i look forward to seeing my friends

lately, it feels like i don't have much time to sit down and do anything.
but i know that is SO not the case. i'm just tired a lot.

in less than 1 week i will be on vacation and traveling to oklahoma to see family and friends for a few days.
it used to be so far off, but now that it's almost time, i'm kind of nervous and stressed about making sure everything we need is packed and everything is taken care of before we head out.
but when we get there, it'll be nice.
i also plan on covering up a tattoo while we are there.
hopefully the work will be within my budget though.

i look forward to enjoying my mom's cooking again.
i look forward to seeing my friends. i really miss them.
i look forward to going back to my old job and seeing if anyone i know still works there.
i look forward to time off from work.
i look forward to being able to just have fun.
i look forward to being able to have a few drinks.

steve got his driver's license and bought his mom's old car recently a month or so ago.
i'm very proud of him, but i would be more proud of him if he had actually done it for himself and not because of me.

work continues to get more and more difficult and aggravating.
there are some days that i will continually think of ways that i could quit my job and still be able to live.
i have to do the job of 3 people on some days and i feel like quitting right then and there.
i wish i worked a job where i did not have to rely on other people so much.
because other people constantly call-out or are just unreliable.
i am hoping by this time next year, i will be in school and either working there only part-time or not at all.
i'm tired of working my ass off for retail companies so that they can make the big bucks while i get shit on.

i decided at the end of may that i wanted to try to lose some weight again.
i pressured steve into getting a gym membership with me.
he was pressured into buying a bunch of training sessions that neither of us needed.
and now, i go all of the time and he doesn't.
it was a poor decision, but hopefully we learned from it.
i imagine once the personal training sessions are paid off, he'll probably cancel his membership.
i managed to lose close to 55 pounds with very little personal trainer help since we signed up at the gym.
i have become obsessed with working out and diet that i mentally and physically don't have time for much of anything else.
i almost wish that i could just stop and go back to the way that i was before.
living like this is not a whole lot of fun most days.
maybe when i reach my goal weight and start to slow down on losing weight/maintain, i will feel like i have more time in the day to do other stuff.
15 pounds to go before that happens though.

i don't know if it's just my luck, that time of the year or if i look more physically appealing to perverts now, but i have had a few encounters lately with some.
just when i thought that i was safe... now i feel like i need a weapon.
when i was heavier, i did not have to worry about this. :(

another downside to losing a lot of weight is that none of my clothes fit me anymore.
i tried on my old brown leather coat that i've had since i was 16 or 17 years old.
it always fit tightly and i never buttoned the last button on it.
but even when i thought that i was slimmer, it never fit the way that it should.
i tried it on last night.
i knew that it was gonna be a little big.
but i was in utter shock at how it just hung on me.
i was drowning in old brown leather.
i kind of felt like crying because i wanted to be able to have this coat fit me properly, not be the drastic opposite.
and from there, i experienced the same with my dresses that i had only gotten to wear a couple of times.
these are like, my favorite clothes... and i never got to wear them much at all.
and now, i can't.
it probably sounds petty to everyone, but it really is hurting me.
my clothes mean so much to me. and i'm not sure why... but they do.
when i moved from oklahoma to washington, 75% of the belongings i brought with me were my clothes.
and i'll be damned if only 15% of those clothes fit now.
i want to keep my weight at maintenance level throughout the winter.
no more losing weight if it can be helped.
i want time to enjoy my new coats and clothes before i can't fit them anymore either. being able to wear my clothing is the ONLY thing holding me back from just going for the grand prize of 140 pounds.

i may someday end up on the show myself

it's sad that sometimes people go such a long time without blogging, only to pop up to blog only about the negative things happening in their life. that's like saying, "friend, i'm going to ignore your ass for 3 months until i break my leg and need your sympathy and help getting around." (end rant)

i haven't blog simply because i have been busy and can't think of anything out of the ordinary to write about.

i have decided to put off going to school for yet another year. not only because i am too unmotivated to get around to filling out all necessary paperwork, but also it would potentially interfere with a project i am currently working on. i call it the new chapter in my life. i would prefer not to write about it until i feel closer to being done, but i think it's going to turn out great.

steve and i are still in a great relationship. we are still learning new stuff about each other every day. and still learning how to tolerate one another in unique ways. we just celebrated our 1 year anniversary of being together about 2 weeks ago.

in late august we are planning a road trip back to oklahoma. ideally (i've requested it already), we'd like to leave out after i get off work on wednesday the 26th and be back the following tuesday. we would fly down and save a little money and have more time to spend with the family, but that would require me to leave my doggies behind. i think we would enjoy a roadtrip together anyways.

it feels like my responsibilities at work continue to grow and grow with each week that goes by. i try to take it with stride and just delegate my tasks unto other people. lol isn't that true management? i finally received my evaluation and pay increase earlier this month. so i am satisfied with my job for the time being.

i am currently extremely addicted to the tlc show what not to wear. i curse the day steve brought cable into my home. since i am so addicted to this show now, i am even more addicted to buying nice clothes, shoes and handbags. i guess that i am afraid that i may someday end up on the show myself.

for memorial day weekend, steve and i are joining his mommy for an afternoon of bicycle riding around medical lake. it sounds like it a good time to be had, but something tells me that i'm going to regret this "leisurely" bike ride. i was determined for one whole week to wake up at 4am and take the bike out for a ride in the morning before work. but that idea got old quick. so i am in no shape whatsoever for a long ride. lucky me.

we installed our window a/c unit last week. after getting home all sweating one day after being downtown for all of maybe an hour, we decided the quickest way to get comfortable was to just sit in front of the a/c on full blast. i didn't even own this unit until august last year. i was miserable until august. it was cooler outside at ground level than it was inside my apartment on the 5th floor. we made sure to not have another summer like that.

well, i have a lot more that i could write about, but i should wrap this up now. thank you for reading. i apologize for not keeping regular updates. i forget that sometimes people care and wonder how i am doing. follow me on twitter for more current updates.

tweet like a baby chick for jesus

i have been pretty unmotivated lately.
especially when it comes to writing in my blogs.

i've been working full time again. and this time it's permanent.
i spent the last two weeks training a new member of my sign team.
only to find out 2 days ago that i am training her to take over my own floor.
i am the sign team leader, so i am supposedly not supposed to have a set floor to sign.
so i will just be running around helping other people. not cool.
we'll see how long this lasts.
i like the new girl, but i don't think she can handle what she's in for.

as most of you may already know, steve and i adopted another chihuahua last week.
she's the same age as brandy, but about half her size.
it took her about a day to warm up to us, but she loves me now.
she still doesn't know what to think of steve though.
she growls at steve when he kisses me. it's pretty funny.
she's an adorable sweet little girl. and she's smarter than what she leads you to believe at first.



jim gaffigan's king baby show/dvd was actually more hilarious than i thought it was going to be.
i thought that there was no way he could out do beyond the pale.
but i think he did.

speaking of babies...
for those of you who asked or just wondered, i'm not pregnant.
it was a poor attempt at an april fool's day joke. :P
instead of a baby, we get more snow.

i am also addicted to twitter now.
i didn't think it possible.... but apparently, it is.
i like to read jim gaffigan's retarded tweets from heaven... or wherever.
i think everyone should tweet.
easter is around the corner.
tweet like a baby chick for jesus..... or me.

steve and i need haircuts really bad.
the homeless people downtown keep mistaking us for one of them.
okay, not really. but it's kinda bad.
this all goes back to being unmotivated.
unmotivated to go sit in a chair while someone else cuts my hair for me..
maybe, i'm just plain lazy. isn't that a step above unmotivated?

it may not be as 'romantic'

so, it's been a couple months since i have written a blog.
i'd like to be able to say that i've been super busy, but that's not the case.

work has been going well still.
i got cut back to part-time hours for awhile.
which was a nice break from the holiday horror of macys.
but now that spring is approaching, my boss has more hours to not only give me full time hours, but to also hire a extra signer to help us all.
however, i am taking it with a grain of salt because i never know if i will be part of the next 7,000 people laid off from macys.

i got rid of my car recently.
this was a real struggle for me to make a decision on.
but in the end, i only used it to go to the grocery store.
and it would have cost me more money than what it's worth to fix everything that needed to be done.
so far, being car-less is no different than what my life was like before... except walking back and forth to the local grocery store all of the time is a hassle.
hopefully i will get over that.

i had the best valentines day ever this year.
none of my past boyfriends have ever given me flowers before.
the only other person who has was some random gay guy.
i guess i could have told my past boyfriends that i wanted flowers, but i felt like maybe they should have already known that.
it may not be as 'romantic', but you really should tell him what you want.
you can't blame your failing relationship on him if you aren't telling him what the hell you want.
i guess that's what has changed with this relationship for me.
no more of "i'm angry at him because he should have read my mind".
and this has been the best relationship by far.
there are a lot of things about our relationship that are unconventional and probably even frowned upon by friends and family if they only knew.
but it has worked for us and we have a great time spending time together.
anyways, we didn't have a super romantic vday... but it was fun anyways.
i got a shitload of fried ice cream at cyrus o'leary's and enchiladas out of it, so i can't complain.
oh, and of course i received cunnilingus so good i cried.
but i guess i should not have brought that part up, eh?

my birthday falls on friday the 13th this year.
okay, i guess that doesn't really mean anything.
but steve has told me that if he didn't get me another puppy for xmas, he would for my bday.
i hope that he is able to find a really cute little girl chihuahua for me.
i would prefer to adopt a shelter one, but those are always snatched up asap by those other greedy chihuahua lovers.

steve will be moving in this weekend.
and if not this weekend, than by the end of the month for sure.
i'm excited about it.
but sometimes i realize he is gonna be here 24/7.
and that is overwhelming sometimes.
my privacy will be gone.
but just about everything i do that i would be ashamed of, i do in front of him anyways.
i haven't lived with someone since the ex-husband (5 years ago).
so this will be fun.
but i think overall, it will be good for the both of us.

since i have been preparing for steve to move in, i got a big cart for the kitchen to put small appliances and extra pantry items on.
that helped clear out a lot of space in my closet and in the kitchen cabinets.
i also got some arm chairs for the living room.
guess who can have guests over now without having to drag in chairs from the kitchen?



i haven't had any barenjager in about a year.
i have been craving it a lot lately. a lady at work keeps bees and so she brought in bottles of honey for us all. and i am reading the secret life of bees. mmmm... honey flavored liquor.

i got a about 5 more new spices.... i really like my spice collection.
it works out really well.
yes, they are sorted in alphabetical order!

time to stop being negative

*rant*
i really wish the snow would just stop already.
i'm sick of not being able to get around town without having to jump into big piles of snow
or walk in HEAVY traffic because snow removal trucks have plowed-in the sidewalks.
*end rant*

*new rant*
i'm scheduled full time hours at work next week.
i like the pay, but hate working past noon.
also means that i have to pack a lunch for 4 days out of the week.
which means one more bag to carry with me as i'm leaping over snow mountains.
*end new rant*

strangely enough, my body isn't sore anymore from all the extra effort of walking in mounds of snow.
and i'm on the tightest notch on my belt now...
so maybe steve's mom's scale was right after all?
maybe the 20 pounds i've gained back since may, i've almost lost again?

new years eve?
i wanted to go to first night downtown, but i don't have money to spend for it.
so hopefully steve will be able to make it over and i can make dinner/drinks and play quelf.
i wanna get drunk, but i can't even afford to do that.

i purchased (regrettably) an ipod touch online last week.
it is supposed to be delivered tomorrow.
but it looks like fed ex guy isn't even coming into the apartment building.
he's been leaving the notices on the front door.
so... guess who's not gonna get their ipod touch anytime soon?

okay, time to stop being negative.

the last week or two has been wonderful

i would like to state that i had the best possible christmas this year, despite the fact that this is my first holiday season away from my family.

steve and his family welcomed me with open arms for thanksgiving and then for xmas.
it was definitely a christmas more about sharing experiences rather than fancy gifts.
and i am sure without a doubt in my mind, that i preferred time spent with steve and his family over anything that could have been bought.

i finally got to meet steve's brother travis and his wife erin on xmas eve.
they were just as nice and friendly as i hoped they'd be.

erin made us a yummy dinner and dessert.
then we all exchanged gifts and played apples to apples and farkle.

on christmas day, steve's mom was very patient with me and taught me how to knit (i'm still not so good yet) and she took us to the movies to see marley & me.
the movie was a lot better than what i expected because i had read the book this summer.
it's the first time i've been in a theater where you can hear a lot of people around you crying at the end.
i even cried and i was trying so hard to hold it in too.

so, i've walked away from this christmas with a few nice gifts, but a lot more cherished memories. :)

unfortunately, there has been a small black cloud looming over christmas this year for steve's family.
steve's grandma rose passed away the day before xmas eve from colon cancer.
it's something that the family had been expecting for about a month now, but it still sucks pretty bad.

my mother called me on christmas for the first time in a year.
it was nice that she finally actually called and talked to me for awhile.
it sounds like my family is not doing so well financially, which is no big shocker.
some of it couldn't be helped, but a lot of it is their own fault.
they have a constant pattern of poor choices made over the course of my life.
i feel bad for them, but i know there is nothing that i can do but offer advice.
i also found out that my sister accepted her abusive girlfriend back into her life.
it hurt to find out, but i was not surprised at all.
just another pattern of poor choices.
i love my family, but it's much better to keep them at this distance away from me so that i do not continue to make the mistakes they have made.

i never got a chance to mail out my family's xmas presents or any cards to friends.
due to all of the snow that we've gotten here, the post office was closed for a couple of days.
when i got off from work, it was closed also.
and buses in my neighborhood were not running either, so i was not going to walk a mile and a half in the snow to get to the post office only to find out it was closed again.
i hope that everyone understands and won't mind getting them late.

i just want to say that, despite the snow, leaking window in my apartment, horrible work schedules, and the overall crappiness of the weather and the misfortunes it has caused, the last week or two has been wonderful for me and i am very grateful for the people that i have in my life (especially steve). :)

stay inside and make sweets!

this will just be a blog of pictures:











morale of the story: stay inside and make sweets!

baby food jar chandelier

today, it has snowed more than i have seen since i lived in indianapolis.
i am used to snow.... but it's been a loooong time since i've seen so much!
brandy, on the other hand, is not used to snow.
at least, not snow that is so high that she can not stand in it and be able to see.
so..... she has not went potty outside today. :(
but we had fun running in the snow today before the sun went down.
i took off her leash for once and just let her run around behind me (as i cleared a path for her).
i hope that whatever snowfall we get for the rest of winter does not accumulate to more than this.

sometime in january, after all this holiday crap has worn off and life is back to feeling normal and boring again, i want to attempt to make this baby food jar chandelier.
i seriously think it would be awesome to hang from my living room ceiling above my coffee table.
downfall is that i will have to probably eat 12 jars of baby food.
i am hoping maybe steve's mom knows someone with a baby that has some old (matching) jars to get rid of.

i bought a bag of cranberries to make food with, instead i ended up decorating with them:



i joined freecycle over the weekend.
i had joined when i lived in indianapolis and tulsa before but never gave or got anything.
i was more annoyed by the emails than anything else.
but i am giving it a third go.
i am finding myself more needy of free stuff now than ever.
and craigslist is mostly a joke.
"free pile of dirt"...... riiiiiiiight.

i was flipping through a 3 year old edition of real simple magazine.
there was a really nifty button bracelet in it that i wanted to make.
yeah, needless to say, mine turned out bad.
it was a waste of time and effort sewing buttons onto a piece of old sweater.
maybe it will look better with more buttons on it.
but i am doubting it.

turns out target has the same hamilton beach stand mixer that i got on black friday, for only $19.99 this week.
yeah, i'm not going to lie, i was pissed that i found out i waited in line FOREVER that morning just to pay more for it.
but... it was still a great buy. and hopefully my co-worker Lil will get one this week!
i keep telling her how much i love mine...
and i know it will come in handy for her baking lots of goodies for the holidays.

it's my second round of bread baking!
and i am happy to report that it turned out even better this time. :)
i let the bread rise for a little bit longer before putting it in the oven.
next time, i will try making it with honey instead of sugar and olive oil instead of butter.
i've been told the bread turns out even better this way.
sorry for the crappy picture!



and, as requested, here is a picture of the bourbon bottle snowflake wrapping paper:

bourbon bottles arranged into snowflakes

when you are engulfed in flames by david sedaris makes for a good audio book.
i was much better to listen to than dress your family in corduroy and denim (which i liked better as a book).
my favorite chapter to listen to was the understudy.
my favorite quote was david and his sister mocking one of their babysitters, "ya'lls got the same damn thing. only theys ain't poked out yet. "
i have decided that listening to audio books from time to time while at work (instead of music on my ipod) might be a good change.
i listened to most of the audio book on friday at work and it put me in a much better mood than just listening to music.



i attempted to make my first loaf of home-made bread today.
i followed trent's recipe over at the simple dollar.
it turned out better than expected considering it was my first attempt at bread making.
it actually reminded me of the pizza crusts that i make.
so, evidently, i have been making bread all along.

i also made the most delicious stew ever on thursday.
it doesn't have a name (that i am aware of), because i didn't use a recipe.
but its something i've been able to eat for lunch and dinner since thursday and still not being sick of yet.
i browned up some sausage and then put it in the crock pot with 2 cans of beef broth, water, cumin, parsley, salt, tomato sauce, onion, green bell pepper, mushrooms, and potatoes.
it really heats the spot on these really cold, snowy days. :)

maker's mark sent me free wrapping paper and ribbon in the mail.
the wrapping paper has bourbon bottles arranged into snowflakes.
so naturally, i decided to wrap all of my family's gifts in this paper.
they already think i'm an alcoholic, so what can it hurt?
i may use it to wrap a few misc gifts with as well, but honestly, who wants gifts in paper that screams, "i drink so much, i get free wrapping paper from liquor companies!"
this quote is so untrue, but that's what most people would think.

i'm a good co-worker to have...

i am excited to announce that i have my very first blogger follower!
that's something that i never thought would happen. lol
i just figured most people found my blog through my myspace.
i guess not. :)
yay for zombie kitty!

i am even more excited to announce that i finally started my "financial" blog!
it has two entries already for you to read.
i don't plan on keeping myspace updated on this blog,
so if you want to be kept up-to-date on the financial blog (sunny savings),
you'll need to subscribe to the rss feed.
you can subscribe either by clicking the rss icon in your foxfire toolbar, or with the subscribe option i have given you on the blog itself.
and of course, if you are a blogspot user, you can just become a follower. :)

guess who's making peppermint bark now??
well, technically, i made some on monday night for steve to take home.
but i made some more today to take with me to work tomorrow.
the peppermint bark reminds me of the new candy cane hershey kisses.
mmmm....
oreo bark is REALLY good too!
which i made a bit of as well. :)
this blog post is also a good peppermint bark making guideline to go by.
i'm a good co-worker to have...




i have decided that audio books would make a really good xmas present for my mom.
she doesn't read, but she has always seemed to like to listen to them instead.
i was going to get her some used ones on paperback swap, but i takes 2 credits versus 1 for a book.
so that was out of the question because i have so few credits left now.
i opted to rent audio books from the library instead and rip them into mp3 format, and then re-burn them to cd.
yes, it's cheap and copyright infringement.
but it's not like i am trying to re-sell these audio books, so i think it's ethically okay to do.
and i think these are something my mom might actually enjoy.



santa's kickin' it in a new hat.
someone in my apartment building set a box of old christmas stuff by the building entrance.
i grabbed up this cute little hat.
word.

it's sweater time!

spokane has had a lot of movies filmed in it's city.
but i never thought i would run into so many movie sets on a regular basis.
today, while i was at work, they filmed a protest scene for the movie oy vey! my son's gay!!.



which looks to be a rather retarded movie... i mean, it has carmen electra in it.
then i saw previews for the movie give 'em hell, malone. which was filmed downtown also near the old otis hotel.
i remembered the street being blocked off in the area everyday for about a week when i would walk to work in the mornings... but it looked like construction purposes to me.
but know i realize that was not the case.

like, i have talked about before, i love the site A Year of Crockpotting.
i have now made two recipes from this website.
I am thoroughly impressed with the second one that i tried.
it's called salsa chicken and black bean soup.
i only used one chicken breast for the entire dish, and it was enough.
first, we ate it as a dip with tortilla chips.
but, later we ate it as a real soup.
it lasted me for several meals and was good every time.
this is a new favorite for me.
it's CHEAP and EASY and GOOD.

this is one of my new favorite pictures (it's sweater time!):


i have been heavily considering creating a financial blog of my own of some kind.
maybe not one that actually offers financial advice (because i am not a trained professional),
but maybe just one of those quirky frugal ones.
i just want somewhere to share my ideas about saving money and the steps that i take (or would like to take).
because i know there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of these types of blogs out there now,
i have been kind of hesitant about it.
but i know that most of my friends do not come to my blog to read that stuff, they come to read about how i am doing. :)
does anyone have any thoughts on this idea?

so the christmas movie-athon has begun.
so far we have watched:
1. scrooged
2. a christmas story (my favorite)
3. christmas with the kranks (totally stupid)
i intend on watching the nightmare before christmas and home alone 2 sometime soon. :)

stop hurting yourself

so, i've been doing a lot of complaining recently about a guy at work.
he's really slow and sometimes he doesn't show up for work.
so all of the other signers have to work twice as hard because of him.
over the thanksgiving holiday he pissed us all off.
long story short, he finally put in his two week notice today.
this makes me so happy.
he is a really nice guy, but he just can't do his job.

brandy and steve are the best of friends...

i've been baking again today like a crazy woman.
i finally made some cookies that steve liked. *shock*
they were the cooky cookies with peanut butter chips in them.
i also made some cooky cookies with regular chocolate chips and chunks of a chopped up weight watchers bar (same thing i made a couple days ago).
aaaaaaaand i baked up some cranberry sugar cookies with green sprinkles.



i feel really let down by season 4 of it's always sunny in philadelphia.
this quickly because one of my favorite shows (and only shows i watch).
but this season was just not up to par.
i re-watched the last episode "the nightman cometh" last night with steve.
it was more enjoyable to watch the second time around, but i still feel like it was lacking.
according to wikipedia, it's always sunny will run until at least a 6th season.
hopefully they will be better than season 4!

as usual, i have been scouring the internet for cool (but inexpensive) holiday things to do. i ran across beingfrugal.com's favorite christmas tradition that i thought was so cool.
unfortunately, i can't really use the idea (because i don't have kids), but i am hoping to come up with something that could play off her wonderful idea.

i have been considering following up my halloween horror movie tradition with the christmas movie tradition this year.
maybe watch 12 of my favorite xmas movies before christmas?
what's your favorite christmas movie?
mine is, without a doubt, a christmas story.
i've watched it EVERY christmas for as long as i can remember...
and it was always a big hit because it was based in Indiana (my home state).
i love everything about this movie. :) it makes me happy just thinking about it.

also, before i forget, i want to thank anyone who took the time to click my google ads the last time i blogged.
i have managed to accumulate a small amount of money from the clicks, but will not see any money until it reaches a certain dollar amount.
so please do not stop clicking.
i want to actually see this first google ads paycheck!

$5 tees again for the holiday season

this is going to sound really lame.... BUT...
i still have google ads on the left side and bottom of my blog.
every click to one of these ad sites earns me a few cents.
every few cents grows into dollars.... and i am REALLY broke right now.
so if anyone wants to say merry christmas, clicking on the ads would be MUCH appreciated!
it only takes a couple seconds...
i've had thousands of hits to my blog, but very, very very few hits to my ads. :(
just make sure you come back to my blog and read though! :)

i need a cooking utensil holder.
since i moved into this apartment, i have been storing them clumsily in a party tray that i keep on top of the microwave (which also happens to be on top of the fridge).
i have not wanted to dish out money for a fancy one i can attach to the wall above my sink or stove... but i have wanted to make one myself.
i have extra shower curtain hooks that i have been trying to find a use for forever.
if i glue them upside down onto a piece of wood or something, they would be perfect for my utensils to hang from.
but i don't have a piece of wood to use.
...and i don't want to go buy any.
i considered gluing them to a spine of a hardcover book and nailing the book to the wall.
but it just wouldn't be the look that i am going for. lol

i've started a new book called "the time traveler's wife" by audrey niffenegger.
this is a book that i somehow knew i was going to enjoy so much, that i bought two copies of it by mistake. lol
i'm not too far into this thick novel, but so far, it's interesting and entertaining.
this might be a book that i would like to give the other copy to steve's mom (if she hasn't already read it).
unfortunately, i don't see myself finishing this book before the new year (i hope to stay busy doing other things).

my work schedule for this month sucks.
it's part-time... working weekends... and now i am working a few nights also because corporate has decided anytime that we have a one-day sale from now on, they are going to start it at 5pm the day before.
so that means the signers get to come in at 5pm the day before to put up new signs.
at least the holidays will be over soon and i can go back to some sort of normality... if there is such a thing.

i have decided that there is no fool-proof way for me to take a multi-vitamin and not throw up afterwards.
no matter how much i eat before taking these damn pills, i still get sick.
if you don't eat, you get REALLY sick.
if you do eat, you get mildly sick.
oh, the joys of trying to stay healthy.

i LOVE threadless.com !
they have been offering $5 tees again for the holiday season.
(i tend to only buy when they are $5 anyways)
i think everyone should visit them and show some love. :D

why does everyone give me coupons at work for $10 off a $30 purchase when i clearly can not afford to buy anything from there right now?!
i could have used these damn coupons like... 2 weeks ago!
gee, thanks for nothing.
i wish i could give them away to other people... but they are employee coupons. :(
such a waste.

the lady who writes for her blog
a year of crockpotting is so cool.
she inspired me to want to get a crockpot again.
it's amazing the kinds of meals/desserts/dips/etc she has made in her crockpots.
i did try one of the recipes (so far!) that she has written in her blog... and it was pretty darn good.
i look forward to using her blog as a reference many, many times in the future.

okay, that's all i have to say for now.

p.s. i want to learn how to knit soon.

i have cleaned nearly every inch of my apartment

i found this sign in my neighborhood and thought that it was cute (click it for the full photo):



i finished reading the book "smashed : story of a drunken girlhood" by koren zailckas.
it's supposed to be a fascinating memoir on koren's "drunken girlhood".
i suppose the book was likable, but it was a little over the top.
i could have lived without the pop-culture references mentioned on nearly EVERY PAGE.
in fact, it probably would have made the book more enjoyable to read.
the memoir (like so many others) is supposed to be made into a film soon.
i can't even see myself enjoying the movie version.

i am half-way through reading the book "blink" by malcolm gladwell.
this was another book that got a lot of hype.
and i think this book actually deserved it.
it makes you question your immediate gut-instincts and what you would do in a blink of an eye.
it goes over series of various tests, statistics and algorithms to prove points.
there is also a section of the book about the music artist kenna (who i love), so that makes it even more enjoyable to me.

on sunday night i decided to make cooky cookies with my new stand-up mixer (a black friday buy that i will go into further later).
normally i follow the recipe as usual.
but this time i grated up some orange peel and added that and orange peel powder to the ingredients.
i also added chocolate chips to some.
if you don't like oranges, then you probably would not like my results.
but i love them. especially the ones i added chocolate chips to.
i plan on taking some to my co-worker (doug) tomorrow and see if he likes them or not.
he'll eat just about anything so i dunno if he is a good food critic, but maybe he will enjoy them.

i tried to call my sister on thanksgiving, but it went straight to voicemail.
and i was thinking maybe my mom would finally call me on thanksgiving... but she never did.
it is my first thanksgiving/christmas a way from family, and they did not care to call me.
mom has not even emailed me back in the last 2 or 3 months.
i guess i could continue to keep pushing for a relationship with her...
but i am the kind of person that always waits for the other person to initiate contact.
only because i feel like i am intruding.

so i spent thanksgiving with steve and his mom.
she made a nice meal that we were not able to eat until about 7 or 8pm. lol
the turkey just didn't want to cook.
but it was nice visiting with her and steve and watching Big and playing some weird dice game.
i brought sweet potatoes for our thanksgiving dinner.
i never make them because i don't like them. so it was a first for me.
i followed a recipe that said to make them with orange juice.
at first, i thought it'd like them... but no, i didn't.

even after staying awake well until midnight or 1am on thanksgiving, i decided to wake up at 5:30am to go to target for black friday shopping.
i had my list and my plan.
i was to go in and get what i needed and get the hell out.
well, when i got there a little before 6am (when the store opened), there was a line of customers wrapped all the way around the outside of the building.
as i was making my way to the back of the line, it finally started to move a bit.
it didn't take long for us all to get into the store.
i grabbed a shopping cart (bad mistake, but i needed it) and made my way to my priority items on my list.
i was surprised that there was plenty stock of the kitchen items i was going to buy (the crockpot and stand mixer).
after i made sure those two items were safely in my shopping cart, i continued on with my list.
all the while people are hitting you with their shopping carts and not really bothering to acknowledge what they just did.
then there was the task of trying to find where the check-out line begins and ends.
i ended up somehow in the electronics check-out line.
which took about 45 minutes of waiting and bonding with my fellow customers around me.
after check-out, i still had to push my way (with my cart) back through the crowds of people to get to the front of the store to leave.
by the time i exited the store, i was so mentally drained that i decided no more black friday shopping.
so this year was my FIRST and LAST time shopping black friday.

a few weeks ago, this column was posted in the Inlander under the "I Saw You" section (click it for the full photo):



naturally, i felt that steve needed to make a reply back to it.
so we emailed a response to the Inlander promptly about it:

I wasn't choking on your odor, I was choking on my pride.
I couldn't bring myself to speak to you at the time, and for that I am eternally sorry.
As an educated business-woman society tries to keep us apart, but I will no longer let society dictate my life.
You take my breath away, yet only asked for a dollar.
Would you accept my heart instead?
A 3-course dinner, a couple drinks, then relax in my jacuzzi.
You can search me for change.

my guess is that they got so many people replying back to it, they chose not to print any of them.
because ours has not gotten printed in the last couple of issues. :(
the only result of emailing them the above passage proved was that they sell your email address asap to other companies and you get hit hard with spam mail.
luckily, i used a spare email address i have laying around.

as many of you may know, i had been sick (amongst other things) the last few months.
i have finally regained all of my energy back!
and just in time to have my hours cut-back to part-time again at work.
so, this means i have cleaned nearly every inch of my apartment (and washed every article of dirty clothing) and now i am so terribly bored.
i've cooked and baked all that i can.
i've walked the dog more times than she has needed.
i'm more than half way through a book i started less than 5 days ago.
i'm in the process of researching a long list of household items (empty dish soap bottles, egg cartons, etc) and what they actually can be reused for.
i guess at the moment i feel like i am going a bit (more) crazy.

i subscribe to rss feeds for 35 financial type blogs.
one of them is even in a different language.
i just like the photos she posts. lol
i have WAAAAAAAAAAY too much time on my hands now.

i need friends?

the price you pay for a beautiful october autumn

obviously, i have not written in my blog for quite awhile.
i feel like i have had a lot to say, but no energy to actually spend time typing it up (hence one reason i signed-up to get a monthly supply of eboost).

it's been a year full of firsts for me... and our nation.
since i can not share all of my "firsts" with you... i will talk about the election.
i was not able to vote because i would have had to re-register and i would have to be a washington citizen for a number of month more than what i have been.
on the night of the election, i went out and bought a coax cable so that i could get the basic tv channels.
and of course i sat on my couch in front of the tv for hours watching and hoping.
and like so many others, i did cry a bit when obama was announced our new president.
having obama as our next president has also made work some what better since i work with mostly democrats... i don't have to hear a bunch of political crap anymore.

so i had a goal for the month of october to watch 31 horror films.
unfortunately, i fell short of this goal by 3 movies.
ideally, i wanted to watch movies i had not already seen before... or had not see since childhood (such as the parents and alice sweet alice).
i did find some gems during my conquest.
i have a few new favorites such as the quirky scary movies (the signal, otis, and botched). i also have some foreign favorites (oldboy, audition, and the orphanage).
just about everything else was really not worth watching. i did watch cannibal holocaust twice.
and it was not as gross the second time around.

gwar is going to be playing downtown this friday.
they are one of the bands i have always wanted to see live... but never liked their music.
tim and his wife are going to go.
but as usual, it really is not a good time financially for me to go. :(
so i guess i will have to just have tim tell me all the crazy crap that happened.

steve and i have had our list of ups and downs in the past 6 months of our relationship, but i think something that has happened recently between us has made me feel closer to him than ever.
i can't wait until we can move in together in march and spend all of our time together.
but i think it would be even better if he got me another chihuahua first to torture him with.
one puppy constantly licking his face is just not enough.

the weather lately has been really crappy.
probably the worst i have experienced since i moved here.
it's been rainy and cold the past couple of weeks.
and it gets pitch black by 4 or 5pm.
it's been kind of depressing, but more so is helping drain my already low energy level.
i guess it's the price you pay for a beautiful october autumn.

i keep telling myself that i need to get out and make some new friends.
but like i said, lately i have no energy to do anything.
hopefully that will change soon.
and hopefully my workload will lighten a bit as well in the next month or so.
i have been working full-time since mid-september.
i like the paychecks (even though they go right back to them since i shop too much at macy's)...
but i am dead tired when i get home.
i'll just be glad when the holidays are over with.

do they still make chocolate cool whip?
anyone know???
steve and i wanted to buy some last weekend, but were sorely disappointed to not find it at our local grocery store!

the signal

as of today, the elevator in my apartment building is STILL NOT fixed!
first we were told the 23rd, then friday the 26th, then monday the 29th and now it's october 1st.... still not working. it's been broken for about 2 months now.
if it's not fixed by monday, i am going to request some sort of rental discount.
it's not fair that i live on the 5th floor and have to walk up that many flights of stairs several times a day.
if i knew the elevator would be broken for TWO damn months, i would have stayed on the first floor.

i have begun my 31 days of horror movies like i did last year.
i can't remember now how many films i watched, but i am hoping to surpass it this year.
so far i have seen the signal and stay alive.
i actually liked both movies surprisingly.
some guys from work recommended some foreign horror films i plan on checking out soon too.

i rearranged my living room furniture recently.
i'm still not sure if i like it or not.
but i do have room that i didn't have before for a chair and bookcase.
maybe some day soon i will purchase one or two of those items.

one of my co-workers is on vacation with week,
so i get full-time hours.
which will probably only amount to an extra $100 on my paycheck,
but it's more than what i had before i guess.
my boss also asked me if i wouldn't mind picking up more hours for the holidays.
of course i said i would. i hope that i do not regret it.
it's been a kind of slow work week, so we have been on the 6th floor unwrapping xmas tree ornaments.
i've come home 2 out of 3 days this week so far covered in glitter.
ah, the magic of macy's.

i am starting to wish that i worked in a bakery.
i've developed such a great desire lately to bake.
i enjoy baking things and seeing and tasting how they turn out.
i love making cookies now because i used to always mess them up and would never be able to bake them right.
but now, i almost always get them right.
i imagine that i have also put on 10 pounds due to my new found love for baking.
yay new cookie sheets and muffin pans!

i finished the book 'the remains of the day'.
the book received really good reviews online, but i have to disagree.
there was nothing special about this novel in my opinion.

mom still has not called.
i told her that she could call me over 20 days ago.
i guess even when i give her permission to talk to me,
she still doesn't want to.... even though she said that she did.
i wonder if she ever realizes how unloved that can make a person feel?

my new tommy hilfiger pillows make me feel loved though and i sleep slightly better at night now.
i just wish they made a steve-shaped pillow.
maybe someday.

birthday poem

i haven't really had much to say.
or rather, the desire to type it up.

about a week and a half ago someone dressed in a helmet and cape was skipping around the gazebo in the middle of the park at 5am as i was walking my dog.
he was also playing an accordion.
he reminded me of darth vader,
but it was probably just someone who watched the dark knight one too many times.

work is still going well.
today was one of the guys (colin) on the sign team's birthday.
we sat in the break room and ate cupcakes and drank punch.
then one of the other guys (doug) that i work with made a birthday poem for colin.
it was kind of strange and amusing at the same time.
you learn something new and different about your co-workers everyday.

i watched the first episode of the new season of it's always sunny in philadelphia.
in my opinion, it picked right up right off where it felt in season 3.
hilariousness.
i hope that the new season of dexter is just as good.

my mom was supposed to call me this weekend...
and of course, she didn't.
so now that it's the weekend again,
i wonder if she will remember to call?
it's been around 9 months since we have spoken.
it might be good to finally talk again... but maybe not.

last weekend steve and i went to uncle's (a game shop downtown).
steve bought a boardgame called quelf.
it's not intended for just 2 players, but we played it alone anyways.
it's was pretty hilarious and would have been even more fun with other people.
here is one video of steve playing quelf:



this was the most tame one.
i promised not to upload the belly dancing one. lol

froot loop clusters

i changed my cellphone's alarm ring tone from some crappy default one to the flaming lips "do you realize?".
now i wake up every morning moderately happy.

i had to get a new library card today because the one that i had was for the valley.
i guess she failed to mention to me that i could not use it in spokane. grrr.

my sister finally called me for the first time in a few months.
i guess she changed her phone number back to her old one and thats why i was unable to get ahold of her.

steve and i went to manito park last week.
of course it was my first time going... so i ended up taking over 200 photos throughout the day.
i wasted a good deal of time just taking pictures of turtles by the pond.
we also went to riverside park for a bit and went to different areas that i had never been to.

i'm currently reading the remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro.
its supposed to be a really good book... but i'm finding it difficult to get into on the 2nd chapter/section.
hopefully it something will peak my interest soon.

i made cookies out of froot loops on friday.
they turned out pretty decent.
not too sugary and not icky either.
so i made some froot loop clusters made with white chocolate as well...





my new job is still going well.
my boss asked me the one day last week,
"can you believe you've already been here 2 weeks?"
and i honestly couldn't.
time goes by really fast there. which is good.
i got some extra time on sunday to do socializing with one of the other signers,
and we talked about the lady i replaced and how the lady was a little crazy.
so now i understand why my boss is always mentioning how calm i am.
because the other lady was all over the place.
and apparently downtown macy's employees get discounted 16oz coffees from thomas hammer downtown on the weekends.
sweet.... even though i rarely drink coffee...
i just wish i would get my macy's employee discount card already!

my apartment building's elevator has been broken for nearly 3 weeks now.
i am TOTALLY sick of walking up and down FIVE flights of stairs several times a day.
you would think it would be habit for me now walking up that many stairs, but it isn't.
i am weak and out of breath by the time i reach the 5th floor (if i don't take a mini break half way through).
i wanted to start using the stairs more... but not like this.

i ended up purchasing more stuff online from 2 of my new favorite companies.
i ordered 15 magnetic spice containers (that i can attach to the side of my fridge for easy storage) and a few more spices from monterey bay spice company .
i also ordered another sample kit and a couple small concealers from everyday minerals.
i am also getting a cheap electric mixer from amazon.
i have kept putting off getting one because i always wanted one of the fancy kitchenaid ones.
but i know i will never be able to afford one.
anyways, no more spending for me for awhile.

go me

so i finally got around to opening a new bank account in washington with bank of america.
i had to switch bank accounts because washington and idaho are different than all of the rest of the states when it comes to banking with them.
so the lady opened up a total of 4 fucking accounts for me.
the reasoning for this? i'm not quite clear on.
but she said it would not cost me any special fees or anything.
so i now have a total of 3 checking accounts and 5 savings accounts.
and i don't have hardly any money. go me.

the macy's clearance on the 6th floor downtown had house slippers.
i have searched all over for house slippers but most places apparently do not carry them until fall.
so i got a really cute pair for 5 bucks. go me, again.

still liking my job. the people i work with still seem to be friendly.
i can see myself being broke from now on though because i think i want to buy everything on my sales floor.
martha stewart's macy's line is so cute.
i want to get her kitchen aid mixer and cutting boards and spice racks and everything!
i can see my employee discount might get abused a bit.
macy's also has their own reuseable shopping bags (like every store does now).
and they are pretty cute also.
so i bought two of them as well.
they are actually bigger and easier to use than my other bags i use for groceries.

steve and i went to "pig out in the park" this weekend at riverfront park.
i had a blast, but i don't think steve did because i made him go on rides with me that he was not exactly thrilled about.
we ate chinese food and elephant ears also.
i took around 130 photos and a few videos while we were there.
and we saw the dark knight at the imax.
it was my first time seeing a movie at an imax theater,
so that was a pretty awesome experience.





aaaaand i finally got to ride a gondola!
i thought it was pretty fun to see more of spokane falls.
steve and i got a gondola to ourselves.



i also finally made my own laundry detergent this weekend following this recipe:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/15/how-to-make-your-own-laundry-detergent-and-save-big-money/
i condensed mine down a bit to make it a more concentrated version.

brandy got a cute fleece sweater from etsy.com the other day....

and she also got 3 halloween printed chew toys, which she loves to throw around the apartment and carry to bed with her.

i'm reading my 8th book this year.
my goal is to get 12 finished by the end of the year.
i figured that was a more attainable goal for me since i knew it was going to be a busy year.
and i was right.
has anyone read george orwell's animal farm?
did you like it?

making marla's mom into soap

there was a fire in my building after work yesterday.
lucky it was on the first floor and no real damage was done.
but i will be getting renter's insurance soon just in case something more sever happens in the future.
the elevator in my building has been broken for about 4 or 5 days now.
it sucks walking up 5 flights of stairs several times a day...
but at least i'm getting more exercise in i guess.
hopefully they are able to get it fixed soon though!

macy's has some strange policies, but on other things they seem to have total lack of concern.
like, in order to get your employee discount, you have to sign-up for a macy's credit card or a pre-paid credit card.
i think that's a really stupid way to give their employees discounts.
but at the same time, they don't drug test.
which i think they should with it being a high-end department store.
but a good things is, i will be eligible to sign-up for health insurance through them after my first 30 days.
yay!

today was my first official day of work and it seemed to go fine.
all of my co-workers on the fifth floor and within my signing crew have been very nice and helpful.
all i did today was go around and switch out old price signs for sale signs.
and if it didn't have a sale sign, i would make one.
pretty easy stuff.
tomorrow hopefully i will do something different though.

what i find to be incredibly amusing is that a customer service manager emailed me from envirosax today about an order i placed (and never received) back in november 2007.
apparently she was unaware that i did finally receive my refund for the sacks (after being called a liar by the "founder" of the company).
this customer service manager requested i give her my credit card number to do a refund.
lol like that was gonna happen.
and she was sorry that my previous experience soured me on the company.
i made sure she knew that it more than sourer me.
and that if i changed my mind, i could contact her directly about ordering.
to me, this sounds like a scam. i would never ever trust or buy from www.envirosax.com ever!
sure, they have some cute bags, but i always place customer service first when i decide to purchase something.

i have to go to the ups branch on broadway to pick up the bicycle basket that i had shipped to me.
apparently the dumbshit that i bought it from failed to put my apartment number on the form. nice.
so i have to waste my time and money to go pick it up sometime soon.
i also had to go to the downtown post office and pick up a package of spices i ordered online because the mail man didn't want to walk up 5 flights of stairs. whaaaaaaa... lazy bastards.

anyways, the spices were bulk spices from the monterey bay spice company.
i've smelled a few of the spices, and they smell great.
my new ground cinnamon actually smells better and bolder than my crappy mccormick brand.
i have used a couple in making my black bean burgers and the spices not only smell good, but taste good.
but they are very well packaged and they even threw in some freebie teas since i also ordered a 1/4 pound of peppermint tea from them.
their prices are SUPER CHEAP.
but the minimum order is $20.00 ... which i spent a little more than.
i couldn't see paying over $6.00 for a small bottle of cumin at my local grocery store when i could get a little more than the same amount for $1.40. seriously.
i plan on getting some of these next to store all of my spices more organized in.

anyways, so yeah.. i finally got around to making black bean burgers.
if i do ever make them again, i will opt to leave out the green bell pepper.
the recipe actually yielded 8 or 9 (i lost count) patties.
so i froze them between pieces of wax paper.
they were actually decent tasting.
i have had mass-produced black bean burgers before, so i knew what to expect.
sure, its not as tasty as beef... but it's cheaper and healthier for you.
if you load your burger up with lettuce, tomato, cheese and all the condiments you normally eat on a burger, you can hardly tell the difference.
i recommend giving it a try.

i wish i could get more done on my list of goals.
http://www.43things.com/person/na0
sometimes just seeing them listed helps me want to get them done so i that i have one less goal to see on my list.

i finished reading fight club.
i've read a few of chuck palahniuk's novels and i have seen fight club the movie countless times.
i think i prefer the movie over the book.
there are maybe a handful of ideas in the book i would have liked to seen played out in the movie, but overall, i preferred the movie.
my favorite parts of the book is when tyler mentions that marla said she wanted to have tyler's abortion.
and when they making marla's mom into soap.
i guess i mostly preferred the way the sequence of events played out in the movie better.

i will start george orwell's animal farm this evening.

i should be getting chuck palahniuk's novel snuff in the mail soon through www.paperbackswap.com
but i've heard that it is not very good.

thanks to steve, i am addicted to that stupid myspace app game mobsters.
and i went ahead and joined vampires as well (just like mobsters).
i hope to not play those games much anymore because they are sucking the life out of me.

so i have found so many cool-looking shops downtown since i've started walking and taking the bus.
when i become rich and famous, i'm going to buy stuff in all of these little shops, i swear!

i dunno if anyone uses hard candy cosmetics, but they are all on sale for 75% off.
i think they are discontinuing a bunch of stuff.
might be worth checking out!
i may buy some eyeliner from them since my "good" eyeliner is almost gone.

i finally found arm & hammer washing soda in a store!
i searched high and low at every store in tulsa to find it, and then just out of curiosity i looked at the grocery store by my apartment, and it was there!
this will help me with the laundry detergent recipe i've been wanting to try for over a year now.
so i bought the washing soda, now all i really need is borax (which was on the shelf right next to it) and a 5 gallon bucket to mix it all in.
i'll save a massive amount of money on laundry soap if i can manage to make this stuff.