My plan to maybe go out this evening have been curbed due to this stupid cold. I suppose I could’ve still gone, but I spent a good portion of the day in bed—good thing I have these new pajamas! :)

Only a few hours until New Year’s (on the West Coast anyway)!

Posted at 9:46 PM | (2)

End of the year, that is. Hooray for today being Friday, which marks the beginning of a 3-day weekend. Coming hot on the heels of a 5-day weekend, I suppose I can’t complain much.

Except that I’m a little bit sick. I had gotten a cold a few weeks ago, but it seems that I’ve once again been struck with something since late Monday. Nothing too bad, but enough to make me mad that I’ve been plagued twice in such a short time. I’m sure someone was ill at Christmas though, and with all the little kids, it’s almost inevitable you’ll pick up something.

Anyway, I’m counting down the time until I can get out of here, even though I don’t have any specific plans for the weekend. How about any of you? Any special plans to ring in the New Year?

Posted at 1:54 PM | (3)

Just because I have to be like Kevin!

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:
-Movie Theater Concessionist
-Library Information Desk Attendant
-Library Assistant II
-Abstracter Coordinator

Four movies you could watch over and over:
-Office Space
-Sound of Music
-Swingers
-Any Disney animated film

Four places you’ve lived:
-Whittier
-UCSB Dorms
-Goleta
-Santa Barbara

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Crap, I can only pick 4?!
-Lost
-Desperate Housewives
-As the World Turns (hooray for soaps!)
-America’s Next Top Model (ha, and you thought soaps had bad drama!)

Four places you’ve been on vacation:
-Caribbean
-Rosarito Beach, Mexico
-Maui
-Europe

Four websites you visit daily:
-Bloglines
-Kevin’s Friendslist page
-Myspace
-Edhat

Four of your favorite foods:
-Chicken Fingers
-Schmarn
-Potato Goulash
-Breaded Turkey

Four places you’d rather be:
-Vegas
-Asleep in bed
-Berlin
-Anywhere but at work!

Four albums you can’t live without:
Uhh, I haven’t bought an album in forever, but here we go.
-Room for Squares
-Heavier Things
-Norah Jones
-The CD of Cover Songs I made

Posted at 11:26 AM | (2)

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you all got everything you wished for and spent it with loved ones and all that. This was the first year ever that Christmas Eve was held at my mom’s house, and I think it turned out well—the gathering was smaller than years past (for reasons we won’t get into!) but I think it made it more fun for those involved.

As for the gifts, I got all good stuff—lots of clothes (including a sweater from Express from which the stupid salespeople forgot to remove the security tag. Why oh why couldn’t it have triggered the alarm when it left the store?! We spent a good portion of the morning trying to remove the tag—we finally got it off using a combination of a vice, some pliers, and a screwdriver. Remind me not to shoplift anything with security tags—my index finger hurts from trying to unsuccessfully pry the thing off by hand), a silver bookmark from Tiffany’s, and uh, more clothes! Even the gift from the secret gift exchange we held for the first time this year was good.

One of my little cousin’s led everyone in a round of Silent Night before opening presents, and overall everyone was happy—minus the part where the dog stole another cousin’s sucker out of her hand and ate it whole, stripping the candy from the stick.

Anyway, hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday!

Posted at 12:26 PM | (3)

Last night Steve and I did our 2nd annual “follow the Christmas Lights Trolley” tour. The route took us to pretty much the same areas as last year, and like last year there were a couple houses/streets where it was like “DAMN, THOSE are some lights!” I would love to live on a street like that or have a house and spend the time making it look that awesome.

This year we had my iPod on which I had put over 3 hours of music, so we definitely had enough to last the 90 minute tour. The only thing that kinda sucks is that the casette adapter, the thing that lets us play the music on the car stereo, had more of a hissing sound and lower volume on Steve’s car than my own. Oh well, at least we had music and were still able to hear it.

We also exchanged gifts already, since we are going to our respective families’ residences tonight. I got some pretty cool stuff including some good smelling lotions and some awesome, soft pajamas. Now I get to go home and see what else I get tomorrow and Sunday!

Once I get home I will need to wrap my gifts. I’d wrap them here, but when I took out the paper to do Steve’s gift, a giant furry spider was hiding inside! I think it’s safest if I use my mom’s stash.

Next stop, Home for the Holidays! :)

Posted at 5:49 PM | (0)

Last night Steve and I attended my company’s Holiday Party. The event began at 6pm, and when we arrived a few short minutes after 6, we were greeted at the entryway with choice of martini or wine. Then it was on to mingling and introducing people and all that small-talk stuff.

The best parts of the evening were seeing everyone dressed up (since we are a very casual work environment where jeans are not uncommon), watching people dance, and seeing who had a little too much of the free alcohol (especially obvious during the dancing portion. Basically it was a way to see a side of your coworkers not normally apparent during the work day.

The evening also consisted of a dinner, dessert, and a lengthy presentation about the company’s history by our CEO. In addition to the dancing, people also had some fun taking pictures with the disposable cameras placed at each table. Since Steve and I never seem to take pictures of us when we look nice, I took out my camera and had my boss’s husband take our picture.

I swear my camera was out to get me and prove that there is a reason few pictures of us exist, because on the first attempt we got a good shot, but then the camera wouldn’t shut off or retract the lens. I took out the battery to cut off the power and when I put it back in and went to look at the picture just taken there was a giant question mark with the words “CORRUPTED DATA” across it. After taking a test picture of Steve to make sure the camera functioned properly, I gave it back to the guy for another attempt. This time I forgot to properly adjust the flash strength and exposure level and so we were totally washed out.

But, the third time is the charm I guess, and here we are below.

Overall, it was done well enough for a company party and it was enjoyable. Much better than the in-house lunchtime party we had last year.

Posted at 5:21 PM | (2)

Dear Mr. UPS Man,

While I understand that you must stop your car in order to deliver packages, it might be nice if you could park in such a manner so as to not block driveways. Lots of times, there are cars parked all along the curb and you have no choice but to sort of double-park temporarily until the job is done.

You did this on my street this afternoon, but the odd thing was, you parked in the middle of the street when there was no car parked to the right of you, and there were several open spaces along the curb slightly farther up. You managed to block two whole driveways with your truck, and of course, one of them happened to be mine.

I was annoyed that despite the fact that I have an off-street parking spot, I was going to have to park on the street. See, I am going to a Holiday Party tonight and will be dressed up, and would prefer not to walk a long distance to my car. You also made me wonder what the heck was up because you seemed to be wandering around aimlessly, without any packages in your possession. It was especially inconvenient that you did this on a one-way street, so to get to my driveway once you left, I had to drive around the block.

I might have been able to forgive you your transgression had the delivery been for me. But it wasn’t.

So anyway, if you could avoid blocking driveways when there are other alternatives, that would be great.

Thanks,
Jennifer

Posted at 4:27 PM | (1)

The last couple days I’ve been rushing to get a blog set up for a company, which included some hurried work last night until like 2am.

Of course, my laptop decided to suddenly stop cooperating a little before 1am, forcing me to quickly use another computer. There were some things I couldn’t do on the other computer, but luckily most of it only required being able to open a web browser, so I think I finished everything.

This project came and went pretty quickly, but it will net me a nice little chunk of change, which will come in very handy when I have to pay off my Christmas credit card bill!

Posted at 10:11 AM | (0)

Yesterday I took a sick day and stayed home from work. I was actually sick, having come down with a cold on Monday and suffering through the workday on Tuesday with a runny nose that made it hard to concentrate. Lovely.

I had been taking some cold medicine since Tuesday and so did not feel nearly as bad as I probably would have otherwise. That being the case, and wanting to take advantage of fewer shoppers due to it being a weekday and everyone probably working, I decided to go finish up my Christmas shopping in the afternoon.

Around 3pm I went to La Cumbre which, in addition to free parking, also sets up a calendar store at the end of every year. I specifically went to this shopping center because of the calendars. Remember this, because it will be important later.

I went into various stores, needing to pick up a gift for my dad, as well as for the family member I drew in the First Annual Christmas Eve Gift Exchange Among First Cousins (hereafter referred to as FACEGEAFC). I thought about going into the calendar store when I walked by it, but figured I’d hit it up on my way back to the car.

I walked into Robinsons-May and began looking for something suitable for my dad and the FACEGEAFC. As I walked by handbags, I heard a voice that sounded familiar. Looking over, I saw that the voice belonged to one of my coworkers. I am not sure if she saw me, but I quickly darted behind a display of black leather purses; after all, I’m supposed to be sick, not casually shopping! After waiting a few minutes, I deemed it was safe to go to the 2nd floor and continue my gift search.

I found a gift-worthy item upstairs and, after paying for it, I descended on the escalator. When I looked at the back of the head of the woman riding in front of me I had a realization….IT WAS MY COWORKER! I became as silent as possible so she wouldn’t have reason to turn around and spot me, and as soon as I was able, I got off the escalator and went the opposite direction.

I circled the cosmetics section quickly and then descended one more floor so that I could get some boxes for my gifts. On the ride down I looked at the side aisles of the floor i was approaching and noticed that the same coworker was browsing in that area! This was getting to be a bit insane, but since I had been employing stealth thus far, I figured I might as well keep it up until I got out of the store.

When I finally exited the building it dawned on me that this coworker often arrives to work around the same time I do, meaning she would have to stay in the office until later in the evening. So what was this person doing shopping in the middle of the afternoon on a workday?! The store is too far away from our office to make it a convenient lunchtime excursion and it was too late in the afternoon. I suppose it is a possible a vacation day was taken, but since I employed ninja tactics I can’t ask and find out.

I got in my car and drove toward home, pondering the chance near-encounters. It then occurred to me; I forgot to go to the calendar store. My sole reason for choosing that particular shopping center was thwarted the instant my focus became getting out of the store unseen.

Hmm, maybe I’m sicker than I thought! :)

Posted at 1:17 PM | (5)

I’ve found a couple of Christmas (that’s right, CHRISTMAS, not “Holiday”, how un-PC of me!) memes floating around, and some were longer than others, and some had better questions than others, so I combined a couple and made my own!

Posted at 1:11 PM | (12)

So I did end up making those chocolate chip cookies I mentioned yesterday. I must make them A LOT bigger than the recipe intends, since they say it yields 5 dozen, but I ended up with only 2 1/2. Who wants tiny cookies anyway?!

I gave some to Steve, kept some for myself, and then brought in a dozen of them to work today. If you recall, last year I brought in some cookies only to find that everyone and their mother brought in some. It was an all-out cookie war! Oddly enough, now that I look at last year’s entry, I see that I brought in cookies at the EXACT SAME TIME of year. Downright eerie. For some reason I thought I had done it closer to Christmas.

This year wasn’t “bring your cookie to work day” but it would be asking too much to expect to be the only person on a Monday during the holiday season who brings in treats. The competing treat this year wasn’t cookies, but rather an entire vanilla cake with icing and festive red and green sprinkles.

In a way I suppose it’s good, because I did only bring in 12 cookies. This way, people have a choice of something to eat, although many of the people have taken one of each. It was kinda funny to see how quickly word spreads. One woman came over from another section and discovered the items, and within 5 seconds of her leaving our section, another woman came over after hearing about it, followed quickly by a guy wielding his own knife with which to cut himself a piece of cake.

It seems I am not meant to ever be the sole provider of goodies, but at least my contribution helps to make all the other sections envious of how awesome we are to have so many sweet items to choose from!

Posted at 10:50 AM | (0)

I don’t know what it is, but I can’t ever seem to do my Christmas shopping right away. I suppose I don’t relish the thought of fighting my way through crowds, waiting in long lines, and having to decide whether to do it during the weekdays after work, when it is already dark and cold, but probably less crowded, or on the weekends when it is sunny but there are bigger crowds.

So far I’ve bought two gifts and neither of these things represents the entire gift for either of the intended recipients. Luckily I don’t have TOO many people to buy for, so I suppose it’s not actually as bad as it seems. Besides, like all things that have deadlines, I will manage to get it done in time!

That said, in order to procrastinate some more, I think I’m going to go make chocolate chip cookies! :)

Posted at 1:26 PM | (1)

Today has been a pretty relaxing day. I got into the office around 10am and then went to a 2 hour company-paid lunch from 11:30am - 1:30pm. All of the sub-sections of my department were invited and the CEO came as well. It was held at Pascucci’s, which is a good Italian place that just opened a new location in Goleta. Unsurprisingly, more people showed up to this lunch than ones held at other locations.

It was nice to have an extended company-sanctioned break from work, and of course to have a good, free lunch. The meal even included a dessert—the choices were creme brulee, apple crisp, or flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. I got the chocolate cake. Unfortunately, my favorite meal, the chicken parmigiana wasn’t offered as one of the dishes (we ordered off of a pared-down menu in order to better accomodate a large group.) so I got a panini instead.

It was even cooler because not all of the company got invited and I’m not sure if any of the other departments have anything like this planned. It was also nice that the table I was at was a nice mix of people I talk to a lot and people we don’t get to interact with much, so it kept the conversation more lively. I am pretty full right now and could use a nap. Free 2 hour lunches rock!! :)

Posted at 2:52 PM | (5)

Although my department hasn’t really decorated for Halloween, we do seem to get into the Christmas spirit. We have a miniature tree that is strung with lights and decorated with ornaments made of cool-looking foreign postage stamps collelcted from the packages of journals we receive daily. Underneath the tree are several tiny boxes wrapped up in shiny paper and tied with a bow.

Last year one of the girls in my section took time to make a bunch of intricate paper snowflakes, which we hung from the ceiling. At the end of the holiday season we stored them in a box along with the various tree decorations. They were brought out again this year and hung up in a semi-random fashion above our section of the building. One of the snowflakes is positioned directly over my computer monitor, which also happens to be directly in the path of one of the air vents.

Every so often I get freaked out by something moving out of the corner of my eye, and then I realize….It’s just a paper snowflake, dangling above me on nearly-invisible string, and slowly twirling in the slight current of air created by the nearby overhead vent. It is very pretty, but it’s a little disconcerting to see something moving in a place where you don’t expect it!

Posted at 12:53 PM | (0)

I mentioned in the past how my apartment is located within a converted Victorian house, and how i have had some electrical issues (ie. 2 people on my floor can’t use a microwave at the same time, half my room has lost power but not the other half, etc.). However, it seems that when other people lose power, I don’t!

This morning lots of places lost power—businesses, residences, etc. In fact, at Steve’s, he lost power to everything but the lighting, which when turned on would provide illumination, but much dimmer. In my place, not only are the lights burning at full strength, but everything stayed on—it didn’t even turn off for a second, or else my VCR clock would’ve been flashing.

How does this happen? How can I live in a place over 100 years old, that is so sensitive that you need to turn off everything to use a major appliance, and yet it doesn’t lose power in most of the blackouts that affect the downtown area? The only times I’ve been affected are when something has happened to the city power grid. I wonder what kind of funky wiring is running through all the really old places. Apparently it’s pretty special!

I’m not complaining though. The steady stream of power means that nothing will come between me and downloading additional christmas music. I only have one compilation CD and one Perry Como and I need MORE! You can never have too much of it, but more importantly, that christmas lights tour takes about 90 minutes and last year we ran out of music!

Posted at 11:55 AM | (4)

Why is it that sometimes I can think of 5 entries to post in a single day (though usually I’ll space them out over several days to be more consistent) and other times I go several days without thinking of anything to say. I can’t even think of something completely banal to write about—unless it’s something like “Today I went to work”.

I’m having one of those latter times. I guess I have a thing about going more than a few days without posting, and from the looks of it I’d go a few more if I didn’t write this. Although, I usually think that, and then as soon as I do a meme or a post like this just for the sake of updating, I instantly come across something that would be blog-worthy. Of course, then I usually post it the next day.

Maybe I’ll blame it on Kevin. He made me watch this weird video about cows fighting for freedom, and now the chorus of the song is stuck in my head. It’s obviously driven out all rational thought. In order to subject other people to this as well, I’m going to link to it! I don’t really understand why it was made, and I REALLY don’t understand the part about the chickens, but there you go.

Is it time to go home from work yet? :)

Posted at 3:34 PM | (2)