I'm thrilled you'll be on an hour earlier!    :)