We Are SUPER Exciting

So with Kailey moving back to Austin and in with me it allows us to spend a lot of time together again. And Kailey and I like to spend our time together doing awesome things like watching TV and watching movies and, um, well that is really it but we have fun!

Want to know how awesome we are? Well we spent one Friday night watching a silent Zorro movie and we followed that up with watching the AKC Dog Show the following night. Yeah. We live large.

When we began running out of shows to watch I asked Kailey is she had seen Leverage, since we both really enjoyed White Collar and Burn Notice I thought it might be something she would enjoy, and I hadn't seen the shows since they originally aired I thought I would like watching them again. We ended up watching all the aired episodes (seasons one and the first half of season two) in two nights. Two days later, I came home from school to find her watching season one again, she claimed to want to catch all the little things that you pick up on after seeing a lot of episodes and see if they were present in early episodes (in her defense it did explain why I was craving orange soda, talk about subliminal advertising). About a week later I was on my netflix account to look up something new to watch and what does it say in the corner??? Last Watched: Leverage Season One. Yeah Kailey, CAUGHT AGAIN!! I think she liked it.

Crap

Now I kinda want a snuggie.

I Miss Southern California

Mission Accomplished

I just mailed a birthday card to my aunt (her birthday is on Saturday). Why am I telling you this? (Besides the obvious, its my blog and I get to do what I want)

1. This is an amazing event because as many of you have probably noticed, I don't send birthday cards. I try, I have everyone's birthday in my calendar set with a reminder for two weeks ahead of time so that I can get a card and mail it but it never happens.

2. I bought this card five years ago.

See I lived with my aunt and uncle for a short time and during that time (because of the type of people they are and because of the type of person I am) we accumulated a number of inside jokes - all of which are at the expense of one or more of the three of us. Then living in Santa Barbara five years ago I was at Gelson's and I found the PERFECT birthday card for my aunt so I bought it even though it was months until her birthday. I put it in a place where I would TOTALLY know where it was when I needed it and then I forgot where that place was. I found it a few months after her birthday and was all, "no problem, now I'll totally know where it is for her birthday this year." Nope, gone again. I think you can probably figure out the pattern of the last few years. BUT, today I sent it, I'm very excited.

I would also like to point out that despite misplacing it multiple times, I never lost it and I think we need to remember that I have moved four times (including inter-state!!) in those five years, and also that I have only unpacked one box in my bedroom since my most recent move and it happened to be the box with the card in it. I actually purposefully didn't want to unpack any other boxes when I found it because it has since been the only thing sitting on my bookcase for a month and I didn't want to unpack more and risk forgetting it again.

Yeah it is So You Think You Can Dance Again

If I was still dancing with any level of competency I think I would only want to do Mandy Moore* routines.

From this week:


From a couple seasons ago (and I think I've shared this before but I can't get enough):


Maybe 80's tunes just make me want to dance.

*This is not Mandy Moore the singer / wannabe but isn't really dancer, totally different Mandy Moore.

In case you are wondering where I've been the last couple of weeks well quite frankly I've been wallowing and eating mashed potatoes for more meals than I choose to admit to* BUT I've also been studying. You see tomorrow I have a Genetics test and I have to know a lot for it. Not just basically know it and be able to answer questions where if you have the basic gist of the answer you get credit, NO. I have to KNOW everything, word for word.

Everything on these flash cards (pencil for scale) has to be in my brain.


Along with eight pages of diagrams that look like this:


I also have to be able to answer any question that has been assigned for homework (a LOT) and do some other things that don't really fit on flash cards like centromere and three point mapping.

I wanna go home now.


*Don't misunderstand me, these things are also going on, I just have to study in between bites.

I have found the new worst word in the English language: Heartbroken. It is a ridiculous, trite, and cliche word used to describe something that is anything but. It makes me feel like some silly girl out of a Jane Austen novel who just got home from the ball "heartbroken" because the gentleman wouldn't dance with me. I'm banishing it. Come up with something better.

beepbeep beepbeep beepbeep beepbeep

So I start packing up my kitchen and I throw all the magnets on my fridge (which is kind of a lot) into a ziplock bag and pack them in my mixing bowls near the bottom of one of my largest packing boxes. This box ends up being filled with odds and ends. The kind of packing you do after midnight the day before movers arrive at your house, the kind that involves just taking large armfulls of random things and putting them in boxes? That is what this box consisted of.

One of the magnets I have is a kitchen timer. This kitchen timer beeps when it goes off and it keeps beeping until you press the button to make it shut up. On more than one occasion I have wondered how long this timer will beep if I don't press the button. Usually I can't make it more than about a minute before I absolutely have to make it stop so I really had no idea. Notice I said "HAD no idea." Now I know that it will beep for 30 minutes if you don't press the button. I learned this between 2:30am and 3am on Friday night while it beeped at me as I finished packing. I wasn't all that annoyed with it during the time because I had music going that pretty much drowned it out but around 3am when I decided to be finished and go to bed, THEN it was annoying me. See, I knew that despite the fact that it was in the bottom of a box full of other things downstairs and that I would be trying to sleep upstairs that I would be able to hear it and with my brain still wired from the half a coke I had at 4pm I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep.

I sat on the couch for probably 2-4 minutes just staring at the box and willing it to stop but it wouldn't. I finally decided that I was going to have to unpack the box and find the stupid thing. Once the decision was made I jumped up, grabbed the scissors, turned around, and stopped dead in my tracks. The beeping had stopped. I honestly didn't know what to do. If I moved would it start again? What if I put down the scissors? Had it just reset? Was the beeping going to start again? The silence was too much for my wired, yet exhausted, brain to handle at 3am. I carefully put down the scissors and went to bed.

It started beeping again the next day at the new house when Michael was over and we were sort of unpacking things. Again it stopped as soon as I decided that I was going to find it and shut it off. Apparently it isn't 30 minutes, it is just however long I am willing to put up with it.

How was your week last week?

Mine went something like this:

Sunday: I could see doom on the horizon. I knew this week was going to be the confluence of everything and that I wasn't going to like it. I knew I had two midterms on Friday, a "quiz from hell" (direct quote from teacher) on Wednesday, a paper due on Thursday, homework assignments due Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday, and a little something called needing to be out of my apartment by Saturday and not getting the keys to the new place until Friday afternoon. Umm lets see, oh yes, and you know that feeling you have when you just know you are going to wake up sick the next day? I'd had that for over a week.

Monday: Physics teacher announces that we will be retaking the first test because everyone did so poorly. And this will be happening on Friday. Awesome, thanks.

Tuesday: The guy from work who promised to bring the boxes he used to move, didn't bring in the boxes he used to move. Now, I have no boxes. Awesome, thanks.

Wednesday: Wake up sick. Awesome, thanks.

Thursday: Fairly normal despite being exhausted, high on dayquil and not really prepared for all the tests I have on Friday.

Friday: Apparently actually studying doesn't really influence my understanding of Physics, good to know. English midterm goes fine. Statistics midterm, well lets just say that this was the one test of the week I was really confident about and then I realized I forgot my calculator.

Then there was moving. So it turns out the guy DID bring boxes, he just put them in the storage unit so they wouldn't clutter the office. The locked storage unit that I don't have a key to, in a storage facility a mile away, behind a gate that I don't have the code to open. Yeah, strange that I didn't think to look there. Also, the LOADS of boxes he was bringing turned out to be 3 normal sized moving boxes and 6 liquor case boxes. So there I am, 5:00pm on Friday with basically no boxes and movers coming at 9:00 the next morning. I think I'll put the move in another post later, there were some interesting moments, or at least moments that made me want to kill people but that others might find amusing.

PS - Uhaul is by far the cheapest place to buy boxes if you have to go that route.

Currently Keeping me Going

Colors are Hard

Do you ever say a word a bunch of times until it looses all meaning? This happened to me this weekend. I believe it was driving home from my genetics test on Friday night, I don't remember what the word was (I think it started with a P and had a K - or a hard C - somewhere in the middle) but it was something Michael and I were saying back and forth until I decided to just repeat it a bunch of times and it lost all meaning. It was like super funny to me but I'm pretty sure Michael was laughing AT me and not WITH me.

There is a point to that rambling paragraph. Sort of.

Today in my discussion section for Genetics (sensing a pattern???) we were doing this worksheet and it had a lot of color phenotypes on it so I'm staring at this thing that says
P - Yellow x Yellow
F1 - All Green
F2 - 9:3 Green:Yellow

After staring at the problem for a few minutes and discussing with the group all I can think is "that can't possibly be how you spell green. how do you spell it then? grene? no that is way more wrong, I guess it has to be green. weird." And just as I've hit the point where I'm pretty sure I'm crazy the guy behind me asks his group, "Is that really how you spell yellow??? It just looks wrong."

Thank God for people willing to say things out loud. I would not have been able to concentrate with this issue had he not spoken up, I mean seriously??? Of COURSE that is how you spell yellow! Wow, people these days.

Genetics Makes me Silly

So I'm reading cake wrecks (as should all of you) and it is all about patriotic/9-11 cakes and it included this jem:



Apparently it is supposed to be fireworks, I think, actually I don't really know. BUT I am a huge dork, I have to draw a lot of diagrams in my genetics class (very basic diagrams mind you) and all I could think when I saw this cake was: What do chromosomes have to do with 9/11?

Turtle Puppy

You've probably seen this by now but just in case....

You can't possibly say you're having a bad day after watching this. I swear it cured my aching legs.

Where's My Skillz At?

When I worked at Yardi, I knew everyone. You could give me a name and I could tell you their title, their department, and what office they were in. I could tell you if they were related to anyone else in the company, I could tell you any previous names they went by, or their nick name, or their actual name if they went by a different name. There were probably 800 people in the company when I left. If they were in my office (about 250-300 people) I knew them by sight as well.

Since the semester started I have run into two people from previous classes (summer semester and both fall and spring of last year), both of them knew my name immediately, I have no idea what their names are. For one of them it wasn't until after we had ceased talking that I even remembered what class I had with them.

So that skill is gone apparently.

Overheard on the Bus

Most people are pretty quiet on the bus, some are not. Three different times (from three different women) I have heard some slight variation of the below cell phone conversation:

woman: Is so-and-so there?
...
woman: I tried his cell phone and he ain't answerin.
...
woman: Well you tell him that I need my money and he better get it to me now.
...
woman: Whatever, you just tell him I called.
...
*hangs up*
woman: Bitch.

First, you have to imagine that this conversation happens at a volume that the entire bus can hear. Second, I mean "answerin" and not "answering." Third, the "bitch" at the end is non-negotiable, it was the finale to all three conversations.

Two out of three times the woman immediately called someone else (a friend perhaps) and related the whole story to them about how "he ain't gettin [her] the money." I have to imagine that these friends hear this story a lot.

5lb Gummi Bear

nooo not a 5lb BAG of gummi bears (which I have purchased in my lifetime, shut up) but one gummi bear that weighs 5lbs. I can't deny how much I kinda want.



In the end I think I'd rather just have these. You can't beat Haribo.

Ok, back to memorizing Genetics for my quiz tomorrow. "But didn't class just start last week??" you say??? Why yes, but apparently we will be quizzed or tested every week. Oh and also if you score below a B you must have a personal counseling session with the teacher to discuss why. "But aren't you an adult??" you may ask. "I guess not," I will respond.

Where is My Personal Transporter???

I am one of the first to admit that I have serious transportation issues. I positively hate driving, tell me I need to drive somewhere new and I'm going to map it three or four times trying to devise a route that doesn't require a lot of left turns, one way streets, circling for parking, driving downtown in general, or using I-35. I also get serisouly anxious and generally do anything possible to avoid driving at all costs which leads us to the bus...

I take the bus to school to avoid the driving downtown and looking for parking (and paying exorbitant amounts to park anyway). Before riding the bus I checked schedules like 8-10 times determining the best route to take and the best times to leave, etc. And in true bus riding fashion, just as I was getting used to taking the bus to school I was violated by a creepy old man. I'm never leaving the house again.

Oddly, the only form of transpotation that doesn't really cause me any anxiety is flying and I think I figured out why. Flying is so controlled, yes things can go wrong but mostly they don't and really the only wrong decision or mistake you can make when flying is getting there too late. You stand in this line, you are assigned a number, you go stand in that line, you go sit in front of a numbered door until they call your number, then you get on the plane, then you get off the plane and you are in the right place. You can't get on the wrong plane, you can't get off at the wrong place, there is a button to push when the guy next to you is behaving inappropriately. Airports are covered in signs and arrows every ten feet so getting lost is a near impossibility. I love it.

Ah School

Have you ever seen Pollyanna (Hayley Mills movie from like 1960)? Do you remember the priest? How he would stand in church and yell at everyone and proclaim doom and gloom? no? see below..

Ok now imagine he is yelling about studying and science and the end of the world and you have just met my Genetics teacher.

I couldn't figure out why he seemed so familiar at first but then in class number two he told us all about how he was originally a theology student and wanted to be a Lutheran Minister. I almost started laughing because I immediately thought of Pollyanna. Luckily I held it together because he probably would have yelled at me personally I'm not looking forward to that moment.

Always Learning

Today I learned something new. I'm in school so you might think that I SHOULD be learning every day, and here is proof!

Today, I learned that the bus I usually take home from school doesn't always go all the way to my house. Somtimes it turns around about two stops before my house.

It was a fun lesson.

No We're Totally Dating

Seeeeeee. PROOF!


Why do I look like some creepy kid trying to get in the picture? Yes, yes, we can all see he can do better but let's not mention it to him.

I can't even begin to come up with an appropriate title

On the way home from Ikea over the weekend I saw a billboard for an attorney that baffled me. We were on the freeway so I didn't have time to take a picture (and Michael has a strict no turning around policy) but maybe you can appreciate it anyway.

MOLESTED?
Have you or one of your children been molested? Maybe we can help.

What? Now I understand the "Injured at Work?" ones because there is a lot of money to be made by gaming the worker's comp system and even the "Slip and Fall?" ones because suing a big company has the possibility of bringing in the dough but "Molested?"

Is the lawyer just hoping that maybe someone molested by a famous person will happen to see his billboard and call? I guess (barring that scenario) I just didn't think there was that much money to be made in molestations.

More Weddings

This weekend was Michael's dad's wedding. Michael was the best man or as his dad put it, "the guy who stands up there and holds the ring."

This is another version of Michael's "why do you take pictures of me from 2 feet away" face (4th try I got him to smile), but doesn't he look handsome in his suit? :o)



Side Note: Why do church ladies (and random wedding guests) insist on reassuring me that "it'll be [me] soon"?? I guess I'm just at the age where older women think it is odd that I'm not wedding crazy.

Its Like They're Not Even Trying Anymore

I'm reading a consumerist article this morning about an email scam going out that is from Amazonfraudcenter.com and it talks all about how real the email looks and warns people to be careful, etc. etc. etc.

I open my yahoo mail account and my first email has the subject line, "loan" and the body is the following:

Interested applicant should Apply today with these details for 1% interst rate loan:Name,Age,
Occupation,address,Loan Amount,Duration.Tel,Via email[redacted for your safety] William.B

Do they think I'm so stupid that they don't even have to try to scam me? Have a little respect scammers, have a little respect.

I Do Not Have OCD

So I almost bought Twilight the other day but then I thought it might be fun to end the pay period with a positive amount of money so I held off. As I'm telling this to Michael I realize something; if the movies are named like the books and I buy the movies, how amd I going to organize them into me collection????

The books all have completely differnt titles: Twilight, New Moon, ummm Eclipse maybe? and the last one umm Dawn something. I organize my DVD's alphabetically, those will be all over the place. What am I to do? See with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter all the titles begin the same so I don't feel bad if they are slightly out of alpha order in order to be in chronological order but these don't all start the same! I paused here at which point Michael asked if there was some sort of pill I could take.

I miss Kailey, she understood. We could discuss things like where to put the box set of Toy Story, Toy Story II, and A Bug's Life* and when we separated out box sets into a separate shelf, wait are we moving box sets or TV Shows? What constitutes a box set? Just larger boxes, what about a TV show that is in a normal DVD case?** Shouldn't Les Miserables go under 'M' since "les" means "the" in French?***

This wasn't an issue with the books because the books weren't around long enough for this to come up.

I do not have OCD. These things are important.

*It eventually went under 'D' because technically it was called the Disney DVD Box Set.
**We decided that TV and Movies would be separated (there wasn't enough space on one bookshelf)
***Yes, it was moved to the M's

Jealousy

Don't you wish you had a puppy to take with you to work?

Now, I know that Target doesn't carry a big selection of books and maybe because of that the people who work there don't get the opportunity to read a lot of books so I really have no idea whose fault it is that the web designer (and bis boss presumably) thinks that a book is electronic.

"ummm, we sell them on the internet and that is electronic so books must be electronic. Yeah! that's it, put them under electronics!"

I'm A Little Embarrassed

but, ok, here goes: I actually kind of totally enjoyed the Twilight movie. Don't get me wrong the movie is completely trashy but I found it to be an enjoyable trashy.

Maybe it was because my expectations were so incredibly low that the movie couldn't help but exceed them but I'm actually looking a little forward to the next movie. Of course that may make me not enjoy the next movie nearly as much.

As I suspected, there just isn't time in a movie to have the same whiny conversation over and over again (major issue with the books) and so the only part that felt whiny to me was the very end when Bella was in the hospital and I was ok with that because it made sense.

On the other hand, the sound effects guy (or whoever made the sound effects final decisions) needs to be fired. I get it, Vampires move fast. The wooshing noise EVERY time they move fast is uneccessary. Also, that tinkling bells noise when he steps into the sun? Annoying.

Pretty In Purple

Hmm, how very non descript of you.


Ooooo, thats a little better.


Now that's what I'm talking about!




Thank you Mommy & Daddy!!!!

Whoa, I Should Vacuum

My glasses arrived today and all I can say is I've been missing out on some detail. Also, I like them :o) They are very similar to my old ones except they are pink/red instead of tan/brown.

Next up: Sunglasses! I am determined not to get a headache every time I go outside.

What have YOU been doing?

I've been busy, maybe, I can't remember. Lets see what has happened recently that you should be updated on.

Michael and I went to Mamma Mia! two weekends ago and it was tons of fun. We were smack dab in the front row center so I could definitely see (even with my 3 year out of date prescription glasses). It was also cool because we could see into the pit and watch the band. They like to make fun of the play while it is going on.

Last week I ordered new glasses - as Brian Regan would say, "how could instantly improved vision not be at the top of your to do list?" Now this would be super exciting for me except that this week I ordered a new computer so that has WAY superceeded my excitement about new glasses. Of course the computer I want is on backorder so I don't know when it will get here *sad face*

Just for fun:

Why is my life so often comparable to a Brian Regan sketch?

For the 4th of July I wanted to make it fun so we decided to have a mini BBQ. I made creamed corn and ate all of it myself because apparently corn based dishes are my favorite thing in the world (or possibly potato - would you believe that I did NOT grow up in the midwest?). I also made Michael another awesome cheeseburger which has now been dubbed the Ultimate Cheeseburger which immediately caused me to begin singing the Meaty Cheesy Boys song which garnered my a weird look. Apparently knowing the songs from mid 90's commercials isn't that awesome.


Yes, I can still sing the whole version from the commercial (there is apparently an extended version that I had never heard). I can also do the California's Truck Stop Dodge commercial song. Yes, sometimes I am proud of those facts.

Where Were You When You Found Out?

I was cutting open an earthworm, trying not to puncture the intestine and get worm poop all over me.




This is how I choose to remember him, although I'm not sure I was even born at this point. The first cd I ever owned was Michael Jackson's Dangerous and I'd still have it today if I hadn't sold all my cds for extra cash last year.

Why Am I Always So Thirsty?

During the winter I spend a lot of my time complaining about how cold I am (just ask Michael, he can't take me anywhere) and I like to long for summer because my brain knows that in the summer, it is not cold. Unfortunately while my brain does realize that summer is hot, it doesn't fully remember the details of what that means and so falls back on the most vivid memories of "hot" summers in California and chooses not to remember that it is 20 degrees hotter in Texas.

Dear Summer in Texas, I'd tell you to go to hell but we are apparently too late for that.

Birthday Cupcakes

Last week was Michael's birthday and armed with any excuse to bake I made cupcakes. Upon asking Michael what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday and receiving the ever helpful answer of, "the awesome kind" I decided to go with my personal favorite: chocolate with chocolate frosting.


(that isn't all of them, that is just the only ones that would fit in that particular container)

Upon looking at them you might say to yourself, "hmm some of those cupcakes have pieces of fruit on them, perhaps a raspberry or a pineapple?" and well you'd be correct! In an effort to make them at least partially awesome, I decided to add fruit but not just to the top... nooooo...



What you are looking at is fruit filling inside a cupcake. I KNOW it IS amazing. Per Michael they were also quite delicious. I don't really like fruit invading my chocolate so I was pretty indifferent about my bite, also that is why I made some without the filling (that and I wasn't sure the filling thing was going to work out). There are no pictures of the pineapple filled ones because those pictures were not attractive, the yellow did not look appetizing on camera despite their taste.

And yes, for those with astute eyes, those ARE Transformers cupcake wrappers.

UT Orientation

I'm officially a Longhorn now, I got a sticker to prove it.

Yesterday was my orientation and mostly it wasn't worth the $42 they charged me (umm and you aren't even going to feed me? Not even a morning juice box?) but it was nice to get - read: be forced - to wander around the campus and get a better feeling for the place.

Mostly I paid $42 to feel really really old. See below overheard conversations.

Speaker: Fine Arts! You are at the back door!
Girl 1: That's us.
Girl 2: No, that is Fine Art.
Girl 1: But we're art.
Girl 2: We're Liberal Arts.
Girl 1: It isn't the same thing?
Me: *Mental forehead smack*

The following must be read in the best Valley Girl impersonation you can do in order for you to fully appreciate it.

Girl 1: ohmygod, I want to be a speech therapist, like and work with kids, like a pediatric speech therapist. I think it is really cute when a little kid has a stutter.
Girl 2: wow, that is really cool.
Girl 1: ohmygod I know. It is going to be like totally rewarding.

Also, I rode the bus to school. I've never ridden the bus in Austin before so I don't know totally how it works but I can tell you one thing that I am absolutely positive about: Clipping your nails on the bus is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. TOTALLY TOTALLY TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. Let me be clear - clipping your nails on an empty bus is unacceptable and clipping your nails on a totally packed bus? TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.

Who is this group of people who feel like clipping their nails in public is ok? Seriously, who is their mother? And why are they always right behind me? I should not have to spend my ride to school wondering if your fingernail is going to hit me in the back of the head.

Other places where clipping your nails is unacceptable:
1. In line for a ride at Disneyworld.
2. In the waiting room at the doctor's office.
3. In your cubicle at work.
4. In any other place that isn't your private bathroom with the door closed.

No, that it Karma

So I regularly read the FMyLife blog. It used to be funny, now it seems to be filled with people who don't understand what Karma is.

Too many of the posts seems to follow this pattern:

Today, I was walking/driving along and thought I'd do something totally rude/mean/completely uncalled for because I thought it might amuse me then it somehow backfired on me. FML

Examples:
Today, I was at the park when I saw a homeless man sleeping on a bench. I thought it would be funny to throw a small rock at him. He thought it would be funny to pull out his knife and chase me for six blocks. FML
Nope, not FYL, you totally deserved to be chased with a knife.

Today, I was at the mall with my mom. She was pissing me off, so I started screaming at her and causing a scene. I ended up falling all the way down the up escalator. Everyone saw and people clapped. FML
I would have clapped too. So would most of the people I know. That is why I'm friends with them and not you.

Today, I had just gotten a milkshake with some friends. We were about to drive past my Ex's house, so I though it would be funny to throw the milkshake in his yard. Turns out if your going 50mph and try to throw a shake out the window, it comes all back in. FML
Wondering what the definition of Karma is? Right there baby.

Today, I had a date with this guy. I waited at the restaurant for an hour and he didn't show. Thinking he stood me up, I went over to his place and keyed his car. Then I realized the date was for tomorrow. FML
How that one should go: Today, I was thinking about a date that I had planned and getting really excited about it because I was really into her. I went outside and she had keyed my car because I didn't show up. The date is scheduled for tomorrow. FML

This Gets me EVERY TIME

All the pedigree commercials starring this dog, Oliver, cause me to tear up. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Oliver and Simon look similar and seeing him in a shelter cage makes me want to cry. The fact that there are like five commercials starring this dog and they are played ALL THE TIME on hulu, which is the only place I see commercials.



I'll admit it. These are incredibly persuasive for me. I think about buying pedigree every time because it will save Oliver. Then I remember what a terrible dog food it is and instead the next time I go to PetCo I buy an extra bag of dog food to give to the rescue workers outside.

So, I picked this particular week to visit Santa Barbara because Allison was getting married.

Isn't she pretty


Kristin was in the wedding too and also looked pretty.


Since the wedding was at the Zoo (my favorite place) we got to wander around. Unfortunately the Lions were going inside right at the exact moment we arrived (SOMEONE just HAD to read the sign about the plants that absolutely wasn't going anywhere) but I did get what I thought was a terrible picture of the Gorilla until Michael looked at it and said, "Gorillas in the mist" and now I love it.

The "mist" is really my flash reflecting off the glass.

I also made Michael ride the train. I'm not exactly sure what the reason is for this level of annoyance but there are three options that I can think of:
1. That I'm making him ride a tiny zoo train.
2. The three REALLY annoying girls sitting a couple rows in front of us (one actually almost started crying because only two people can fit on the bench and she had to sit a row behind them, these were teenagers.)
3. That I'm taking a picture of him from 5 inches away while making him ride a tiny zoo train.


But I was right about it being fun, because after the train ride, he was ALLLLLLLL better.

Close Call

I almost had a heart attack while driving to work this morning. So I'm listening to the radio and they start talking about some local news items that are popping up and one story goes like this.

Girl: Does anyone here actually take out books from the library?
(Me to myself: I do all the time)
Guys: No, no, no, sometimes my wife takes my daughter.
Girl: Ok so there is a story about a local woman in her twenties that now has a warrant out for her arrest because she didn't return a library book and the fees got so much that the city wants to arrest her.
(Me to myself: hmm, I have like $2.00 in fees that I haven't paid, I should get on that apparently)
Guys: wow, she can't just buy a new copy of the book or something?
Girl: Apparently the judge said it has gone on too far and issued the warrant. Yeah, her name is Victoria Ro ummm hang on, Victoria Roberts.

Seriously in that "hang on" moment I was FREAKING OUT.

Here is the story if anyone is interested. TUrns out she is actually in Killeen which is a little north of here.

After Michael FINALLY got to Santa Barbara we decided to take in I Madonari to kill some time. I said that it was within walking distance but definitely far enough away that you wouldn't feel silly driving there. Apparently I wasn't clear because by the time we were starting to leave Michael clarified that our "walk" was in fact a "death march."

Despite the fact that I'm pretty sure this year's theme was "Let your kid draw the square" there were a few that I liked.







This was the one Michael said was his favorite and I guess I believe him but well, you decide.



And amidst the fine art reproductions and tributes to firefighters there was this...



Not that I don't love Mickey, but lets just say that this one stood out and not necessarily in a good way.

Puppy Love

As much as I hate flying with Simon, he sure loves being in Santa Barbara, especially with Zoe being there now and it means he gets to play with my brother's dog, Saturn.

Simon and Saturn never stop moving, they always have to see what the other one is up to and usually try to steal whatever it is the other is playing with. This is actually the best picture I have of the two of them (most of the pictures had no dogs in them at all because they kept running off to play or investigate some noise). I kind of love it actually.



When Saturn wasn't around Simon enjoyed some outdoor relaxing. We don't really have any outdoor space that he can hang out in and he LOVES being outside so having a yard was really fun for him (also awesome for me because it meant I didn't have to walk him at 7am).



We went to see Zoe as well, who chased the frisbee while Simon watched. I think he is still exhausted from playing with Saturn, he hasn't had this much play time in a while.





Between Zoe, Saturn, and Piper (Scott's dog) we're pretty sure that Simon is going to think he is only allowed to play with little, black dogs.

I also noticed one more thing while at home. Simon totally goes with my parent's furniture.

New Plates

Last week I went home to California for a wonderful visit* that even included a certain boyfriend joining me for a few days.

Before leaving Michael did some man's work for me and put on my new license plates, yes I now have stupid Texas plates.



Of course when I went out to my car this afternoon for the first time since being back I realized that I had left it unlocked when I got the new plates out of the car before I left. Yeah, my car was sitting unlocked for over a week. I'm awesome.



*Of course it could have been slightly improved by Gen not being in stupid Mexico.

Almost Oops

Last night I came thisclose to sending my mom a text asking if she was going to be ok with the American Idol results. She is slightly in the Adam Lambert camp. By "slightly" I mean that she called me more than once this season in disbelief that I wasn't watching American Idol and made me promise to spend hours on the internet watching all the youtube videos with Adam Lambert in them. So maybe more than slightly.

Ok, so I get my text all written out expressing my concern for her well-being after the Adam loss and just before I press send I realize that even though the internet told me who won (more like forced it down my throat), the show would not finish airing in California for another 20 minutes.

Disaster averted.

Priorities

Some people have very specific priorities. For example: I called my parents last night to get an update on the fire situation since my grandparents were under mandatory evacuation and my parents were under an evacuation advisory. They couldn't talk though because American Idol was on.

And totally unrelated, I went to the library to pick up a book that I had on hold and the librarian says, "Only one this time?" Ok, I guess I read a lot.

What's in a Name?

You all remember the not-so-nice leaves I found at the Asian Market? Well guess what I found out today.... Ever wonder what "Canola" Oil is? It is Rapeseed Oil. A (very intelligent) marketing person changed the name to raise sales. It worked.

There is a new blog out there called Texts From Last Night and it is pretty funny. Most of the texts are sex or alcohol related but one made water almost come out my nose (excuse the language) and I had to share.

(847): Rock
(630): Scissors
(630): Fuck

It Could Happen

Lately my dreams have been SUPER boring. Like so boring they seem like my life and during the day I keep "remembering" things I did only to later realize that I actually dreamed it.

Example: Today I couldn't figure out why I had emailed my cousin to tell her that I wanted to see her while I was in Vegas when I can't possibly afford to go to Vegas. Oh, turns out I just dreamed I emailed my cousin.

So basically stuff that seems weird like that I have just been writing off to must-have-dreamed-it. This was fine except a couple of weeks ago I was telling Michael about how I had this dream that he text messaged me about playing online poker only to have him tell me that that had indeed happened the previous night. I didn't believe him at first because: 1) he likes to mess with me and this was a perfectly easy way to do that. 2) he doesn't really text, like at all, so an unsolicited text message didn't seem like something that happened in reality. I checked. It totally happened. Now I don't know what is real or not. Maybe giant pink bunnies did try to steal my dog only to be thwarted by their inability to unlock the front door and make a clean getaway. Who knows?

Apparently all my brain power has now gone towards getting exicted/nervous about UT because I had to fill out a form that asked how old I am and I wrote down 26. Then I was like wait let me do the math, 2009-1982= 27. Nope, I'm not 27. I'm 26. Crap, how old am I?

Me: How old am I?
Kritsin: You are 27.

Me (in my head): dammit.

I don't know which is worse: That I have no idea how old I am or that I 100% did not believe the math.

GUESS WHAT!

Yesterday I got this:

Congratulations! You have been admitted to your first-choice major in the College Of Natural Sciences ( Undeclared/Prepharmacy ) at UT Austin.

And I'm totally excited. I've paid my enrollment fee and signed up for orientation.

In Case You Are Wondering

This right here is a perfect example of why I want sons.

Lady GaGa

Ok, so I don't "get" Lady GaGa. I understand that she is a celebrity and stuff but I think she takes that about 400 steps farther than necessary. I first saw her I believe at the Miss Universe pageant and I assumed that she was one of those weird totally techno european artists. I understood why I didn't understand her at that point, Europe is weird when it comes to music (hello Germany and David Hasselhoff). Then I found out that she was a born and bred American and I was back to not getting her at all.

THEN, I read this in a Consumerist article about I-Tunes

We looked at "Poker Face," the new hit from Eurovision winner Lady GaGa*, on both stores.

* correction: we have been told that transsexual recording artist Lady GaGa has never competed in a Eurovision competition.**

And my first thought was, "OOOOHHH, she is a transsexual, ok, that makes TOTAL sense. I get her now."

Then I kept reading

**correction: it turns out Lady GaGa is not a transsexual.

dammit. back to square one.

Such is My Life

I'm not used to this. In our old apartment complex people got out of their cars and went into their apartments. They would then possibly walk to or from the laundry room, or walk their dog but there was no milling about in the parking lots. I mean with the exception of the two girls who would sit in their car smoking pot every night people didn't hang out outside of their apartments. Things are different here.

On sunday night I came out of my apartment to walk Simon, tripped, laughed at myself, told Simon that mommy was ok and then looked up to see a guy standing there talking on his cell phone. Last night I came out of my apartment to walk Simon while singing the "who's a puppy face song*" only to look up and see the same guy standing there talking on his cell phone.

and was there anything else that could possibly have happened this week? OH YES, there was the 8 year old kid chasing me through the parking lot with a pair of my underwear that fell out of my laundry basket. Lovely.

---

* This is both the title of the song and all the lyrics.

Shameless Plugging

Sometimes I feel like it would be weird to plug myself on this blog but today I've decided to hell with that! This is my blog, I'll plug myself all I want.

I made some REALLY adorable new kitty toys a couple weeks ago and you can check them out in my online store! You can always get to my online store by clicking "bluebamboo" under Things That Make Me Happy on the right.

I'm also going to link to Gen & Alina's Etsy store because that will make me feel like a better person.

Now if my readership was over like 10 people (2 of them being Gen & Alina) all this store linking might actually do some good!

My Organic Chem Lab has been interesting this year. I don't mean in a "wow, that chemistry is exciting and innovative, tell me more!" type of way. I mean in a none of my group's experiments have had the intended outcome of the lab type of way. Imagine my (not) surprise when we synthesized banana oil this week and while refluxing (sounds exciting but really means watching liquid boil for an hour) our liquid stayed clear and everyone else's turned pink - except for the group next to us, theirs turned black which seems even worse than just staying clear. BUT when it began to cool, ours turned dark yellow and smelled like bananas WAY before anyone else's did (they had to purify theirs before getting yellow) so YEAH! ours was right and yours was wrong! where's your mocking smile now? thbbb! EAT THAT! (ok don't really eat it, I doubt it is actually safe to eat, I don't know if we got all the Sulfuric acid out of it).

Apparently I only take pictures of my puppy.

For Example, sometimes puppies don't want to get up in the morning


And sometimes puppies are too tired to stand and drink at the same time


and someone pointed out that now that I have a camera again why don't I take pictures of Michael AND Simon. Brilliant I tell you, Brilliant!

Whiskey Sour

No not the drink, the book!

If you are looking for something to read this summer, might I suggest the Jack Daniels mysteries? Jacqueline Daniels is Chicago cop with an HSN addiction, maxed out credit cards and a crazy cat. She is basically the smarter, more intense, more capable version of Stephanie Plum. She is just doing her best in a crazy world and it can be hilarious.

Basically if you enjoyed the Janet Evanovich books and you want an easy read that will make you laugh out loud along with a good mystery these are for you.

This is one of those books that I picked up at Borders on the Bargain Table for like $2.99 and really enjoying. Just goes to show you that price does not equal quality (just look at the full-price Twilight books).

I believe the series order is as follows:
Whiskey Sour
Bloody Mary
Rusty Nail
Dirty Martini
Fuzzy Navel

Enjoy!

Seriously? You Think THAT would be a Good Middle Name??

So I was looking at my blog reader statistics (yes I can see how many times you read my blog muahahaha) and one of the cool features is that I can see what people are typing into google that leads them to my blog. There is a lot of variations on "Middle Names for Victoria," "Victoria Middle Name" and for a while there last year the popular search was "Middle Name for Logan." Yeah I had a problem there for a time.

Mostly what comes up if you do google that is Yahoo! Answers questions where people are looking for god middle names. Here are some of my favorites from people who I'm pretty sure weren't joking:

First, my favorite question: What are some good middle names for Victoria ?
I just need ideas, whatever goes best with our last name will probably be the chosen name.
Additional Details
By "our" I mean who ever the fathers last name is, I am eleven, I just love the name Victoria.

Seriously? And on to some of the answers given...
Victoria Lashaye
Victoria LaShawn
Victoria Krystyle (I'm assuming you mean that to be pronounced like Crystal?)
Victoria Destiny
Victoria D'jonet (de jon ay)
Victoria Nevaeh (pronounced: Nah-vay-ah) heaven spelled bkwds
Victoria Samiah
Victoria Shaylin
Victoria Devyn

And the one person in the world who is actually thinking straight:
Victoria Claire (my favourite)

I also had someone recently type in "Middle Name for Kailey" and my personal favorite from the Yahoo! Answers questions was the person who suggested this:
Kailey Leigh
(you do realize that those are pronounced the same right? Even though they are spelled differently?)

Best Wedding Cake EVER!

You know you want it. Don't even try to lie.

All the Meat You Can Eat

Let me preface this post by saying that Michael hates the phrase, "all the meat you can eat" and so I will do my best not to use the phrase when talking about all the meat I could eat or all the meat he could eat or all the theoretical meat that you could eat.

So saturday was our anniversary and we decided to go to the brazillian steakhouse for dinner. Those of you not familiar with a brazilian steakhouse (should read this because it is hilarious), you pay a flat amount and then get all the meat you can eat. But is isn't like a buffet, dudes in gaucho pants run around with meat on swords and slice it directly onto your plate. They had like 4-5 different kinds of beef, lamb chops, leg of lamb, pork loin, pork ribs, and their menu online says they have chicken but I never saw the chicken guy and quite frankly, I didn't want to see him. I was there for all the meat I could eat - and um to spend a wonderful evening with my wonderful (ahem) boyfriend of the past year.

Michael really enjoyed the lamb, I'd never had lamb before and I thought it tasted interesting but really the filet mignon guy could have stood next to our table all night with his sword and I would have been happy. As it was, I think I had three servings of filet mignon, plus a bunch of other stuff, and it was all the meat I could eat. About five minutes after Michael had all the meat he could eat he decided he wanted more lamb so obviously we both had favorites.

The next morning I got up (oh so) early - stupid daylight savings - and made cranberry muffins from scratch and they were delicious! Word of advice though, make sure that your thawed bag of cranberries doesn't have a hole in it or you might end up spilling thick cranberry juice all down the front of you. That didn't happen to me, nope nope nope, but I've heard that could be an issue.




Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup chopped fresh cranberries (I used thawed, frozen ones and it was fine)
* 2/3 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
* 1/4 cup butter or stick margarine, melted
* 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten
* Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Stir in cranberries; make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, butter, rind, vanilla, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 18 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on a wire rack.

We're not in California anymore....

Camera Time

I'm finally in possession of a real camera again and of course the first picture taken is pure adorableness...

Can We Talk About Dollhouse for a Second?

It has been getting a bad rap because everyone expects it to be as good as everything else that Joss has done and it isn't (like when Pixar released Cars). I like it, that is to say, I enjoy it. It isn't anywhere near the levels of Buffy or Firefly or Dr. Horrible but it is entertaining and interesting, if not innovative or awesome. I'm still watching and probably will continue unless it goes totally downhill which I trust Joss enough not to let happen.

It doesn't help that it stars Eliza Dushku, who I'm not a huge fan of. Luckily for her all the "people" she plays in the show have an element of hardass to them which she is incapable of acting without. When she is Echo (the blank) she doesn't look "blank" she looks like she is trying to look blank so I'm drawn out of the story for those few scenes at the beginning and very end.

My real problem is that the show takes place in this reality and is believable as this reality. There isn't an element of absurdity or whimsy that is usually present in Joss's realities (space western? musical super villians? teenage cheerleader fighting vampires?). Lets just say I wouldn't be 100% surprised if someplace like the Dollhouse actually existed, I see it and I understand it and it doesn't feel new and exciting. It doesn't feel Whedonesque. In fact it felt Cameronesque to me at first. I mean a programmable, petite, brunette recklessly riding her motorcycle through the darkened city streets? My first though was, "Wow, Dark Angel much?" Then I get hit in the face with the nerd stick when Michael responded with, "What is Dark Angel?" Sigh.

That is a typo right?

Saw this product while at the Asian Grocery store looking for curry ingredients.

It is supposed to say Grape right? Please tell me it is supposed to say Grape...

Songs I Almost Like

Sometimes I hear something and I really really like it, then I hear it again and I'm not so sure, and no matter how many times I hear it I still can't decide if I like it or not.

The first time I heard this song I didn't hear it all the way through so I never got to the Lil Wayne part. The Lil Wayne part annoys me (scares me even when watching the video) but I enjoy the rest of the song. The video is atrocious, it is like 1986 barfed up a concert version of an ipod commercial.


I had the volume turned down low the first time I heard this song so I couldn't really hear the singer... I liked it a lot more that way. I enjoyed the sound of the song but I don't think the lead singer is quite good enough to sing it. It needs a slightly more manly (deeper, stronger) voice to really be able to keep up with the music. I vote for Chris Daughtry, his voice has that slight rasp that I think would really improve this.

The Countdown Begins

Since it is now officially March I'm allowed to start getting excited.

26 Days til my Birthday!!!!

Treating Myself

I got my tax refund sometime in the last couple of days ( I didn't notice it because it is deposited directly into my savings account which I don't check often) and I decided to splurge on myself a little bit. I splurged by going to the grocery store* without a list and letting myself buy whatever I wanted AND I got name brand stuff that I would normally buy the not-quite-as-good store brand version of. I spent about 50% more than I normally do on a major shopping trip but as I sit here with my brownie bites, I'm cool with that.

*I would rather not discuss how slightly sad it is that "splurging" consists of grocery shopping. I'm a poor college student and I don't get lucky charms a lot.

Over the Hedge

Have you guys seen Over the Hedge? It was ok. Not great, not hilarious, but not boring. EXCEPT for this one part, which I can watch over and over and over and over again. Just ask Michael.



"but I like the ___" may have worked itself into my general vocabulary and I get especially excited when I actually get to use cookie as the noun.

And what you don't know is that I just got so wrapped up in watching it again on youtube that I forgot to hit " publish post"

ok ok OK

So last night I finished Buffy. As I sat there on my couch watching the end of the final episode with tears rolling down my face I realized one thing: I was slightly more into it than I thought I was.

It is made out of Cupcakes!

CUPCAKES!!

Do I Have a Problem?

Michael says, "Yes."

Series I have read in the past year and a half:
Jaz Parks (4 books) - Vampire CIA Assassination Team (meaning the Vampire is the CIA Assassin)
Twilight (3 books) - I think You know this one
Sookie Stackhouse (7 books?) - The book basis for HBO's True Blood about Vampires going mainstream due to a synthetic blood invention that allows them to not have to feed on humans.

Shows I have enjoyed in the past year and a half:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (on the last season now) - No, I never watched this show, yes I am a true Joss Whedon fan. I'm making up for it now.
Moonlight (I don't want to talk about it) - It wasn't just Logan that I loved.
True Blood (1 season so far) - See above

Movies I have seen in the past year and a half:
Let the Right One In - Creepy as HELL

Here is what I have determined about my Vampire Likes and Dislikes:
1. I like when they can go into sunlight. Sunlight can have an effect but not killing them instantly.
2. I want there to be some work that goes into creating Vampires. One bite and you're a vampire? No thank you.
3. I prefer modern-day Vampire tales.
4. I prefer that the Vampire keep their "souls." Basically I like the idea that a Vampire can be good, they aren't just all evil killing machines.
5. I like it when they aren't affected by garlic, holy water, and crosses. I realize they are the undead but you should have to put some effort into killing them.

Here is my problem with Buffy (ohmygod, did she just say she has a problem with Buffy??????). Buffy the Vampire Slayer has never met a vampire myth it wasn't madly in love with. EVERY SINGLE myth you can even imagine is held true in Buffy. Maybe I'm watching this show at the wrong time in my life, maybe I should have watched in high school because while I certainly like the show a lot, I'm not madly dying in love with it.

I miss Moonlight, True Blood is good for different reasons so it hasn't yet fulfilled my Moonlight longing.

Anyone have anything else Vampire related I should be reading/watching?