Excitement Everywhere

Well, Frappie got engaged over the weekend. It sounds weird just SAYING that! How exciting though! I had a feeling it was going to happen when she said they were taking a long weekend. I knew about the ring for at least a few weeks, and it was hard to keep it a secret, so I avoided all talk about love, relationships, marriage, etc. at any cost. :) I knew I wouldn't actually SAY anything to Frappie, but why torture myself when I was already busting at the seams, right?

Fantasy football is about to start! The league was established, and most of our crew has already signed up. The format changed again, and I'm not too keen about it, but football is back!!!! QE was laughing at me for several weeks because I was getting pissy at how long it took for the site to get its act together. I mean, how long does it take to activate the season, people?! Geez. :)

Lastly, I'm still reveling in last weekend's concert. I should have screamed more.

Afterglow

Yes, I am still enjoying the afterglow from our concert. I had a really good time with QE. Even though he kept his arms folded and crossed through much of the Goo's show. Ah, reminds me of Vegas... :)

We had lunch at Mike's American on Sunday. As expected, the food was delish. Excellent service too. All was good til we saw something nobody wants to see in a restaurant. (good thing it was after we finished our meals!) We promptly told our server, who told someone else (floor manager?). The guy came by to apologize and offered to seat us elsewhere. No matter, we just wanted them to know about the situation. Then, the big cheese manager came, apologized again, comped our meal, and asked us to provide contact info so HQ could contact us. Holy cow. We really didn't expect anything, not even dessert, so a free meal was nuts. I guess that's why GAR is such a kickass awesome chain--they hire the best in the business and go out of their way to ensure customer satisfaction. We really just wanted to let them know. End of story.

My only wish is that they would diversify their menu selections from one restaurant to the next. Places like Silverado and Sweetwater Tavern (more rustic, steakhouse themed imo) shouldn't have the same food as Carlyle, their flagship. And Coastal Flats should focus more on seafood. The food is consistently awesome, regardless of the restaurant. May they live long and prosper.

I WANNA WAKE UP WHERE YOU ARE

What a weekend! The concert was awesome, even beyond my expectations. Since we didn't have the excitement build-up that comes from buying tickets months in advance, the anticipation and exhilaration was compacted into mere hours. Eliot Morris opened the night and was quite good. Adam D. of the Crows came out, looking rather frumpy, and introduced Eliot as a good friend, hope we like him, etc. We thought that was a nice touch. Eliot worked hard at the concert--he was at a merchandise booth signing CDs for people who purchased his album. Really nice guy. Totally approachable, seemed humbled by the experience. I hope he does well in his career.

The Goo Goo Dolls were fantastic. The attandance seemed to sway more towards older people vs the young teeny boppers. As such, all the old farts had no idea what the Goos were performing except the popular Iris, Name, and Slide. What a disgrace. They should have been sitting on the lawn drinking their pretentious chardonnays or something. I was the only one--ONLY ONE--jumping, screaming, and singing. Sigh...the life of a Goo fan is a lonely one. :)

My beloved QE's face lit up when the Counting Crows went on stage. It was really cool to see my hubby enjoying himself. Adam is funny as anything! "ok, this next song is f'n depressing, but I hope you love it anyway" or "wait, I have the wrong chord" or stalling because the guitarist wasn't ready. Or making us sing Happy Bday to Dan because we didn't participate the first time, and threatened to make us sing it again.

Goo Goo Dolls and Counting Crows. What an awesome billing. QE and I both got to see our favorite bands, the only band we'd want to see live.

I'll Stay With You

Walls will fall before we do...take my hand...

Tomorrow is the Goo Goo Dolls/Counting Crows concert. I love the Goos, QE loves the Crows...what could be better right? I've been lamenting about how it's at the po dunk Nissan Pavilion. Well, now I finally understand why Em procrastinates and is late everywhere. Apparently it gets rewarded with section 101 seats!!!! Yup. We didn't pay to join either band's fan club, so we couldn't participate in the internet presale. Knowing that, it wasn't worth my effort to get crappy seats, and definitely not lawn! So I've been trying to justify why we didn't, SHOULDN'T, go to the concert. I decided to look at what seats were available just for kicks. A few days ago, best available seats were in section 301. It's Friday, during the 4 PM hour that I decided to look again. Well whadda ya know...section 101!!!! Ok, so it's not front row, but not to shabby, eh? Called the dear hubby with the exciting news. "Honey, I told you I'd take you" note that he didn't say Yeah! Let's go! Good score on the tix! See, my dear QE hates crowds, hates concerts, and hates how the Crows artistically alter (i.e. butcher) their songs during concerts. But he's taking me anyway. Sigh. That is true love, my friends. Now I just hope that my precious Goos are the headlining act and not the loser Crows. :) QE has only been to one other Goo concert and he vowed it would be the last. This one will be the last. I promise.

True Love?

QE told me that the kids were in a constant state of unrest last night. They usually settle into one room on the main level of the house and lounge there until we go upstairs for bed. Last night, both Angel and Davis went from room to room, never settling in anywhere. QE thinks it's because they missed me and were looking for me. Sigh. Maybe they do love me after all.

Homesick

I miss my kids. I am mentally and physically drained from work. Churning out proposals less than a week apart is starting to wear on me, and we still have two to go! I left the house at 5:40 this morning. Most people aren't even out of bed at that time. Thankfully Davis cooperated and ate his breakfast with minimal fuss. He won't eat unless I sit with him in his room. Angel won't eat canned food until she knows there's no chance of getting kibble. She started sleeping with us again, so it's nice to wake up in the middle of the night and being able reach for her soft little feet. Buddy misses boobie time but I never sit still long enough for him to lay on me. Maybe tonight. I don't know how parents juggle family and work. Although most get to duck out early or work from home, a priviledge us non-parents don't have without getting grief from bosses or coworkers. Maybe not having kids means we don't have a real family.

Our New Arrival

QE and I would like to take a moment to welcome the newest addition to our family. We couldn't have asked for a cuter fellow. Yes, our mini mac arrived today, earlier than scheduled. QE says it's tiny, even smaller than our computer speakers (those JBL ghost looking things). I will post pics of our new cutie soon.

I Need a Baby

Babies are so cute and so soft. And they smell so good when they are clean. Newborns weigh next to nothing. It's a total miracle how something so precious is derived from two cells. What could possibly define perfection like a baby? A baby with knitted booties. I need babies to knit for. I want to knit cute booties, jumpers and hats. I want to dress babies in tiny little sweaters. I need a baby. Or two. Or ten.

Losing Everything

I took Friday off from work to spend some quality time with the QE. We did a day trip to Atlantic City. The drive wasn't too bad. Parked at the Taj Mahal. $10 for parking because we didn't have their stupid club card prior to entering. I would have pimped out my info and gotten a card once we arrived, but nooooo....Trump's other casino allowed us to show the card and pay upon exit. No wonder that ass is a gazillionaire. We spent the whole day at Taj. I wouldn't say NEVER again, but ACY is like the Wal-Mart of casinos--I'd rather not go. It was smelly, smoky, and full of old people, many with canes, walkers, wheelchairs, a few oxygen tanks. Good to know our Medicare checks are being put to good use. Now I know why I get taxed on my hard earned dollars--so these crusty old people can gamble it all away.
We ate at Hard Rock Cafe. Service was good but the food was only ok. In all, I lost $80. QE won $50+ on $10. $80 doesn't sound like a lot, but that tightwad Trump did not let me win very frequently. I don't need to profit from the trip, but one "win" every 20 slot pulls would have been enough positive reinforcement for me to keep playing. I lost $20 in about 20 minutes. On the penny slots. Betting $.03 per pull. That's ridiculous.

I went to Jenny's baby shower on Saturday. I have never seen so many kids in one place. WTF. What's with these kid factories???? I befriended twin one-year old girls. They both took a liking to me. As I was ready to leave, she wanted me to hold her, so I did. I tried to explain I needed to go bye-bye and she responded by plopping her head on my shoulder and snuggling into me. Speaking to kids is very similar to speaking to cats. That cutesy wootsey voice is what gets their attention. So these girls are one-year old. And became a big sister that very morning. Mom gave birth to another baby girl. So she now has twin babies AND a newborn. That husband should pay for doing that to the poor woman! Jenny made out with lots of loot. The baby can go at least a few months of wearing new clothes without ever duplicating outfits.

The highlight of our weekend was our hard drive frying. I turned on the computer to get directions to Jenny's shower and it wouldn't boot. Tried five times. QE used the recovery disks and had to reinstall Office, our internet SW and everything else. He lost all of his school work. And we lost all of our digital pictures. In addition to cat pics (which didn't bother me too much since we can always take more pics of our cuties), we lost our house photos. All the weekly trips and pictures of our house as it was getting built is gone. I have some of the nicer pics in Yahoo and Flickr, but I lost at least half of my pics. And the ones published aren't the full sized pics. We are very upset about losing our photos.

Personality Disorder

I took the Myers-Briggs test as part of a work training thing. I've taken it once before, in high school, but forgot my results. I am ISFJ. Introvert, Sensing, Feeling, Judging. The F is barely registering, at a 6 on a 30 point scale. I thought I would be Thinking (logical) instead. I think I was a T in high school. I knew I was an introvert who liked the facts (sensing) and structure (judging). I was the only introvert in the session! That's what I get for working in my company's industry I suppose. But all the J's agreed that if it's not in our plans, we'd rather not do something spur of the moment. And because we're all planners, it drives us crazy when people are late. We planned everything to time perfectly! :)

The Metro ride in was interesting this morning. The whole train was empty and we started to wonder why. Too good to be true!!! The moment we stepped into the cars, we knew. No AC. And in addition to no air conditioning, it felt like the train was baking in the sun all day (even though it was morning). So the train is literally empty. I decide to tough it out and took a seat. Had to get to work on time and all. What do you know...some white chick decides to sit next to me. I turn around and see at least 10 rows, not seats, ROWS that were vacant. And this stupid white girl has to sit next to me. WTF. I wanted to smack the white out of her. Geesh, QE, control your people! hahahah!

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.