It's Natural!

This is from Frappie. So weird, yet so darn cool and fascinating. So weird!!!!

http://shop.kissochbajs.com/shopfront.asp

I can always count on Frappie to share unusual and offbeat stuff. :) Thanks Frappie!

Mixed Veggies

Angel has taken a liking to our shower. Every morning, we have the same ritual: she gets into the shower stall, I pour a few cups of water in the stall, and she sits there watching the water trickle down the drain as I brush my teeth. I have a hard time getting her out of the shower (read: she won't budge) so I resort to turning on the shower a tiny bit so drops of water drip out of the showerhead. Only then will Angel leave her sanctuary and with a catitude of indignation. She scurries back into the shower after I get out and lingers in there.

We met up with Dad yesterday and had pho. Yum. Dad took us to a different place, a shop that Mom doesn't like. They were skimpy on the beef, but the noodles and soup had a better flavor. Dad then took us to Great Wall, a new Asian supermarket in Merrifield. It was nice. Clean, big, bright, and everyone was much nicer than at those Korean markets. We left Great Wall without any bruises, evil stares or rude snorts like we get at those Korean joints. Wonder who will get my money... There were lots of live animals and critters there, including a bin of frogs. Yikes. Poor little froggies. I swear they looked sad and scared, huddled together in a corner, unflinching when someone tapped on the case. There's something barbaric about condemning a fellow Earth inhabitant to death so you can eat him. I am not a vegetarian, but I am seriously considering becoming one. Animal death seems less real when I see a package of animal flesh without a face. To pick out one fish, frog, or lobster. To PICK HIM OUT as if to say, "yep, that's the one who will die for me" just seems cruel. Dad was proud to point out the fish (live tilapia) he usually buys when he cooks for us. While it's always delish, all I felt was guilt for eating one of their relatives. It didn't seem that the store cared for the critters (it would eat into the profit margin), so I assumed that the animals weren't fed and certainly weren't in an ideal holding tank. What a way to die. Hungry, scared, and in a dirty pen shared with your fellow prisoners, just waiting for some human to pick you out so you can die and show up on tonight's menu. How does that differ from the fish filets, steaks, and chicken breasts that I eat? I don't know. Those animals died for me too. But I didn't meet them, see their faces, and select the one who would be sentenced to death. Oh. I also found out that while "normal" cows get stunned prior to getting killed, kosher cows get their throats slit by a Jewish rabbi while it is still alive and conscious. And apparently the cow doesn't die immediately. The reporter said that the cows are visibly upset and in pain (duh) as blood drains out of their throat. Seriously, this is enough to make me want to become vegetarian. In addition to sparing the animals and clearing my conscience, it's probably a healthier way of living. No hormone-fed animals, no making the animals become cannibals. When turkeys die at the farm (per Dirty Jobs, about 30 die daily at the farm), they are ground up and mixed back into the turkey's feed. EW. No making vegetarians (cows) eat meat by products--which is one way mad cow disease is spread. Those hormones are probably what contributes to our chunky state of being and children reaching puberty at an earlier age. While ages 12-14 used to be the norm, now kids as early as age 9 or 10 hit puberty. These poor kids don't even know what's going on with their bodies!!! The reality is, I don't think I will stop eating animal flesh. But I will and should make an effort to consume animals that were treated nicely at the farm.

We also met up with QE's brother, the baby's momma, and son. The son J is six going on seven. Holy crap, where has time gone???? It seemed like just two years ago that J was a baby and peed on me as I held his newborn ass! He's cute. And loud. And active. His energy is endless. He seems smart enough and is quite articulate. No baby talk, no baby voice. I can't stand that. If you're potty trained, you're old enough to quit the cutesy wootsy baby talk voice. Not being around kids, I was surprised that I never had to say "what did he just say?" to his parents because I couldn't understand him. He has the creamiest, smoothest skin despite being so active. I expected to see scrapes and scars on his arms and whatnot, but even his little hands were perfectly creamy white with a hint of healthy pink.

I Love New York

Well, not exactly. My flight on US Airways was great. I even got on an earlier flight home. New York itself was ok. I didn't spend much time there. Can't understand a thing the cabbies say and they drive so darn fast! The roads (lanes) seem narrower than ours--a few times I thought we were going to get hit because the cars are so close to each other. The buildings are huge and beautiful. But from the street level, everything is so dull and rundown looking. Pedestrians clearly own the road and cross during "Don't Walk" and jaywalk like they want to get run over. I also witnessed a major honking fest when a few cars blocked the intersection. I saw the Waldorf Astoria. Again, it looked dingy and not the dreamy heaven I expected. I would be interested in going back and exploring NY, but maybe with a "tour guide" friend who could lead us to interesting stuff. Someone who could show us what may strike our fancy and not necessarily what they like. QE and I are all about the food. Yum. Food.

I am a ho

I got pimped out by my company to attend a loser half-day meeting in NYC. Not related to anything I do, but they need someone to represent. What a crock. The meeting starts at 8:30. Which means I'll be on the 6 a.m. flight and I will be leaving the house in the middle of the night. It's great for all the fatcats who fly up the night before and whatnot, but that's not my style. All this crap for a HALF DAY meeting. How much is this going to cost our stockholders? Way too much. There will be 30-50 people there, and assuming half need to travel...plus our labor costs and loss in productivity and...yeah. You want networking too? Here, I'll shove my business card up your ass. How's that for networking?

Despite being the company ho, QE has 99 problems but hopefully I ain't one.

Grilling Guru

There's something about starting a fire and cooking your food over an open flame that's really cool. QE bought Cowboy Charcoal (aka hippie charcoal) that looked like blackened pieces of wood instead of the chemically treated briquets used by most people. It's supposed to be easier to start, last longer, burn hotter, etc. The best part was that our food didn't have that off taste to it. The fire was hard to start thanks to a breeze that swept through every time I lit a match. And we didn't have that charcoal chimney thing. It took a long time to get the flame going, but that was due to me not using enough hippie charcoal I think. When it did get going, the coals looked beautiful. The highlight of my grilling was the corn husks catching fire, despite me soaking the corn for an hour. Hilarious. "My corn is on fire! My corn is on fire!"

Yay Me!

YAY! It's Friday! The wonderful QE made me a quad iced americano with no extra water. SO FREAKIN GOOD. What I want to know is how a desk monkey can make a kickass awesome coffee but baristas, people who make coffee for a living, can't. I still love Starbucks, but the DC stores run around like idiots in the morning. You're lucky if you get the drink in the size you ordered.

Last night, Davis snuggled on me again. He clearly misses spending time with me. It's not like I've been away or anything, but I guess he needs his bonding time. My legs were propped up on pillows while sitting on the sofa. He came over to lay on me. How cute. Then he managed to position himself so that he mimicked the V shape of my body and legs. It was perfect for him to nestle his head right between my boobs and on my chest. He looked like a newborn laying on the chest of whoever was holding the baby. He started to sleep this way while drooling and purring. I was so touched by the way he looked that I stopped reading the newspaper just to look at him. He loves to climb high on my chest despite me sitting up. Davis definitely knows how to charm me. My little baby will never grow up to be a toddler or kid. How perfect. Too bad my baby will nip and chomp at me too. :)

Brain Vomit

Aye. First of all, I want to know how people, companies, ANYONE can in good conscience make a bad cup of coffee. Although I am a coffee snob and only appreciate the beauty of Starbucks, I will drink other stuff if necessary. I like frou frou flavors too. But just because the coffee is flavored doesn't mean it has to taste like brown water. Where's the body and texture???

I was thinking of braving the heat for a cup of glorious Starbucks earlier this week, and grabbing a snack too. Nerd that I am, I had to look at the nutrition info for their pastries. Holy crap. Nothing had less than 13 grams of fat and/or 400 calories. For those numbers, I can eat a bag of peanut M&Ms! And I sure did! Dang they were good too. My peanut M&M addiction is worse than any other...one pack every day (ok, averages to one pack a day since I had two on Monday and won't have any today) probably offsets all the exercising I've been doing. Who knew I still had ab muscles???

The boucle yarn I am using for the bunny blanket is driving me nuts. It looks so nice, but I hate boucle. It's hard to knit because I can't see clearly what I am doing. So I end up ripping rows more frequently than I should for such an easy project.

I woke up to see Buddy curled up under the bedroom window on my side of the bed. He was tucked between the wall and my nightstand. He's so cute. He seems sad lately, but I don't know why. I need to pay more attention to him. I have a 10% off everything coupon for Petco and want to buy the kids a bigger perch thing. Evil dad says no, they don't need any more furniture since everything we have is their furniture.

Looking forward to firing up the barbie this weekend. We finally got a Weber charcoal grill. Gas grills are for wimps.

Bunny Love

What a weekend. Nothing exciting happened, but I had fun anyway. I spoke to Jenny, and bought lots of stuff for her baby shower. It was so fun buying stuff off their registry. Apparently Frankie scanned everything in every aisle when Jenny wasn't looking. How awesome. My favorite item was a pink bunny in a white bathrobe and white bunny slippers. So cute. I think I may keep him for myself! :) I finished Latte's bear, sort of. I'm starting to hate that thing. It called for three skeins of yarn. Fine. I used slightly smaller needles, so the bear should have been a bit smaller than the pattern. So why did I run out of yarn??? I have enough to attach the ears, but that's it. There's still a hole in the crotch and I need to define the neck. I will have to get another skein to finish it up, assuming the same dye lot is still available. Not exactly thrilled at spending yet another $6 just for a yard of yarn. What a crock. And his stupid head looks really big. The pattern tormented me once, so I don't know why I decided to make it again. Argh. I am now focusing on a bunny blanket buddy pattern by Lion Brand yarn. It's one of those baby blankets with a doll head so it's a quasi doll-blanket mutant. It's for Jenny's baby girl. Have I said how excited I am she's having a girl???

My New Doggie and Money

We have come to discover that Davis is part dog. Ever loyal, he is the only one that is guaranteed to greet me at the door. Angel will slowly mosey over if she feels like it. QE will come eventually, depending on what he was doing before I got home. But Davis, he's always there. I walk in the door, and his gray face is peeking from the dining room, waiting for his head rubs.

Our little boy managed to catch a fly and proceeded to eat it, then spit it out. Gross. I'm impressed he caught a fly though. He needs more room to run around. I guess that's why he likes the basement. I really want to quit my job and just spend time with the kids. Why couldn't I have a rich dead relative who gave me some of their wealth? Why didn't I marry some millionaire's son? Or maybe, we should quit paying taxes that subsidize all the bums out there. That would mean a bigger paycheck, which means I don't need to work so much to get the same take home pay.

QE says I am unsympathetic. No, I understand some people hit rough times. Great, we'll help you out. That's what makes America so great, right? But the lifelong welfare recipients, the Medicare/Medicaid assistance to immigrants who have never worked a day in the US don't deserve government subsidies. Don't get me wrong, I am not anti-immigrant. I am anti-moochers. Citizen or immigrant, if you don't work and contribute to society and taxes, you have no right receiving benefits from the system. And these old people now who drain our system...knowing that I will never get Medicare but I have to dump all my money into the system just pisses me off. These people have taken way more than they ever put in. Does grandma really need to take 10 medications for her heart, blood pressure, kidney, liver, cholesterol, big toe, and every other ailment? How about reducing sodium, fat and sugar intake, eh???? Does grandpa really need Viagra? Dude, if ya can't get it up, it must mean your body can't handle it. Thanks to his recreational activities, he needs to take heart and blood pressure meds because the Viagra-induced excitement leads to difficulty breathing. WTF.

Commentators

QE saved himself by posting one comment. I want to see more commenting, but for now, he is safe. Because I only have one sibling, I am allowing Simon a one-time only grace period. This is the kind picture. Next time, I will not be so kind.

In other news, well, there is no other news. I got invited to Jenny's baby shower, so that's neat. She's having a girl. My favorite band, Goo Goo Dolls, will be here for a concert in August. I am not going because it's at Nissan and in addition to hating their crappy wannabe cars, it's in BFE and not worth the hassle. Plus the nasty August heat and humidity isn't making me want to go. Besides, the Crapping Crows are supposedly the headlining act. It's mostly the heat and location though. We thought about going to see them in Hershey, PA, but Hershey Hotel is like $400+/night. WTF. It's HERSHEY! I'll take Vegas any time.

Finance Goo

Helped QE with his finance "quiz" last night. It was more like a full blown exam. Instructor said it wasn't timed and the system wouldn't kick him out unless he was idle (i.e. didn't answer any questions) for 90 minutes. Well, the system submitted his "quiz" after 90 minutes. He got a 40. Yup. 40. As part of this "quiz", he had to submit his backup work in excel, so the instructor could award partial credit. QE spent quite a while structuring his spreadsheet, copying questions/answers (multiple choice), which left him less time to actually take the test. So after he got his score, we continued to solve the problems. Hopefully the instructor will review the backup spreadsheet and see that QE could have completed the test if given the time. He gets full blown panic attacks during these weekly tests, and I must say I would too. Of course, it would help a lot if QE knew that the debt ratio was liabilities/assets and not the other way around. Copying formulas down correctly would do wonders in getting the right answer. His other 'flaw' was instead of linking to the given information, he would type it in, which leads to more room for errors and typos, especially if one is already freaking out and panicking. And rather than using trial and error to get the answers for ratios, the Goal Seek function in excel would simplify things. The less typing and the more formulas/links he uses, the less likely there will be mistakes. He sort of listened to me. Maybe next week he will follow my advice more.

These tests are actually kind of neat. I enjoy working on the problems with QE. It's sort of like marital therapy. We're solving problems as a team. He's not stupid by any standard. He just panics and then loses all sensibility. If he calms down, he knows how to think things through and can get the right answers. The grunting, slamming, and profanity does nothing except scare the cats and further fluster him. Again though, he waited for over 80 minutes before asking me for help. This is a master's program. Certainly the problems aren't going to be plug-and-chug, where they give you the formula you need and all the elements of the formula. They expect students to take things a few steps further, and possibly research things, before being able to solve the problems. QE doesn't seem to accept that. Last night's quiz was way easier than my CMA exam, for sure. At least his was open book. Math isn't his forte, so I am proud of him. Heck, for a guy who doesn't know how to balance a checkbook, taking a graduate finance class must be like me trying to be a size 2. Impossible.

Motherhood

It's official. I am not ready for motherhood. EVER. I was snuggling with Angel earlier despite her protests. I finally let her go and watched tv. I smelled something weird but faint. Couldn't figure it out. Finally, I saw a small blotch of brown cream on my sleeve. Yup. Angel's poop. She had a gooey cling-on on her fur, I think. So I then carried her into the bathroom and had to clean her up. How freakin' nasty. At least it didn't stink. Davis is the stink bomb dropper.

Honey, LOOK!

QE decided to stir things up yesterday evening by pointing out a groundhog in our yard. He's standing in our tub while I was leaning on his vanity. We looked, we scrutinized, and immediately I said it's not one of my cuties. Yes it is, he insists, it's too big to be a squirrel! Is it a rat??? Our little visitor was standing on his hind legs, so it was hard to tell. Finally Mr. Furry decides to move and sure enough, it was a squirrel. Mr. Squirrel didn't look pleased to be called fat by QE. Rude indeed, Mr. Squirrel!

Prairie Dogs

As a cat-mom and now rural-esque resident, it's pretty clear that I love animals. Some would say I love animals too much. Because of our area's more woodsy environment, we have lots of cool "neighbors". Deer being super-awsome cool to watch. I see lots of cool birds I've never seen before, include one that was yellow and black. I also see cute little groundhogs. They define cute like no other little critter. They live on a golf course by my house. And I loooove seeing them on my drive home from work. I asked a question on a chat recently and got the following answer.

Groundhog alert! Groundhog alert! In the last three years the golf course has trapped 250 groundhogs (for that is what they are). They are taken over to the other side of I-95 and released. "We give them a 50-50 chance if they want to come back," said xxxx, the golf course's head of maintenance. (I guess that means they have to brave the interstate.)
So now you know!

I can't decide how I feel about that. What if they leave their families behind on the golf course? I wonder if they do go back though. They are adorable regardless. As I gaze across the course, I see little brown lumps scattered throughout. They have the cutest faces too.

Yes, Deer

As I was un/loading the dishwasher yesterday in the early evening, I noticed some greenery outside moving too briskly to be wind. Looking out the kitchn window, I see a deer chomping on a big bush-like plant that had leaves similar to ferns and bamboo. It was a boy deer with antlers! He looked bigger and more muscular than the girls. His antlers weren't huge but a good size, and they looked furry/fuzzy! I watched him for a while and he got on his hind legs to reach the plant. Looking around, I noticed MORE deer! As I continued to look, it became a find-the-deer game. In total, I saw four boys and one girl. I've only seen girls prior to this, so seeing a boy was rather neat. I waved at them and they seemed to see me, but they didn't react. The bucks' tails seem to be longer than the doe's. Now if only we can get them to eat our weeds.

Fraidy Cat

Davis is now very timid and skittish. He's doing ok with me but still a bit weary. He purrs for me and will seek my attention. Davis will run and hide from QE though. Apparently he spent most of the afternoon/evening under our bed until I got home from work. He hid under the bed again when QE was vacuuming their room. The cats usually scatter when the vac is on, but hiding under the bed never happened. So we went to bed with Davis still under our bed. And he was under our bed again this morning when he realized QE was awake and fixing their breakfast. QE insists he didn't do anything mean or cruel to Davis, so we're not sure why Davis is so freaked out by QE. Davis has always been a momma's boy and a bit flipped out by dad, but dad also has a habit of tumbling down the stairs like a herd of elephants, so I would be startled to wake from nap that way too. Our poor boy is very sensitive and he must have been traumatized by yesterday's events. He will come around I'm sure. I don't even want to think what would happen if I was no longer in Davis' life. His heart would probably break since he has bonded with me to tightly.

The good news is that my beloved blanket does not smell. Go figure! I sopped up as much pee as I could then doused the blanket with Nature's Miracle. We moved the blanket to the spare bedroom in hopes it would catch some sun. Sure enough, the smell is gone. Ok, not 100%, but I had to sniff really hard several times before I picked up the faint smell. So last night, I applied more Nature's Miracle and worked it into the down. I will let it air out for another few days before I use it.

May go shopping this weekend. I got pimped out for a trip to NYC but I don't want to go. Especially if Frappie won't go with me. Latte's bear is almost done. The head is really big. I have to say, my least favorite part of a project is stuffing the item. It always turns out uneven or lumpy. Bear still needs two arms, two ears, and a face. I'm hooked on a Hello Kitty party planning game for GBA. Bought it for less than $9! My primary goal this weekend is to bond with the cats. They both seem a bit weary and neglected since I've been playing Hello Kitty for the past two nights. Davis is a good boy. I hope he understands why it's not ok to pee on stuff. I don't regret adopting him because I know he would have died otherwise. And despite what he does, his life is still precious, just as all lives are. We're all born with a mommy and daddy, regardless of our species, and we were all nurtured by someone at some point in our lives.

No Buddy of Mine

I was sleeping when Davis decided to pee on my blanket. While I was sleeping and USING the blanket. Yup, my new down comforter. I was livid. QE brought him upstairs and I made him smell his pee while yelling at him. He looked scared. I feel bad now. I went into his room, sat down and didn't say anything. I just looked at him. To make nice, Davis started to purr very loudly, showed me his belly, rubbed against me, and looked at me. After a few minutes, I finally spoke in my angry voice. He cowered in the corner still purring and giving me sad eyes (think PussNBoots in Shrek). I then made nice, gave him a few head rubs to reassure him and left. QE decided to put him in the other bathroom, so that's where Davis is right now. QE said it's so Davis can think about what he did.

What You Shea?

Major coup yesterday. BOGO at Bath and Body Works, a store I NEVER go into! Their stuff smells nice, but don't work any better than stuff by drugstore brands. So, my big win...they had old True Blue stuff on sale because they revamped the packaging. I found TWO(!) pure shea butters after much digging. I think I yelped in glee actually. So it was buy one get one free. I got 7 ounces of pure shea butter for $17.50. Can life get better than that???? The one I have been lusting after is from L'Occitane. I couldn't bring myself to spend $36 for a tin of shea butter though.

Happy Independence Day!

As promised, here is a picture of Simon, who has not visited my blog in over a week. QE received the same threat and has been reading my blog but not commenting. Hm. We'll see if we can change that. :)

I bought Blue Sky Alpaca yarn for Latte's bear. Because the yarn Frappie and I chose was 100% alpaca, I had to use three skeins, knitting two strands at once. Natural Medium Tan. It is so soft and lush. I am having a very hard time knitting it and knowing I won't get to keep it. Because I have learned a lot thanks to the Stitch N Bitch Handbook, the bear looks much nicer than the one I made for myself. Here is Kate completed. QE and I think she still looks like Piglet because of her colors. She's not perfect, but cute nonetheless. Maybe I will sell her.

In addition to the yummy yarn I bought for Latte's project, I also bought some soft and fuzzy baby yarn for a pregger friend. Just need to find a simple pattern for a sweater or overalls and get her approval before I proceed. Maybe she's not into knitted goods. Or maybe she won't want to dress her baby girl in blue. As a first-time mom, I know I would be a momzilla over my baby.

The kids are doing fine. Davis loves to sit on my lap when I am knitting. I usually stop knitting so he can quit batting and chewing on my yarn. But even that's not enough--he wants my undivided attention. If I am reading or watching tv, he will climb further up on me to my chest, look me straight in the eyes, and put a paw on me. "Hey mom, pay attention to me." Angel is still her same old self. I swear she is the cutest cat ever. Those blue eyes hypnotize me to do whatever she wants.

No plans for today. We didn't have any luck getting the Weber grill we want. It's special order at Home Depot. Why would a $150 grill be special order???? So, we have a $25 Lowe's card for buying a ceiling fan. We were going to use that and the AmEx gift cards from Frappie to buy our coveted trash can. Except that I still can't bring myself to spend that kind of money for a freakin' trash can. It would be minimal cash outlay for us, but the opportunity cost is still there. Those gift cards could be spent on something else instead.