my precious

This is my first post from my new laptop, which arrived in the mail last night. It was a gift from my unbelievably giving parents, despite my authentic disagreement that they should spend the money on me. It is a Toshiba Satellite A500 something-or-other and it is very fast and very pretty.

Unfortunately, there was a "power glitch" which radiated a high-pitched, incessant beeping noise from the computer when I first powered it up. It took a very nice customer service rep 30 minutes to diagnose and help me fix, but now things are smooth-sailing and I'm really happy.

Funny thing is, Cat Named Jack loved the sound and proceeded to rub his face all over the edge of the laptop, getting very angry when I tried to pry him away (to the point where he bit my upper arm a couple times - not hard, but enough to prove a point). He seemed a bit confused, but not too unhappy when the sound went away.

This moratorium on spending isn't all that bad when you have a new toy to play with. I bought some groceries (necessities) for the man before I left for my parents', but other than that and gasoline, so far so good on the anti-spending month.

july 2010 goal: moratorium on spending

I’m pretty frugal, all-in-all, but there have been a few things happening to our happy little twosome over the past few months which have thrown my frugality into a tailspin. We've had two major vehicle issues and I won’t bore you with the rest of our unplanned expenditures, but I’ll tell you that there were many and they sucked both my enthusiasm for shopping and my bank account dry.

As a result of the monetary shit-storm of the past few months, I've been looking at my personal budget once again and find it even more vital that I pay off my credit cards as soon as humanly possible. I am sick of paying for something that I don’t use and I don’t like having a revolving balance to remind me of the stupidity of my youth. I've decided to impose a moratorium on any and all unnecessary expenditures. Here is my plan.

I’m going to continue to pay my bills as I normally do, including:

• Student/Consolidation loans
• Rent
• Cell phone/Internet
• Credit card
• Auto loan
• Insurance

As for the rest of my monthly expenses, these all need to fit into a budget of $250 for the month of July:

• Gasoline
• Groceries
• Dining out/Entertainment
• Shopping (haircuts, home improvement, pet stuff, etc.)

This will help me to separate my “needs” from my “wants.” Of course, if some sort of emergency arises, I’ll have to pay for it, but $250 will easily cover the rest. I could really get by with only spending $150, but I need to be realistic and remember that I have already planned a trip to visit my family up north and that I'm required to go to a conference in Denver for work at the end of the month. Luckily, I'll be reimbursed for the conference trip expenses, but I am allowing myself some leeway since I've never been to Denver before and I might as well enjoy the only so-called vacation I'll be taking this year (I'm budgeting $50 for the trip to Denver, not including reimbursable expenses like food and cab fare).

I’ll keep you updated as to my progress throughout the month.

things i did on "vacation"

• weeded the garden
• kept myself from buying more plants
• ate a lot of nachos
• went disc golfing
• hung out with the man - a lot
• watched a few movies
• watched a couple Y&R episodes
• researched new laptops
• picked up the new Jack Johnson cd
• cleaned the garage
• worked from home, despite being on vacation
• had (yet another) conversation with the roommate re: him moving out
• picked up a new (used) pair of shoes
• fixed the curtains in the den
• ate a lot of cheese popcorn
• went to the courthouse
• walked around by the capital
• reconfigured downstairs floor plan on floorplanner.com
• attempted to find lost camera-to-computer cables
• ate Chinese food
• ate a lot of popsicles
• played with the dog (numerous times)

favorite things: 1

I like to snack. I snack mainly because I go through a couple days a week when I don't really have an appetite or feel like eating. (Perhaps that is because I snack.) Luckily, there is always a combination of food that I feel like eating. I must admit that there are two staples that must be in our house at all times. Fresca and Old Dutch cheese popcorn.

I go through at least one large bag per week. Luckily, the popcorn is air popped and a good source of fiber (and significantly healthier than potato chips).

I wash it down with Fresca. For some reason, I never get sick of it. Since I can't have caffeine, if I don't feel like drinking water, this is what I turn to.

Why am I posting this? Why do you care? Well, I'm going to be posting some of my favorite things in the next few weeks, and this is where I'm starting.

Now I'm going to head back outside to soak up some sunshine while we still have it.

vacation day 1 - definitely no picnic

Today was far from relaxing. Multiple hours spent "working" from home off-the-clock. A few really sad moments due to the grieving process. Much rain and humidity causing an all-around sense of yuck. I am very optimistic that tomorrow will be better and have a goal of not checking work e-mail until Monday (unless I hear through the grapevine that shit is hitting the fan).

Also, I'm trying to persuade the man to go strawberry-picking with me (so far, no such luck). I want to go to the beach, weather permitting. I want to eat grilled chicken (that I don't cook myself). I want to listen to live music and drink cold beer. I want to go disc-golfing. I want to eat Babcock ice cream.

I'm pretty easy to please, so let's hope this week doesn't disappoint as much as the first day.

days off, yippee!

Today was a 10+ hour day at work. I'm emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted after the events of the past couple days. But, good news: I have the rest of the week off from work! I'm very excited. The man has a couple days off as well, so I plan on putting him to work for part of the time (so many projects around the house) and perhaps going on a day trip later in the week.

I should have more time to post this week and hope to get some more photos up. Since I don't have much for you tonight, I will leave you with this wonderful video:

Enjoy!

sad day

I just found out today that my dear, dear friend passed away in her sleep last night. Her name was Emily and she was the most amazing 90-something year-old women you could ever meet. She was my babysitter from birth through kindergarten and she was one of the most influential people in making me into a strong woman.

Emily's life began in Chicago (which she loved) and eventually led to her living in the northwoods of Wisconsin. It wasn't until her 50s that she was freed from her bad marriage and became the Emily that I knew. She taught me never to settle, to know who I want to be and to strive for my goals. She told me that I was important, and that I should never put myself behind a man. She taught me the importance of earning and deserving love, and of giving that love freely when it is also deserved. She taught me that I am independent, but that it isn't wrong to depend on others.

She was my neighbor, an additional grandmother, a confidant, and a friend to me and I am devastated that she is gone, but happy that she was able to spend her last months with her adoring daughters. I will miss her and love her forever.

the sofa has been chosen

I have finally found our perfect sofa. We had the following criteria:

• modern/contemporary
• not overstuffed
• not leather or microfiber
• loose cushions
• back must be high enough to rest head on
• wide arms, but not rolled
• grey-ish in color
• removable cover (preferable)
• and, of course, comfortable

After looking at seven different furniture stores, I faced the realization that what I wanted would cost over $1000. This was not at all feasible. Luckily, I had not yet physically looked at Ikea...I know what you are thinking, but not all Ikea furniture is for divorcees or college students. This KIVIK sofa fit all of our agreed-upon criteria.

It has memory foam in the cushions, so it is really comfy and the back cushions are high enough for the man (in my opinion). We just have to save up the rest of the money and then we'll go pick it up. I know that they deliver, but since the man hasn't actually sat on the sofa himself, he needs to do that before we spend the money.

I'm super-excited about it and knowing what we want makes it even harder to wait for the roommate's departure. It is, however, good to have things to look forward to.

must see: the fall

I just watched a good movie, surprisingly good actually (Netflix sometimes steers me wrong): The Fall. It was fanciful and heartwarming and endearing, all wrapped into one. Beautiful scenery, fight scene choreography, cinematography, and storytelling:

...not to mention that I've loved Lee Pace since he was the weirdo, academic brother in Wonder Falls. See it and love it...and if you don't like it, then don't tell me (because I don't want to hear it).

grow your own

With all of the negative effects of the oil spill, you may be feeling helpless. I find myself watching the news and listening to radio reports, wishing I could contribute more or fly down to help. I'm not in a position to send thousands of dollars to the effort, but I can help the environment in small ways by relying less on store-bought veggies/herbs and doing a better job of taking care of the the plot of earth that is in my stead. I'm going to grow some of my own vegetables and avoid using any chemicals on my gardens, supplementing what I can do by shopping locally. By doing so, I'm going to be able to spend less on gasoline. In addition, BP is no longer receiving my business.

If you are also wanting to help in small ways and make yourself healthier at the same time (planting your own vegetables, using a rain barrel for watering gardens, becoming independent of pesticides, etc.), check out this site (http://growindie.com/):



Whether you are a container gardener or have acres of veg growing on your property, this site will either help you get started or share some new ideas to add to your repertoire. Every small thing we do for our environment helps. It helps us and our Earth and everything that resides here. Tell your friends about what you plan to do; pass along the motivation and ideas to make a difference.

BP, you should be ashamed of yourselves

I have avoided talking about BP and the oil spill in the Gulf until now. I think it is absolutely absurd that BP was so totally ill-prepared and that the government has not stepped in and fixed the problem and then handed BP the bill. It makes my blood pressure raise whenever anything about this issue comes up.

We are the United States. We can pull off some pretty awesome shit. For example, when there is a problem at a space station and lives are in danger, we rally and get some people up there to fix the problem/save the people lickety-split. Why the hell are we not doing that now? That question has yet to be addressed. I am also upset that Obama is looking for "whose asses to kick" instead of focusing on the major issue of stopping the irreparable damage that is taking place each minute we let the leak keep spewing oil.

This video is so, so sad and sheds light on how ignorant and apathetic BP (as a corporation) is being throughout this whole catastrophe:



How about we fix the problem first. We all know who to point fingers at. Accountability should come in to play after we find a solution.

damn you Josh Groban

So...after hearing a few of my coworkers rave about Glee for what seems like ever, I flipped over to it about 10 minutes in tonight...and who was there? Who was the first person I saw? Who made some sort of crazed hyena-face at the camera? JOSH GROBAN.

Some of you may remember how I feel about Josh Groban (see here). Granted, that feeling was heightened considerably after the second time through the album, which an inconsiderate soul was playing outside my office one day a few years ago.

Needless to say, I flipped away from Glee and did not flip back.

tattoo, tat-two?

I think I've found my next tattoo - or two. I am going to go with two swallows, facing each other on my ribs. This is the style I'm planning on going for:

Why a Swallow? Well, we have a few families of Swallows who share our property each year and they are pretty cool birds. Also, they're old-school tattoos that sailors used to get (I like that they have history). But more importantly, they are symbols of love and loyalty, as this snippet from Wikipedia explains, "The swallow also represents love, care, and affection toward family and friends, showing the loyalty of the person always returning to them." I think that is pretty cool and I've been having a bird fascination lately. I don't see these tattoos as things I'd get bored of, which is of supreme importance.

However, the tattoos are serving as an incentive for me to get some shit done. If I get the crapload of stuff done that I need to do in a specific timeline, then we will throw some money into the tattoos.

The man has a hankering for a new tattoo as well, not sure what he'll be going for. I'm trying to convince him to get my name tattooed on his chest, but he doesn't find it as amusing as I do.

the perfect shade of grey

I found the color for our living room/dining room walls - finally. I've been going around-and-around with a few different colors, but today I stopped at the Benjamin Moore color center and came across this:

This is the Benjamin Moore color "Englewood Cliffs," and I have finally found the perfect grey-blue that will work with the woodwork and flooring.

Now, I just need to get the dickbag roommate and his on-again lazy girlfriend to move the hell out so I can get to work. With as well as that project is going, perhaps I should hold off on buying the paint for a couple weeks...

my color personality - take the quiz

I just took a color personality quiz (http://www.testcolor.com/). These are my results, which I find quite interesting, yet not scientific. It's a fun way to waste a few minutes of your day.

My Profile :

• You are 53 % extrovert and 47 % introvert.
  
  

Independently of any order of importance :

• You are dynamic, your actions are only directed by your own will and you know how to lead people.


• You are also intellectual and intelligent, you wonder and you inquire before taking any action.


• Finally you are creative, you always have new ideas, and your inspiration comes from the inside.

another friend is gone

Rue McClanahan passed away yesterday at the age of 76. As you may know, my own darling Rue-cat is partially named after Rue McClanahan (my Rue and Blanche share a common trait - a need and demand for attention and tendency to throw themselves at anyone willing to show them some love). I'm very saddened by her passing and want to share one of my favorite Blanche moments with you.

This is the way I remember Blanche: a quick-thinking, lust-loving, dramatic diva.



Thank you, Rue, for all of the laughter and education you've given me over the years. I was fascinated by your portrayal of Blanche before I knew what any of the double entendres even alluded to, and you've been making me laugh for as long as I can remember.

Good-bye, my dear friend.

random question thursday: it's back and about as good as it ever was

My question for you to ponder today is this: Is there anything that you excel at in one aspect of your life, that you suck at in another aspect of your life? What can you do to bring your suckiness up to par? (ooooh, two questions, wow. I bet you didn't see that one coming.)

For example, I am pretty good about working on deadlines at work, however, I am sucking at meeting my goals in my personal life. At work, things seem to go rather smoothly (by smooth I mean there are a lot of fires to put out and I can wield my hose like a champ. no double entendre intended). At home, I get to things when I get to them. I take on too many things and often don't finish things I start very quickly unless there is a clear instantly gratifying result. At work I have to do it or I lose my job. At home, not so much.

One thing I'm doing to try to get my ass in gear is going on http://www.joesgoals.com/ and updating my success/failure on a daily basis. Joe's Goals is a goal monitoring site. I feel more accountable when I see a calendar with check marks on it for all the stuff I've accomplished. What can I say, I was the kid in class who really, really viewed that gold star sticker as a major incentive. Also, by putting my goals on this here blog, I feel somewhat more accountable as well. Accountability is the main issue. Also, procrastination...which is an ongoing battle. There are always so many things that I want to do more than the things I'm supposed to be doing. I need to get over that, but that is a topic for another day.

june 2010 goals - aka lay off the lays, work out the working out

I have some pretty lofty goals this month, as I'm gearing up to the big 2-9 at the end of August. They are signficant to me, even though they may seem a bit quotidian to most people, but it is damn hard to avoid the chips and dip and drag my ass to the gym every morning at 4:30AM. And that is my first world, spoiled rant for the day. Here are my goals for June:

• six-pack abs, or at least a little more tone - I'm hitting the gym at least 5x per week and am going to up the cardio a bit. The doc wants to make sure I'm getting enough protein, which brings us to goal #2
• food re-do - I need to start eating more consciously again, which means I need to re-focus on protein. We're doing really well on eating local foods, but the junk food is still an issue
• plant my vegetable garden - depending on finances, this may be more of a container vegetable garden, but we shall see
• get a date on the roommate's departure - like I mentioned yesterday, seems he is "on a break" (really? what are you in high school? or an episode of Friends? who does that?) with his equally lazy-ass girlfriend, so I'm sure he'll start avoiding the moving out topic

That's it for June. Let's see how it goes.

may 2010 goals update

I didn't do too badly on my May goals, right around 80%. Above average is alright for now.

• order glass for console table - fail. this has been lowered on my priority list.
• finish my library book before it is due - complete
• complete ottoman upholstery project - complete
• get car tire repaired - complete
• get car checked out at repair shop (and pray that there is nothing really expensive wrong with it) - complete. this was done with the man's help. I also had to get a tire repaired and my oil changed. May was not a cheap month for the car.
• secure a date that the roommate will move out - "summer" isn't very descriptive (addendum: do not throw roommate's shit out of the house and onto the lawn in a moment of unbridled disgust for his overall disposition, appearance, and slovenliness) -fail. roommate appears to have broken up with his girlfriend over the holiday weekend, also his birthday weekend, which I'm fearing he will use as a tactic to delay his departure. this makes me supremely unhappy and distressed.
• complete expansion of flower bed to encompass new shrub that was planted (photos to come) - complete. done and done again. I actually expanded three flowerbeds and added another in the month of May.
• find a chair for the living room and decide on a sofa to purchase (not to be purchased in May, but category should be narrowed to one or two options) - complete. I found two chairs (which will need a little refurbishing, to be shown in a later post and decided on the sofa we'll be buying after the roommate leaves.
• mail all Mother's Day and birthday cards on time - complete
• finish the piggy bank project for nephew - complete

memorial day weekend

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all of the veterans and serving members of the armed forces. Today is a day for us to give you the respect you deserve, and to remind us that we must be thankful for you and your service each and every day. Again, thank you!

As for me, it was a long weekend away from the stresses of work. I must admit, I was actually able to relax for a change this weekend. This is a rare occurrence for me. I was able to work in the yard, planting even more flowers, and added yet another flower bed. I'm insane with an unyielding desire to tear up more ground and plant MORE! always MORE plants! Due to that unrelenting motivation to wield a shovel, trowel, hoe, etc. the yard work budget has already been busted for June, even though it is still officially May. This means I'll have to work with what I've got as we move forward through the summer.

As for summer - oh my god, I love it. I broke out the short shorts and it was a marvelous weather weekend. I cannot explain how much I love summer. I want to tongue kiss it every time I wake up to the balmy, hot weather. The man appreciates the fact that I wear fewer clothes when the weather warms up, so it is a win-win on that front.

One of the highlights of the weekend is the amount of time the man and I were able to spend together. Not too much, but just enough. I spent a good deal of our time together here:

This is one of the holes at one of the local disc golf courses. The man bought me a couple of my own discs and we hit the course on Friday and today. My game is only slightly improving, but I love being outside so even though I suck at disc golf right now, it is still fun.

I'm making an effort to take more photos to share with you all, because I know that words alone are not very entertaining and for fuck sake, if you are going to click over to my site, you must be in desperate need of entertaining...I kid. Anyway, I've also hit up some garage sales, which yielded some exciting finds. I'll be sharing those and a few of my Craigslist purchases with you in the coming weeks.