Well, it’s almost the end of the year—in some places of the world, it already happened, although we here on the West coast of the US still have 12 hours to go.

Overall, this year has been good, I think. Most notably, I got a new job in a place with more potential and less negativity than the University (not to mention more money with the potential for actual raises!). 2004 also saw me finally get out of my horrible living situation. It wasn’t the worst situation in the world, but it really did make me unhappy, and afraid to leave my room lest I accidentally run into a housemate and have to talk to them. Yea, not good.

Coincidentally, I moved into that house and started the job around the same time, and left them both at around the same time (ok, give or take a few months). I think giving 3 years of myself to each was enough, don’t you?

Anyway, hope 2004 was an ok year for all you guys too. If it wasn’t, then may 2005 make up for that and be the best year yet!

Posted at 11:59 AM | (2)

First it started with the whole stamp fiasco the other day, and now it has progressed. I think I may be losing my mind!

I went grocery shopping yesterday (which only cost me $11 thanks to the gift card my employer gave me!), and realized too late that I made a few shopping errors.

First, while shopping, I made sure to pick up some cheese so that I could use the new quesadilla maker that my sister bought me. But when I got home, I realized that I forgot to buy tortillas. Um, I think it’s a bit difficult to make a quesadilla without a tortilla.

I also made sure to buy some blueberry muffin mix, so that I could use the new muffin pan that my mom bought me when I moved in. As I was putting stuff away I discovered that I somehow purchased TWO boxes of mix. I only intended to buy one, so I’m not sure how I managed to throw two boxes in my cart. Good thing I like muffins. :)

Posted at 10:55 AM | (1)

Today I learned that I should pay better attention to posted signs as well as my surroundings.

It started out innocuous enough—I needed to mail a few things. Since I pretty much pay all bills online, I haven’t had stamps for months, and so needed to buy some.

I head down to the local post office, where I come across the stamp vending machine. Not wanting to stand in line just for a few stamps, I peruse my purchasing options. It seems I can only buy a book of 20 stamps, which is way more than I’ll probably use before they raise the rates, but I’m going for convenience here! I note that the machine takes $1, $5, $10, and $20 denominations; the total will be $7.40, so I reach for my $10 bill.

“No,” I think to myself, “I will use the $20 bill so that I can break it up and have change for lunch.” So I slip the money in the machine and make my purchase.

Clink, clink, clink. As I hear a ton of change falling, I fear that I am getting back $12 in quarters! But no, even more useless, I get back 12 shiny gold dollar coins! It is then that I read the sign on the machine that says “ATTENTION: THIS MACHINE GIVES CHANGE IN DOLLAR COINS”. DOH! So now I have to devise a way to get rid of these damn coins, since there is no room for them in my wallet. That also means that I now have to make sure when I pay for something that I point out that it is a dollar and not a quarter, lest someone think I am stiffing them.

My next thought is, “Gee, if I had used the $10 like I planned, I’d only have 2 of these coins, not 12!”

And then my eye catches the smaller, older looking machine on the left that dispenses single stamps or 5 at a time. And I only needed 2….

Posted at 11:56 AM | (1)

After the summer-like Christmas we had, Mother Nature has decided to bring back the winter weather. For the last two days it has been raining a lot, with pretty strong winds.

In my new place, the windows don’t close all the way, so whenever it is really windy some of the air comes into my room. It blows the curtain around a bit and makes windy sounds, which is sometimes a little disconcerting. Luckily it doesn’t seem like the rain gets through the crack, which is good news for all my computer stuff.

Power went out in some area of SB today, though surprisingly not in my old Victorian house. Unfortunately work is another place that still has power, so here I am! I think I’d rather be under an electric blanket with my new space heater that I got from my mom for Christmas!

Well, no one got ALL the songs, and the history of my site is such that when an entry goes off the front page, no one really comments on it, so I will just go ahead and list all the songs for those of you who are curious.

1. Can I look at faces that I meet? Can I get my punk ass off the street? Graduate - Third Eye Blind Guessed by: M-unit
2. I wonder why I feel so high though I am not above the sorrow. Heavy-hearted till you call my name. As I Lay Me Down - Sofie B. Hawkins I love this song and no one guessed it!
3. Unprotected, God I’m pregnant, damn the consequences When I Grow Up - Garbage Guessed by: Kymberlie
4. And everyone here, knows everyone here is thinkin’ about somebody else. Back to Good - Matchbox 20 Guessed by: Tiberian Sun
5. I am one of those melodramatic fools, neurotic to the bone no doubt about it. Basket Case - Green Day Guessed by: Kymberlie
6. I heard your voice in a photograph. I thought it up and brought up the past. Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers Guessed by: Tiberian Sun
7. Yes I’m Siskel, yes I’m Ebert and you’re getting two thumbs up. Bad Touch - The Bloodhound Gang Guessed by: Dre
8. Been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding, the cretins cloning and feeding; and I don’t even own a TV Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger Guessed by: Kymberlie
9. What did it matter to ya, when ya got a job to do you got to do it well. Live and Let Die - Guns ‘n Roses Guessed by: Dre
10. He likes to keep his fire engine clean, it’s a clean machine. Penny Lane - The Beatles Guessed by: Kymberlie
11. You thought I would be broken hearted. Maybe I would if you weren’t so retarded. I Didn’t Like You Anyway - The Donnas Dre got close on this one, guessing the artist, but not the song.
12. It’s not like you killed someone. It’s not like you drove a hateful spear into his side. Judith - A Perfect Circle Guessed by: Dre
13. Well you couldn’t be that man that I adored. You don’t seem to know, seem to care, what your heart is for. Torn - Natalie Imbruglia Guessed by: Kymberlie
14. Reason will not reach a solution. I will end up lost in confusion. Love Fool - The Cardigans Guessed by: KB
15. So hard to find my way, now that I’m all on my own. I saw you just the other day, my, how you have grown. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison Guessed by: Kymberlie
16. Whenever we kiss, I get to feeling like this, I get to wishin’ that there were two of you. Can’t Get Enough of you Baby - Smash Mouth Guessed by: KB
17. You wear sandals in the snow, and a smile that won’t wash away. Can you look out the window without your shadow getting in the way? Building a Mystery - Sarah McLachlan Guessed by: M-unit
18. En el otro lado es donde vivi, con mijita que se llama Mixi. Caress me Down - Sublime Guessed by: Tiberian Sun
19. Touch me now. I close my eyes and dream away. It Must Have Been Love - Roxette Guessed by: Tiberian Sun
20. And here I go, losing my control. I’m practicing your name so I can say it to your face. Sway - Bic Runga No one guessed this one either.
21. Late night, come home. Work sucks, I know. All the Small Things - Blink 182 Guessed by: M-unit
22. In the paper today, tales of war and of waste, but you turn right over to the TV page. Don’t Dream it’s Over - Crowded House Guessed by: Kymberlie
23. I’ma walkin’ in the rain, tears are fallin’ and I feel the pain. Wishing you were here by me, to end this misery. Runaway - Del Shannon Guessed by: Kymberlie
24. Your clothes never wear as well the next day, and your hair never falls in quite the same way, and you never seem to run out of things to say. Story of a Girl - Nine Days Guessed by: M-unit
25. Well I guess it ain’t easy doing nothing at all, oh yea. But hey man, free rides just don’t come along every day. Why Don’t You Get a Job - The Offspring No one guessed the actual song, but Sofie came close by guessing the artist.

And that’s it! Thanks for playing, everyone!

Haven’t been online much this weekend, what with the dialup connection at my parents’ house and the holiday festivities.

However, I just had to sign on to wish anyone who might be perusing my blog a very Merry Christmas! I hope it was everything you wanted it to be.

We had some Christmas Eve family drama, making it a little divided this year, but overall it still went as planned. Gearing up now for another dinner in a few hours, yay!

Posted at 2:03 PM | (1)

For the past few days I’ve been wondering why my right hand is strangely sore. It feels as though it has taken part in some strenuous task, and yet, there was nothing out of the ordinary that I could recall.

I didn’t carry anything heavy or strangle someone until my hand hurt. I mean, sure I write with this hand, but I don’t write anywhere near as much as I did when I was in school, so what gives?

It wasn’t until I went to get ready in the morning that I figured out the source of the problem: the flat iron. For my birthday, my mom gave me a flat iron (which also has a locking feature to double as a curling iron….very nifty!). This device comes in pretty handy when my hair is especially unruly—which is always. Now that it’s layered, it refuses to look even remotely normal when left to its own devices. Instead, despite being freshly washed and combed, it takes on an appearance that screams “Look at me! I am unruly! Has anyone even BOTHERED to comb me?!”

While I resisted a bit and wasn’t using the iron every day, since I am quite lazy, I finally caved in. It works pretty well for keeping static electricity at bay, and also makes it look like I spent more than 2 minutes getting ready in the morning. Unfortunately though, despite my best efforts, it still only turns out decent about 40% of the time. However, at least the other 60% aren’t AS scary as they would be if no styling was attempted.

But I digress. Where was I? Oh yes, my hand.

As I was saying, the source of my hand pain is that flat iron. Since I never usually spend time on my appearance, the grasping of such a beauty device is completely foreign to my hand. I also apparently grip the appliance with a bit of force, to ensure that the iron closes firmly around my hair and straightens to the best of its abilities.

And every time I squeeze down on that iron, my hand hurts.

Posted at 1:43 PM | (2)

Last night Steve and I took the tour of Christmas lights in the Santa Barbara area. Every night at 6:30, a trolley company provides several of their trolleys to take a 90 minute tour of the lights. This sounded like a neat idea, so Steve agreed he would take me. What I failed to realize is that you must buy the tickets in advance! The next available slots were the 24th-26th—times where both of us would be out of town!

This was, of course, an unacceptable option, so Steve took matters into his own hands. He decided that if we couldn’t go on the trolley, we would do the next best thing—FOLLOW THE TROLLEY! He mentioned it a few days before, and I dismissed it as a ridiculous proposition. But now that we were refused admittance and were already in the area, it sounded great! So we popped in some Chrismas tunes and caught all the sights without the hassle of being cold or kicked by someone’s kid.

Apparently we weren’t the only ones with this idea, as we led a little caravan of cars doing the exact same thing—including a convertible full of old people in santa hats!

We wound all around the town, to places I didn’t even know existed. I also learned that on the whole, Santa Barbara doesn’t have A LOT of people who go all out decorating, and that some of the best decorations are found in the poorest neighborhoods. Those rich people should take a lesson from those of more modest incomes.

Along the tour route, many families came out of their houses to wave at the trolleys (some even waved at us! I waved at everyone, trying to see who would give me a reaction), parents decorated their kids with lights and made them stand there, there were several people dressed like santa, one of whom even gave out a ton of mini candy canes; and there was also a family that created a mini live nativity.

Overall, it was neat. It was fun to follow the trolley—even though it tried to lose us by going around the Milpas loop 8 times! It must have been a sight to see the trolley going around the loop multiple times, tailed by several cars chasing it in its circular path. It was also cool to see the houses that DID go all out, as well as see the people so happy to wave at the procession.

Below you will find blurry photos of one of the most decorated houses, as well as the people dressed for the nativity scene. In the second picture, if you look carefully, you can see Santa putting on some sort of concert!

Posted at 9:40 AM | (2)

So in addition to the warmness (ok, it’s not AS warm today, so don’t all flock to California to lynch us all!), I received what I hope to be a hearty little plant from my boss this afternoon.

She brought in a box full of little tiny plants for each of us. My phone rang just as she presented the specimens, so I was unable to have my pick. The one that was left is still cute though.

Being the big botanical buff that I am (not), I have absolutely no idea what kind of plant this is. It looks like I could give it some abuse and neglect and still come out all right, which is all I can hope for! I just hope it likes minimal sunlight.

It is cute and small and has long thin green leaves. Maybe I will post a picture later so that someone can tell me what it is! Yay, my first plant in my new home—anyone want to take bets on how long it will live?? :)

EDIT: I just started using a nifty camera phone, so I figured why not, I’ll up my cell phone bill this month by emailing a pic of the plant to one of those Flickr accounts that seem to be all the rage these days.

So any guesses as to what, exactly, it is?

Posted at 12:46 PM | (4)

If you can have Christmas in July, why can’t you have summer in December?

It’s in the mid-70s here today, in the middle of December. Can you feel the Christmas spirit?! To get in the proper mood, I’m hoping to catch the Christmas lights trolley tour…that should be really neat!

Anyway though, since I already finished my latest book from the library (in MUCH less time than Mansfield Park!), I decided to take this opportunity to get some more sunshine and reading material. I got 3 more books, so let’s see how long those last me—could be a month, could be a year! I will say though that walking around during the winter in a tank top is my idea of a great day. :)

I love the sunshine and warm weather. Too bad I know it can’t last…

Posted at 2:55 PM | (5)

As seen on Neurotic Fishbowl, it’s another song meme! Here’s the rules for this one:

Step 1: Put your media player on random.
Step 2: Pick your favorite lines from the first 25 songs that play.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song the lines come from. NO CHEATING BY GOOGLING THE LYRICS!!
Step 4: Cross out the songs when someone guesses correctly and give them credit.

1. Can I look at faces that I meet? Can I get my punk ass off the street? Graduate - Third Eye Blind M-unit
2. I wonder why I feel so high though I am not above the sorrow. Heavy-hearted till you call my name.
3. Unprotected, God I’m pregnant, damn the consequences When I Grow Up - Garbage Kymberlie
4. And everyone here, knows everyone here is thinkin’ about somebody else. Back to Good - Matchbox 20 Tiberian Sun
5. I am one of those melodramatic fools, neurotic to the bone no doubt about it. Basket Case - Green Day Kymberlie
6. I heard your voice in a photograph. I thought it up and brought up the past. Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers Tiberian Sun
7. Yes I’m Siskel, yes I’m Ebert and you’re getting two thumbs up. Bad Touch - The Bloodhound Gang Dre
8. Been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding, the cretins cloning and feeding; and I don’t even own a TV Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger Kymberlie
9. What did it matter to ya, when ya got a job to do you got to do it well. Live and Let Die - Guns ‘n Roses Dre
10. He likes to keep his fire engine clean, it’s a clean machine. Penny Lane - The Beatles Kymberlie
11. You thought I would be broken hearted. Maybe I would if you weren’t so retarded.
12. It’s not like you killed someone. It’s not like you drove a hateful spear into his side. Judith - A Perfect Circle Dre
13. Well you couldn’t be that man that I adored. You don’t seem to know, seem to care, what your heart is for. Torn - Natalie Imbruglia Kymberlie
14. Reason will not reach a solution. I will end up lost in confusion. Love Fool - The Cardigans KB
15. So hard to find my way, now that I’m all on my own. I saw you just the other day, my, how you have grown. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison Kymberlie
16. Whenever we kiss, I get to feeling like this, I get to wishin’ that there were two of you. Can’t Get Enough of you Baby - Smash Mouth KB
17. You wear sandals in the snow, and a smile that won’t wash away. Can you look out the window without your shadow getting in the way? Building a Mystery - Sarah McLachlan M-unit
18. En el otro lado es donde vivi, con mijita que se llama Mixi. Caress me Down - Sublime Tiberian Sun
19. Touch me now. I close my eyes and dream away. It Must Have Been Love - Roxette Tiberian Sun
20. And here I go, losing my control. I’m practicing your name so I can say it to your face.
21. Late night, come home. Work sucks, I know. All the Small Things - Blink 182 M-unit
22. In the paper today, tales of war and of waste, but you turn right over to the TV page. Don’t Dream it’s Over - Crowded House Kymberlie
23. I’ma walkin’ in the rain, tears are fallin’ and I feel the pain. Wishing you were here by me, to end this misery. Runaway - Del Shannon Kymberlie
24. Your clothes never wear as well the next day, and your hair never falls in quite the same way, and you never seem to run out of things to say. Story of a Girl - Nine Days M-unit
25. Well I guess it ain’t easy doing nothing at all, oh yea. But hey man, free rides just don’t come along every day.

Posted at 8:38 PM | (17)

OMG there has been soo much bad-for-you food lying around the office these past few days. Every day has seen someone bringing in an assortment of cookies, sweet breads, brownies, or those squares of Ghirardelli chocolates (in 3 varieties!)

Needless to say, I partake in them all! I have come away with half a dozen of those chocolate squares—most of them of the milk chocolate with caramel variety!

Speaking of food, I almost didn’t get my free gift card to Vons this year. My company gives us a few hundred dollars to spend on things like technology, education, gym membership, etc, and anything we don’t use gets converted to a grocery gift card.

The woman in accounting who handles this was somehow under the impression that I, along with the other girl who got hired at the same time, had actually started mid-November and were therefore ineligible. My boss kindly pointed out that we started in July and August and should be receiving a prorated amount. Of course, if she had checked payroll records, she would’ve seen that they’ve been paying us since the summer, and were therefore most definitely eligible.

It seems to be straightened out now, and I will be receiving a card for $100 in free groceries! Woohoo!

Posted at 12:41 PM | (2)

This week contains all the holiday-related stuff for my company. Today everyone in my section is going out to lunch to celebrate (pretty sure everyone pays their own way, but of course there’d be an extra perk if my boss sprung for everyone), and Friday is the Office Holiday Party.

Most companies have a nice, sit-down dinner at a fancy hotel or whatnot, but we are having a catered lunch. Which is still nice of them, but of course it means that we aren’t dressed up, and no one is bringing any significant others. I suppose that’s the nice thing about the formal events—you get to meet people’s other half, and see them all decked out, so you get to see another side of these people. Don’t get to do that here, but at least it’s still a free lunch. Not to mention, I don’t think they expect us to do much work that day—except for cleaning our desk area.

The other kind of cool thing about the party is the raffle. Granted, you have to buy raffle tickets (though we each get one free), but there are some pretty decent prizes, so I might have to check that out!

Anyway, I think I’m done Christmas shopping, and even wrapped some already, so I’m in good shape. Bring on the holidays! :)

Posted at 10:38 AM | (3)

For myriad reasons I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies. I will tell you, this was no easy endeavor. First, it seemed to take my oven at least 2 hours before it reached any sort of baking temperature (but at least now I know that it DOES work….eventually). Second, in my cookie-making enthusiasm I forgot to actually SOFTEN the butter, which given the fact that I have only a hand-held manual mixer, made the task of mixing the ingredients quite a bit more difficult than it had to be. I suppose it was all for the best though, because by the time I actually got the batter fully mixed, the oven had JUST gotten hot.

All in all the cookies managed to come out edible, and since everyone at work seems to like to bring in food, I decided that it was my duty to do my part and contribute a dozen of some homemade cookies. No one was here for almost half an hour after I brought them in, but then someone from another section announced that THEY had cookies. I went over there and there was a bountiful supply of cookes, totaling at least 5 times of my contribution with TWO kinds of cookies; both chocolate chip and oatmeal were to be had at their table. Those cookies were good, and I’m not sure whose are better. A woman in my section assures me that mine are superior, but I suppose she’d have to say that!

At any rate, as Kevin pointed out to me, it’s all about quality, not quantity, right??

UPDATE: While my fellow coworker told me mine were better, and Steve also mentioned that he found them to be very good, I just got a compliment from one of the editors in the competing cookie section. He came to me and said in a whisper (perhaps so as not to offend the other cookie makers) that mine won, and then did a little thumbs up. So, yea, I guess that means I should make more baked goods. Next time I was thinking brownies… :)

Posted at 10:04 AM | (1)

I have come across this meme before, but most recently on Darren’s site. Since it is the weekend, I figured it’s a nice leisurely time to partake in this as well.

The rules are simple. Load up your mp3 player, set it to random, and write down the first 10 songs that play. You must write them down, no matter how much you would like to deny that they are in your collection!

Here, without further ado, are my songs:

1. The Kids Aren’t Alright - The Offspring
2. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
3. Take on Me - A-ha (LOL perhaps one of the more embarrassing listings on my playlist)
4. Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins (could be embarrassing, but I really do adore this song!)
5. One Week - Bare Naked Ladies
6. Lightning Crashes - Live
7. She - Green Day
8. Out of the Blue - Debbie Gibson (hehe, who doesn’t love Debbie Gibson?!) ;)
9. Manic Monday - The Bangles (how could I not own the song on which my 3rd grade talent show with Melany was based??)
10. Losing My Religion - R.E.M

It seems that my player saw it fit to not play any of the more recent songs in my playlist. Although, truth be told, I haven’t acquired as many new songs as I have in the past.

But there you go, my submission to the meme.

Posted at 2:05 PM | (2)

Well, I finally did a little more Christmas shopping today. I wasn’t really thrilled at the prospect of driving to the part of Downtown with all the shops, like Paseo Nuevo, so I walked instead.

The great benefit of my new apartment is the fact that it is downtown. Now, it’s still many blocks from my place to the heart of Downtown, but on a nice day like today, it was totally feasible. As an added bonus, it gave me a little more exercise, which I’m sure I could use. I’m not sure how long it took me, but it seemed unseasonably warm today, so I wasn’t in any real hurry.

It’s really neat that there are so many places within walking distance now—and best of all, I never REALLY have to pay for parking or struggle to find that last parking space if I don’t want to. That option definitely comes in handy during this time of year, when everyone is crowding State Street to do some last-minute holiday shopping. Of course, the parking lots are often full on the weekends anyway!

That’s all for now from this Downtown Girl. Maybe tomorrow I’ll walk to the library! Oh, the possibilities!

The other day I decided to take advantage of the new law that passed, the one that, as of December 1, gave people in California the right to obtain a free copy of their credit report once every 12 months.

I mean, you could get a free report in the past, but you had to sign up individually with all 3 credit reporting bureaus and agree to a free trial, which, if you didn’t cancel in time, would charge you some membership fee. I didn’t want to risk that process so I never signed up.

The new way doesn’t require you to submit a credit card number—you just go to one site, and then it directs you to the free report for each company. It’s kind of neat, actually, to see your report. And it’s free! It’s also good to know that no one has been secretly using my identity to rack up millions of dollars of debt.

I also learned (well, actually just confirmed) that my credit is in pretty good shape. While I was on the site, I succumbed to curiosity and paid the money required to obtain my credit score. I won’t say any more than that, since I suppose it’s kind of a personal thing, not unlike a woman’s age or weight. But, like those other 2 aspects, I’m OK with where mine is right now; it’s about what I could expect, given my circumstances.

I will have you know that it is a bit disconcerting, not to mention a bit freaky, to encounter animals in unexpected places. This evening, when I got off work, I had such an experience.

I left work a little later than normal—we had a company-wide meeting, which didn’t start until 9am, so I didn’t show up until a little before it began, and therefore wanted to make up the time. So, when I got to the house in which my studio is located, the stairwell was also a bit dark. Not pitch-black, not dark enough to need a light, but dark enough that you wouldn’t see every detail of the stairs.

I trot up the stairs only to hear a *meow* just moments before I probably would’ve stepped on….a cat. Now, I’m not sure if the landlord allows pets, and/or if anyone in the place owns any, but regardless there was a cat in the hallway. I think I startled it a bit, but perhaps not nearly as much as it startled me. I wasn’t expecting there to be a smallish mammal lurking at the top of the stairs.

It was an orange striped cat, and it had a collar, although I didn’t check to see if it had a tag. I merely led it to the back stairway and shut the door so that it wouldn’t try to follow me into my place and hence think that it could try to come and go as it pleased. Maybe if it was a cute puppy this would’ve been a different story. OMG I love puppies…sooooooooo cute.

Posted at 8:59 PM | (2)

I am seriously feeling uninspired in the gift-giving department this year. Actually, it’s beyond that—I don’t have a clue what to get anybody for Christmas.

I’ve bought exactly one gift so far, and that was done online, without having to leave the comforts of home. What do you get for family members, anyway? The coolest gifts purchased for my parents were joint ones given by me and my sister—like the DVD player and some starter DVDs, or the upgrade to the DVR satellite dish. But now they have all the cool stuff, so now what??

Not to mention my sister is like me and totally unhelpful in the idea department.

“What do you want?”

“I dunno.”

Great.

Actually, I could probably think of a list of things I WANT, but I have a feeling they all fall under the “Yea right, in your dreams” category. Hence I wind up saying that I don’t know what I want. Perhaps the same is holding true for my loved ones.

Only a little more than 2 weeks left to shop. This means that whenever I decide to go shopping, the stores will be completely mobbed. Yippee.

Posted at 1:58 PM | (2)

Well, some things today went better than excpected, while others not so much.

On the good side, the lunch today was better than expected. I asked for the sandwich without aioli, and although it still came with lettuce and tomato on it, it was easy to remove and didn’t really impair the taste.

An added bonus was that dessert was also included in the meal. There were 4 options, a bourbon creme brulee with pecans, a cheesecake, a chocolate decadence cake, and a chocolate mousse. I chose the chocolate mousse, which was quite good. The mousse was shaped in a perfect little cylinder, with cocoa powder on top and bottom and some chocolate syrup on the side for decoration.

Altogether, this lunch lasted 2 hours. That is 2 hours that we were being paid not to work. It’s always nice when your employer is sanctioning you not to work for that time.

On the not so good news is my car. This time around they tracked the engine light problem to some vacuum hose thing, which required them to order parts. While replacing the bad hoses, they snapped another one in half. They claim that it was just that brittle, although my car is only 2 1/2 years old and I don’t think I’m bad to it. So they have to order new hoses to replace the ones they broke. At least they are going to see how many they can break now, so they know how many to order this time! I’m going to get a loaner car, but hopefully I won’t need it for long.

That’s what I get for wanting the stupid engine light to stop illuminating my control panel 24/7.

Another weekday means yet another day that my car is at the VW Service Center. As some of you might recall, the engine light kept coming on in my vehicle near the end of October. I brought it in twice to be fixed, but both times the light came on again shortly after bringing it home. Since the service guys assured me that as long as the light wasn’t flashing (which it isn’t) that my vehicle wasn’t in danger of exploding or anything, I drove it around intending to have it fixed when I took it in for my 25,000 mile service.

Well last week I had the service done, but they were unable to fix the engine light. This time they traced the problem to some vacuum seal thingie and needed to order parts. The parts came in on Friday, so I scheduled the appointment for today. Hopefully this is actually the problem, and the light won’t come on again (at least for a few months! The light just isn’t aesthetically pleasing!). As nice as the service guys are, I wouldn’t want them to get the wrong impression when they start seeing me in there twice a week!

Last night I went with Steve to his company’s holiday party. It was one of those deals where everyone dresses up really nice. Given that my selection of super nice outfits is limited, I wore the outfit I bought for Melany’s wedding.

Luckily my hair was deciding to cooperate, although it probably had something to do with the fact that I spent 5 times longer on it than I normally do.

The event itself was fine. I found food items to eat, we danced, had some drinks, and I had the distinct honor of being the hottest female there, so that rocked. I think some old guy hit on me, but I’m not sure. At any rate, he was probably hoping I came alone, in which case I had to crush his hopes.

Today it has been all rainy and super super windy. It seems to have died down a little, but this Victorian house I live in makes some weird noises when it’s windy, although I think it’s just like doors thumping a little from the wind pushing on them.

Well, everyone seemed to think that I should attend this lunch thing, so I guess I’m going. I just sent my email confirming my attendance and menu choice.

I asked for the Chicken Panini Sorrento—if possible, without the aioli and roasted pepper. We’ll see if they are able to accomodate that with such a large group. At the very least, it comes with french fries, so I can always eat that and the chicken inside the sandwich.

I guess I’ll see how it goes!

Posted at 10:36 AM | (1)

In honor of reaching a milestone with one of our products, our Editorial Director is taking everyone who has a hand in its production to lunch at the local golf club restaurant. It’s a nice place with a beautiful view, and best of all, the lunch would be paid for by the company.

Here’s the problem; I’m a really picky eater. Like, REALLY picky. And being that the group will be large, we are forced to choose from a limited menu of only 4 options. And I don’t think there is any way I could eat any of the options.

Option 1: Chicken Caesar Salad. Um yea, I totally hate salad. If it weren’t for the lettuce though, I’d totally eat this.

Option 2: Vegetarian Delight Crepes (with salad). I don’t find anything delightful about vegetables. And look, more salad!

Option 3: Reuben sandwich. Despite my German heritage, I don’t like sauerkraut, and rye is not one of my favorite breads.

Option 4: Chicken Panini Sorrento. Of the 4, this one SOUNDS like my best bet, but it is also comprised of horrible ingredients like honey walnut aioli (a garlic mayonnaise of sorts. I looked it up!) and roasted pepper.

So now I’m torn. I have a feeling that a lot of people will go—it’s a free lunch and could be an extended break on company time. Not to mention the CEO will probably be there. But, given the restricted menu, I’m not sure I could handle it. In settings like this, are you allowed to make modifications? For any of those items I’d have to make multiple modifications, such that the end result is a dish that contains none of the essence of the original menu item.

Either way I would look like a freak. Either I’d be the one ordering the weirdly modified dish, or I’d be the one who has to pick out all the gross parts and eat around them, because I really don’t think I could pretend to be normal and just eat the items that I don’t like.

What would you do?

Posted at 8:36 AM | (7)

Just yesterday I noted that Sh1ft.org is putting on another 26 Things—this time with a Christmas theme.

I was looking at it and thinking about how much work it is, and how with the holidays and putting away stuff from my move that I probably won’t have the time or motivation to do it. But then I noticed that Leonieke has issued a sort of challenge to me and a few others to take part in it again with her.

Looking at it again, there are a bunch that I could do as part of the normal Xmas festivities. I think this just might be feasible! So, yes Leonieke, I will try again. :)

Posted at 12:29 PM | (1)