tmi

That about says it all. I'm gonna tell you all way more than you want to know. Well, not really, but you'll be able to imagine.

For the next two weeks (or three if it doesn't work well), I've got to be on a low fiber diet. I've got to try and do low residue for a couple of days to kick start this craziness, but I'm not going to go overboard. Being on the stupid prednisone for 4 months really screwed up my GI system. Actually, it's more going off the pred that's causing the problems. Supposedly it is a common side effect. Can't say as I'm a fan. One good thing is that I get to eat cheese everyday. CHEESE!!!!! I love me some cheese. Sadly, all my favorite TV snacks are out: blanched green beans and asparagus, raw carrots and celery, and almonds. Damn. Oh, and no popcorn. Dangit.

Have fun eating all the wonderful fruits and vegetables of the summer season. Hopefully I can join you in a couple weeks.

Albertsons vs Central Market

Color me all shades of perturbed. Last night I needed a couple basic grocery things so I went to the Albertsons close to my house. I got bread, a head of green leaf lettuce, ice cream (yes--it is a basic grocery in summertime Texas), and yogurt. Today I met Mother at Central Market after work to get a couple of things that I really only get there. While I was shopping for my fancy pants green beans, quinoa, and salami, I noticed something very disturbing. The lettuce I got at Albertsons was 10 cents less than at CM, but the heads at CM were bigger and of better quality. The same loaf of Oatnut bread was 40 cents less at CM. Most disturbing of all, the same Haagen Daz ice cream I got at Albertsons was more than a dollar less expensive at CM. And here I thought I was saving money by avoiding the basics at Central Market. Damn and double damn. On top of my fried chicken disaster, I've had quite the culinary awakening this week.

Granted, when I'm at Central Market, I do tend to get a few things I would normally not get just because they are there. =)

whirlwind weekend

Friday: Take the day off work to relax before I head out of town. Hahahahaha! More like drive all over the place to run last minute errands then realize the car is overheating. Go to the garage for them to tell me one of the cooling fans is dead--don't take your car for drives over 10 minutes. Um, how am I gonna get to Waco? Thank God for Mom. Leave town at 5:30pm (yes, it was rush hour but we weren't rushing) and drive just past Waco to McGregor. Visit with the peeps til late and hit the sack.

Saturday: Start the day shooting bows and arrows then pistols at hay bales. Get cleaned up, drive to Waco for errands, short nap time, party time until late. Have tons of fun with the birthday girl and all her friends. Stay up too late like normal.

Sunday: Mmmmmm, homemade pancakes. Nom nom nom! Hit the road by 9:30am to drive back to Dallas. Home by noon, back out the door by 12:30 to hit the grocery and go to Dad's to cook Father's Day lunch (which got served about 3:30, but that's another post). Come home after making sure no one would be infected with salmonella and took a nap. Sooooo didn't want to get up so after I did wake up, went back to sleep within the hour. Haha! At least I watched Family Guy with my man.

There. Two posts in 4 days. I'll get back in the habit, I swear.

me versus the june bug

Finally something blogworthy. This working 60 hour weeks has made the Naughty Mouse very boring. Let this tale from last night entertain you.

I got home from work and delivering cucumbers to my mother about 9:45 last night. After the requisite checking email, washing face, cup of tea, I hit the bedroom. While I was watching Robert Pattinson on Leno (yes, I AM embarrassed to admit that), I felt something tickling my neck. I reached down thinking my hair was caught in my necklace. Nope. There was something large and crunchy on my neck. Yes dear friends, it was a june bug. **shudder** I grabbed the thing and threw it onto the floor. I thought I'd either killed it or stunned it because that thing did not move. And trust me, I stared at it for a good long time. Ernest went and poked at it himself and found it to be quite uninteresting. Okay, back to the TV. A few minutes later--brzzzztttt! The damned thing flew at me and hit me in the side of the face. After I jumped out of bed squealing like the girl I am and flinging sheets and pjs in all directions, I realized that the thing was a stealth fighter. It was gone. I have no idea what happened to it. Needless to say, it was hard to get to sleep. Once I did fall asleep, I figured it was for the night. Wrong. About 1:30am, I had a weird feeling on my right thigh like it was being poked by a thorn or bitten by an ant or something. I turned on the light, flung back the sheets, and lo and behold, that damned june bug was back sticking his pokey icky june bug feet in my leg as he was crawling around. Ugh! Once again, I threw him on the floor. Once again I stared at him/her/it for a good long while. Then I put a cup on top of him so he could NOT disturb me again. Try going back to sleep after that.

And for the record, yes, it IS still under the cup.

the travails of studying

It's official. As of today, I never have to darken the door of a center of higher learning if I don't want to. Yes kids, I passed my masters oral exam. I am DONE!!! Stick a fork in me to prove it. Ow! Yep, done! I took a few months to study, study, study, and then study a little more to prepare for today. Sorry for the lack of blogging, but this really was a little more important. From now on, I will try to update you much more often on my lack of anything really interesting in my life. =)

Anyway, congrats to me!

long time no blog

Hello my one dear reader. =) Sorry for the prolonged absence. There's been nothing exciting to write about lately. Now, however, with the ides of April approaching, I've got a doozie. I owe Uncle Sam a boatload of money. Yes, a boatload. So much so that I'm sitting here contemplating cutting off the cable while I drink my sugar-free hot chocolate laced with Godiva liqueur and Kahlua. Hmmm, I wonder if I could squeeze in a few hours overtime at the lab a week? I should ask about that. If you know of anyone having a small dinner party or gathering who needs a cook, please send them my direction. All they have to do is pay for the food and a modicum of overhead for my fee. See, cooking allays my tension better than anything else! I was always a big "cooker" when finals came around during college. Heck, to this day if I get stressed out, people I know wind up with cookies or brownies or lasagne or something! Nope, there will be no trip to the beach this summer. I'll be working!

But first I have to pass that darned masters exam....

Who wants brownies?

I wanna go back to London now

what a week

Monday: I went to the doc first thing in the morning on my 1st vacation day. After a few days of intensifying ear pain, I was diagnosed with an ear infection. Okay, sure. I slept most of the rest of the day.
Tuesday: ♫ Happy Birthday to Me! ♫ I was actually up at 7:30am to go feed a friend's cats while she was out of town. When I got home, I cleaned up and dressed up and was whisked away by Mother. We had a lovely time out and about including a fantastic lunch. I wasn't home more than 30 minutes before the best friend arrived. We went and wandered around Whole Foods, I got a birthday massage, and we ate dinner before we went to the hockey game. Ugh, that was a beating, but it was fun.
Wednesday: Back to work day. Boo hoo. I wish I could've enjoyed my time off a little bit more, but I was just so puny. That's okay, it was good to be back at work and in good spirits. My ear was still bugging me though. I got to have dinner with my sweetie that night at our favorite Thai place. Mmmmmm, pad thai and sticky rice with custard for dessert.
Thursday: I got to start the day at the doctor yet again. Joy. I've learned a lot from this episode--trust your instincts and listen to your body. Turns out I'm having a minor flare up, but we caught it super early. Hallelujah!
Friday: Another day at work, but it was not a good day. Yesterday I had to give my best friend bad news about her dog. Today at the vet she had to make the hardest decision ever. I can't decide if I feel good about breaking it to her or if I feel terrible. I wish I could fix Mr. Floyd, but I can't. She was with me when I had to put my sweet Bennie Boo to sleep. She is the greatest and doesn't deserve this crap. Ugh, it makes me mad. Poo! In happier times, my father and aunt took me to dinner at our favorite German place (complete with singing accordion player). It was pretty fun. Now I'm typing when I should be sleeping.
But surely you wanted to hear about my oh-so-exciting week, right?

glorious Saturday

For a brief moment, I could feel the beginnings of spring today. The sun was out, the sky was blue, my sunroof was open, and there were plenty of people driving around with their convertible tops down. For that last thing, I was a little jealous. I cannot wait for this interminable winter to end. Granted I know it's only barely March, but I'm done with cold for the year. I want at least one more day like today that I can enjoy. The hour before the sun went down that I could revel in it was not enough. Stupid work. I'm sure that in a few months I'll be begging for cold weather again. I mean, this IS Texas and it WILL get crazy hot. But for now, I'd like to order some warmer weather please.

chef mouse

Good Lord, I am a cooking machine! Last night I roasted a pork loin in the slow cooker and shredded it. Today I carmelized onions, combined them with the pork and 4 different cheeses to make a killer mac and cheese. Then to top it all off, I made cheesecake brownies for a kid at work whose birthday was yesterday. Yes, I'm an idiot. But damn it felt good!

SNOW DAY!!!

How not fair that when it snows in Dallas, I have the day off. Let me rephrase: how not fair that when work closes early for the day and everyone gets an extra day off, it's my day off. Oh well, at least I didn't have to drive in the slushy mess. I didn't even have to go to the second job tonight. I was hoping to lie around and numb my brain with the boob tube. No such luck there either. All the snow is caked on the dish so I have no signal. Really? It's cool though. I watched the last little bit of Dead Like Me. What a fantastic little show. I can't believe they cancelled it after only one season. I wonder what George is doing now? Anyway, I guess I'll go make another pot of tea. Enjoy your snow day, friends!

Geaux Saints!

Granted I was rooting for the Colts. The reason I gave the men tonight? I like horses, and colts are cuter than saints. Yes, I know I'm a dork.

The man and I actually had our first real date this year last night. We went out to Campisi's, and he ate waaaaaaaaaay too much garlic. I mean, how long can someone burp up garlic smell? Let me tell you, you don't want to know! After that, we went and saw Up in the Air. It was better than I expected. It was also much more depressing than I expected. ***spoiler alert spoiler alert*** When he left everything behind and went to Chicago to find the woman, I knew what he was going to find. What a bitch! Man and I talked about that a little; she never truly lied to him. Ugh. Made me really despise her character. I think that was the idea. It was a great date though! After that, we came home and I went pretty much straight to bed.

Today was a nice lazy day partly due to sniffles and antihistamines. When I was asked if everything was alright due to my constant sniffling and nose blowing, I gave up and took some chlorphenarimine. Shortly after that, I took a two hour nap! Then it was sitting on the futon watching Law and Order marathons before we headed out to watch the game with friends.

Now, it is time for bed since my alarm will go off at 5:30am. I may or may not get up for the 6am yoga class, but the alarm is set. Tomorrow is a 2 job day so I may just sleep in (until 7:30 if you can call that sleeping in). =)

tgif night

And not much left of Friday night!

I'm sitting in my office, listening to Massive Attack from the other room, contemplating things. I think I might be too tired to be reasonable. I worked for about 11.5 hours today between the two jobs. Hmmm, just noticed I still haven't changed my calendar to February. Hang on...done. It can now officially be the second month of 2010 in my house. Sheesh, Valentine's Day is sneaking up quickly. I've already spoken with the man about not wanting to do anything spectacular. I really think it's just a silly Hallmark holiday. Nothing but good old USA commercialism at its best. I'd much rather have someone show me they love me little bits at a time throughout the year--not just once on some day when there was a historic massacre. Restaurants have their specials, but the waitstaff will just want to shuffle people in and out as quickly as possible so they can make more money. Flowers are extra expensive--granted, the man has yet to ever buy me any flowers. Last year we stayed in and cooked and watched hockey (if memory serves me). This year...who knows what will happen.

All that being said, I often wonder about things. Tonight is not one of those times. Haha! Fooled you! One last item for the post: How do you catch a special rabbit? Unique up on it! Yes kiddos, it's time for bed.

Monday, Monday

Why is it that Mondays are usually so crummy? There wasn't anything specifically bad about today, but it was so Monday. Crappy traffic going to work, long hard day at work, and now the idea of food is turning my stomach. WHAT? Me turned off by food? I know, right! Of course maybe watching Dr. G has something to do with it. Nah, never has before! =) I logged on because I had something interesting to share, but I can't remember it now to save my life. Oh well. I hope your mind isn't as whiffley as mine today.

and so begins another week

Looks like the Saints and Colts are gonna be battling it out in a couple weeks. I can't believe the Colts were able to make such a come back and the Vikes just couldn't save their own skins for all the turnovers. Oh well, such is life. It's not like the Stars could ever make the Superbowl or anything. =)

The boy and I had a very nice weekend considering my body and hormones really wanted me to stay in bed the whole time. He got down here last night and took me to dinner before I dragged him off to a party with a bunch of people he didn't know. Technically, I only knew the hostess, but it didn't matter at all. Everyone was delightful! Today I did the singing thing, came home, and took a loooooong nap while I had the Flyers/Penguins game on the TV (I don't even know who won since I slept thru it all). Got up and made some tacky mac and cheese lunch for us and went off to a work meeting. Yep, pretty boring, but nice nonetheless.

Let's see what the week has in store!

happy humpday

For my first trick I will put two contacts into one eye! Ya, I did that this morning. While I was at St. Arbucks getting some iced coffee goodness, my right eye decided it had had enough of the contact in it. I came back home and switched into a new one. Ahh, it felt so glorious I thought I should switch out the left one as well. Sadly, I forgot to take out the contact that was already in there. Oops. Needless to say, I learned that you can put two contacts in one eye and then take them out one at a time. Tada!

I think this is all because I did 80 minutes of yoga this morning starting at 6am. Makes for a sleepy and dumb naughty mouse.

dreams I dream

1st off, lemme say that if there are a ton of typos, I'm typing without the use of my right index finger. Stupid cheese grater.

I was telling some friends about some of the weird dreams I've been having lately. They said I should write them down, so here I go!

Dream 1: My mother and I were on some sort of a trip at a bed and breakfast somewhere beautiful. While we were sight seeing, I kept seeing zombies. For some unknown reason I knew that the way to keep the zombies at bay was to keep diced sweet potatoes in our pockets. The zombies could hear the sweet potatoes singing, and that would scare them away from us. Yes, the sweet potatoes had to be diced: something about the size of the chunks affected the pitch of the singing. I ate cheese before I went to bed that night.

Dream 2: I was someplace like the State Fair. I decided to enter this contest where I was subjected to "added weight." I got hooked up to something akin to a bungee cord. First they added weights on top of my head (mind you, I was hanging in the air). When I could withstand the weights and then was touching the ground, they started spinning me in circles kinda like to induce G forces. When I could handle all of that, they added a large man on my back. He talked to me the whole time that they sped up the spinning. He was very complimentary telling me that I was doing such a good job. Then when I asked how I was doing, if I was winning/going to beat the record, he started berating me. Finally he started hitting me over the head and telling me I was a bad person unless I confessed my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I finally caved and quit the competition instead of confessing. That night, I had Snuffers cheese fries.

Now you understand why I wake up tired a lot. =)

happy new year!

So I'm a little late. Sue me.

I have had a totally marvelous day. I didn't have to go to work at all so I took advantage of a few hours of freedom. I started off sleeping late-ish and then doing one hour of power yoga at the gym. I'm already starting to feel that. Hope I can function physically tomorrow. Then I cleaned myself up properly and met Mother for some darned good barbeque lunch. After securing the leftovers in my car, I hit two different sporting goods stores looking for the knee wrap thing my ortho wants me to get. Neither place had it, but the second ordered it for me. I should receive it sometime next week. Wish I could've had it immediately after the power yoga! When I got home from my exhausting morning (feel free to insert laughter here), I decided to take a nap. It was glorious! After the restfulness, I got up and scrubbed carpet freshener into the living room carpet. It may not be cleaner, but it smells niiiiice. Then I vacuumed and rearranged the furniture. (btw--the old big green sleeper sofa was out at the curb for bulky trash Monday morning.) I'm not happy with the arrangement, but I'll see what happens after a few days. Now, after watching the Stars lose yet again, I'm baking an apple cobbler. I've never done this before, but I bought a ton of apples and didn't eat them. Typical. I'll let you know how it turns out.

All in all, a pretty good day. I have to be at the lab tomorrow at 7:30am (ugh) and the Galleria at 6pm (double ugh). On top of that, I've agreed to meet an old friend for drinks after the 2nd job. It's gonna be a loooooong day. Oh well. Maybe I can just meet him for coffee at Cafe Brazil. I'm gonna need it!

he's baaaaaack!

octopi tools!

Just in case you haven't seen it yet.... Behold the tool using power of the veined octopus!