My To Do List

I'm doing a little house-sitting for my parents and I can't believe the list of crap they want me to do while they are gone. I guess just being here in their house taking care of their dogs isn't enough. There are some simple things like feed the fish, make sure the bird feeders are filled, etc.

The other stuff just has me saying, "WTF?" My Dad would like me to mow. Okay, that might be doable if it ever stops raining. My Mom wants me to take this thirty pound box to the post office and mail it, take a disc of photos to Costco and get them printed from the "do it yourself" computer. She wants me to return some dishes that were left from the family reunion we had almost a month ago, to two different households. Oh and she ordered some new sheet sets from Overstock.com and wants me to wash them up and put them away.

All of this would have been okay if there was some kind of perks involved. They didn't even leave me any freakin' milk for cryin' out loud. I had to go to the grocery store and get all my own stuff. Man, I feel like Cinderfuckinrella here. No wonder my sister refuses to house sit. It's like being indentured!

Of course, I guess it's not all that bad, but it's a little hard to see past the good stuff when the animals are getting you up at 5:30 in the morning because that's what time they are used to getting up and going out. I am not a morning person and this 5:30 thing is really fuckin' unacceptable. But I'm afraid the little dog will get ornery and will pee on the floor or on my clothes. He's a little shit that way.

I don't want to house-sit again, but I hate being the ungrateful brat. I just wanted to do my time and then go home.

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2,996 Tribute: Richard Keane

D.C. Roe's 2,996 project is a simple yet beautiful plan and I am lucky enough to be a part of it. Richard "Dick" Keane, 54 of Wethersfield Connecticut, was Senior VP of Marsh, Inc. and until that day, had not been in the World Trade Center offices on floors 93-100 in the North Tower all year long. He was there to attend a business meeting when the first plane struck. He and 291 other Marsh employees on the 99th and 100th floor didn't make it of the building.

Richard was a loving husband, father of five sons and grandfather of two who was a lay minister at Sacred Heart Church. He was born in Boston and raised in Pittsfield, MA and went to Marine Officer's Candidate School after being drafted. He served as a courier for Viet Nam and provided drug counseling to Marines prior to returning to the US.

He loved working with children and was a coach for sports such as basketball, soccer and baseball. He believed that children should have fun with the game and did his best to give everyone equal playing time. He loved to be outdoors and spent hours in his garden working on rock walls and tending the lawn and flowers.

His wife, Judy, created a foundation in his honor which strives to provide the youth of Wethersfield a safe and fun environment where they can participate in athletic, academic and social programs with the support and guidance of caring adults.

My heart goes out to Mr. Keane's family and friends on this 5th anniversary.

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Restaurant Seating

It took me a long time to be comfortable with going out to eat by myself. But for the last year or so, it's like old hat and I don't think about it much -- until I'm seated RIGHT next to a party of four.

Why do restaurants do that shit? I hate when I'm right next to a table of loud and boisterous people. Not only can I not enjoy my meal, they keep looking over at me and I just wanted to arch my brow and ask, "Do you have a problem?" In fact, I felt trapped. The rude dumbasses were on my right and to my left was a quiet couple trying to enjoy their meal. We were seated so close to each other we might as well have been sharing one big friggin' table.

So for 25 minutes the dumbasses talked about how crappy the local restaurants were and how they really miss their favorite Greek place in wherever-the-hell they were from. How the father used to live next to a Korean woman who opened up her own restaurant and that he loved how she spiced the food. And Oh My God, did you know that Korean and Chinese restaurants can have different cuisine depending on what region they're from?

The only intelligent/relevant remark I heard all night from their table was that the son liked the cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. Now that is something we can all agree on. Thank God they ate like they were straight outta the army and were gone about halfway through my meal.

So, mental note to self -- do not go back there expecting a quiet meal. It ain't gonna happen unless they remodel.

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Long Time, No See!

I know its been a while since we've been here. Life has gotten in the way. Especially for Devilish Girl. Right now she's going to be MIA and you're going to have to deal with me!

I'm a big believer in karma and sometimes you can't escape what she has in store for you. Sometimes it's pleasant and we can't help but embrace our good fortune. Other times, it's not so pleasant and we look back thinking, "What the hell did I do?"

Some of my internet buddies have been a victim of something -- karma, bad luck, asshole people -- whatever it is, they've fallen prey. One lost their job, another's family is beyond pissed and I see many of my fellow bloggers taking much needed breaks. Well, that's what I needed and what Devilish Girl is doing.

So stay with us and put some positive thoughts out there for Devilish Girl. Sometimes karma needs a push in the right direction.

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I'm Baaaaack!

Did you miss me? Ahhh, two weeks of surf, sand and spectacular sunrises and sunsets. I went on my "not a honeymoon" and because I knew the Ex was going to try and "reconcile" by showing up, I switched the island reservations to Maui instead of Kauai. Hopefully he had as good a time as I did. Anyway enough about the idiot.

I didn't want to come home. I could stay there and live forever if I could have a job that paid enough to buy all that imported food! That was the biggest shocker to me -- how darn expensive everything was! I'll post a few pictures over the next week or so.

The food was awesome, the people were really friendly and I even tried surfing! And if you've seen the movie Blue Crush, the locals were a lot more friendly than that. Well, I just wanted to pop in and post that things will be back to normal here at casa de infierno.

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Come On Now, Fess Up!

I believe I am the QUEEN of stickies. I love post-it notes. I love the colors they come in, I love the way they stick to any and everything and I especially love that they come in every size known to man. I use them everywhere. I put stickies on walls to remind me to do things, I have them all over my fridge. My office sports them EVERYWHERE. It's a sickness I tell ya!

My second major obsession is with pens. I love pens. Do you see the office supply theme going on here? I love purple colored pens. I love the ones with glitter in them. Fat pens, skinny pens, blue, black, red, green ink pens. I don't care what they are as long as they look and write like a dream. My stickies obsession only began about 10 years ago. They were a valuable studying tool, when I bothered to study in college... But my pen obsession tracks all the way back to grade school. I wonder if this is a genetic thing, because my mother also has an obsession with writing utensils. Of course, she'll use a pencil and I don't ever use one. I can't stand pencils.

The one thing that makes me cry is when I go to use my favorite pen of the moment and I'm out of ink. It's devastating. It's like losing a friend. And it's doubly worse when you TOLD yourself to buy two, but ohhhh no, you decided that one would be just fine.

Ummm, that came out a little crazy. I'm obsessed, not OBSESSED, 'kay?

So tell us all, what's your obsession?

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Mystic Tan and Click & Comment

It's Click & Comment Monday so I'm nagging you to go visit Battlerocker!

I guess it's time to share my Mystic Tan experience before I go for my other appointment this week. I have to say, I completely understand why some people would be addicted to this stuff! I loved the fact that I was tan all over. I'm one of those that falls into the psychological trap that I "feel better" when I have a tan. It gives a confidence boost and since I'm not pale and sickly looking I think it just works positively on my whole state of being. That said, I'm not going to be hooked on the canned tan.

Reaper Girl and I went in and watched the video. The vid is pretty short and at points I think my eyes glazed over. It's a lot to process for the first time. A young, tan, blonde walked me back to my room, went through the instructions in such a way I think she must do a little auctioneering on the side. With a bright and peppy, "Do you have any questions?" she was out the door. So I stand in front of the mirror and try to mentally go through the video. I put my hair up in the cap and make sure that my ears are out. I look for the little nose plugs that allow you to breathe and don't see them -- cheap bastards.

I decide that for my first time I'm going to wear the foot booties, because I read this woman's story and wanted to learn from her fiasco. I put what I think is a liberal amount of the block on my hands and knuckles. Thankfully, peppy girl shared with me a better stance from the one in the video before she zoomed out of my life.

I get into the chamber and place my feet correctly on the metal plate and find that you can't just lean forward and hit the start button. Oh, no, cuz that would make sense! I step forward hit the button then try and get back into place. Like a mantra I'm saying "hold your breath, it's only 14 seconds!" So I take a deep gulp and that cold as shit mist starts jetting out and it sounds like a freakin' car wash in there! It startles me and makes my breath whoosh right back out. So now I'm hyperventillating a little and trying not to suck in massive amounts of God Knows What into my lungs.

The spray ends and I turn around and do it all over again. This time, I hold my breath. After it's all over I try the door and it won't open. That's when a little part of my starts to panic. I push a little harder and it bursts open and I can beathe actual air! Woo Hoo! I grab the towel and as instructed start with my feet and work my way up. Everything ends nicely and I go out and wait for RG to finish up -- she's always a little slower than the rest of us. :o) I take out my compact and notice that my face looks a little orange. "That's okay!" says peppy girl, "It's the bronzer. It'll wash right off."

RG comes out and she's laughing at herself -- and well that's her story to tell and we head home. She feels funky, I feel funky and we're already counting down the hours until we can take a shower. Finally shower time arrives and I hop eagerly in. I look down at the water and it reminds me of dying my hair at home. The water is brownish and I have this need to scrub like it's my job, but I don't because I'm still afraid that I will "wash off" my tan! So finally the water runs clear and I think, "Why put that crap on you if you're going to wash it off 6 hours later? What's the point?" But I guess that is one of life's little mysteries. The only issue I had was my feet because the marks off the booties were REALLY noticeable. Next time I'll try barefoot and will just hope that I don't end up with dirty toes!

So there you have it. Mystic Tan in under 5 minutes. I recommend it if you want a little base color, but I can't say I'd do it over and over and over....

Go visit Battlerocker and here's the origin of Click and Comment Monday! MT

On Mondays, Cat has Click & Comment Day. She posted this to remind you how important it is to comment on other blogs. It truly DOES increase your readership and you most often gain regulars that will visit your blog day after day.

What I encourage is for you to click my renter. Then, you comment on the blog and click their renter or someone on their blogroll. Then you comment on that blog and click their renter or someone on their blogroll. Do this for as many blogs as you can. Sometimes they go full circle, and you end up at the originating blog, then just look up a blog in the blogroll and start the cycle again.

I really encourage you to do this at least to 5 comments if you have ANY time at all. It will give you the joy of sharing a few of your opinions on posts and bring you future readers.

Thanks and enjoy Click & Comment Day!

Enjoy! I’m going to try to do this each Monday. Why not start your week off right?

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