I caught you a delicious bass

A playlist for Lisa Marie

2011-09-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

And by Lisa Marie, I mean Voge.

First, my current obsession to wake you up:

next, a little Ellie

and Adele

and splash of Otis

stir in Temper Trap

and Laura Jansen

and let it simmer with Bon Iver

Typical line of questioning to all my friends.

2011-08-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have a habit of asking all my friends the following questions just for fun. (If I have not asked you yet then I am sure I just haven't gotten to you!) I am always surprised at the answers and everyone's reasons why. Especially when people bring up facts or scenarios I had not previously pondered...

Would you rather have superpowers (i.e. superman) or magical p0wers (i.e. Harry Potter) ?
Would you rather have (your answer to question no. 1) or the ability to absorb, retain, and implement knowledge just by touching a book at will (this can be turned on or off so you can still read for pleasure)?
If you had to choose a character from a book or movie to be and live their life with ALL of there ups and downs who would you choose?

well? Answers please.

the one where Tam blows up

2011-03-02T10:32:00.000-08:00

Charcoal grills and I are no longer friends.
It was an easy decision when I saw my hair on fire.

A Variety of Mumford for you- Because I love them.

2011-02-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

In Other News...

2011-01-18T12:21:00.001-08:00

A rant on News
It is a habit of mine to read the news on CNN and a local news website which I will not name...With out fail it seems the local news in some way or another has to link all news to San Diego. "Killer linked to SD" (usually by some ridiculous linkage-yes that is a word- like the second cousin of his college roommate's best friend) or "victim may have visited SD" (when they were five, they are now 42). I don't understand why they insist on doing this. I think it makes them look stupid quite honestly.
And then there are the open comments. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? I have a suspicion there is a colony of people located in the very center of Antarctica 1 mile below the surface in a secret lair. Their sole purpose in life is to write ridiculous, prejudice, angry, and rude comments on news websites.
That is the extent of my rant for now...

Random thoughts on big coffee mugs

2011-01-17T09:16:00.000-08:00

Although I am certainly not opposed to large amounts of coffee, especially when I am falling asleep at my desk, I have come to the conclusion that much like small paperclips, large coffee mugs are useless.

the circumference alone makes your coffee cold in double the amount of time
it takes up a lot of useful desk or table room
while at breakfast with friends you unwillingly play peek-a-boo behind your cup every time you take a sip.

Listening to lately

2010-12-17T11:36:00.001-08:00

Listening to lately

2010-11-22T12:47:00.000-08:00

an irish poet

2010-09-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

One more month before I go to Ireland! Enjoy the following poem from WB Yeats :)

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet,

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams

W.B. Yeats

Thoughts on nothing

2010-08-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

As a barely twenty-something (I like the sound of this because you have no idea if I am just barely twenty or just barely not in my twenties, which this side not has kinda given me away, but alas I will stand by my words and continue to let you guess...)I had thoughts this weekend of my sanity, or if I am in fact crazy, or look it as so many people have said. Should a person of my age (barely twenty-something) be racing children of 5 years old around yards, and celebrating their win? Should they be hula hooping and then pretend sword/light-saber fighting with said hula hoops (they make light-saber noises so it was a must) Should they also decide that while swimming around in lakes it is time for a bit of competitive workout and force their bestie's mom into a competition of racing, crunches, and "bike-pedaling" while wearing life jackets like diapers (that was her idea)?

Listening to lately...Summer Playlist

2010-07-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

and

and

and

and

and

and

and

The Year of New

2010-07-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

Somewhere along the line I decided that 2010 was to be the Year of New. New goals, new attitude, new activities, new ability to get past my fears and try something new. New New new.
So far I have made it a good year with the following items:

Cake decorating class for 6 months with friends. LOTS and LOTS of cakes made. New friends, and new skills.
Cooking Crab. Not that interesting I know but Seriously. It. was. so. scary. AND I swore I wasn't going to be in the house when it happened but then embracing the new I was actually the one to put it in the water. CRAZY.
Running- I don't run. But with a NEW attitude, apparently now I do.
Trapeze flying class. That's right. Trapeze. I always had a secret desire to fly on a trapeze and who knew that they ACTUALLY HAVE CLASSES FOR THIS SORT OF THING? Groupon did. And so as the Year of New was just starting I purchased a class. And now I am taking another class cause it was AMAZING. You are probably thinking there are a lot of capital letters there, and you would be right because did I mention that it was AMAZING? it was.
Trip planning and ACTUALLY taking the trip. I know, You are completely jealous that I am going to Ireland and England in the fall and frankly I don't blame you. I would be jealous of me too if I were you. I have done the international trip thing before but never just me and my Bestie, so here is to New trips! We will be visiting friends and meandering across Ireland and England for 10 days.

That about sums it up for now. Just a short list to catch up my mind with what has gone down so far in The Year of New.

3 wishes

2010-06-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

Today I asked my lovely coworkers if they had three wishes what would they be. Steph thinks for a while and gives me a list. Then after hearing our wishes she submits a change in her wishes. First on her list Steph says, "I want a magic house."
After laughing and then laughing and then crying laughing she refuses to tell me the reason. Then I receive the following email:

Dear Tamara,

I thank you for the opportunity the explain my wish. My intent in sending this email is to hopefully allow you to see the wonders of a magical house & cause you to use one of your wishes for one too.

Reasons I would like a magical house:

1. Self-cleaning

2. Five star magical pantry & kitchen

3. Magic doors that lead to wonderful places like Hogwarts, the Shire, and Barnes & Noble.

4. Magical mirrors (inserted after requesting and explanation of this one, "They are the windows to the world")

5. Magical rooms like the one in Spy Kids.

Regards,

Stephanie

The one with the crazy dog

2010-06-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

Went to the vet today. Suki is sick again and Sam has some crazy skin issue. So the Vet Tech comes in to give me my options and I tell her there was one thing I forgot to check with the Doctor about Sam's eye (my dogs are a mess). She sends me to check out while she goes and asks.
So there I am standing in line when the doctor comes out to chat with me and I turn around and just as the doctor walks up Suki PUKES EVERYWHERE. So two vet techs and the doctor and I are trying to clean it up and somehow in the midst of it all Sam has miraculously escaped from her halter with out notice. We continue to chat about the puke for a minute (the joys of pet ownership) until the doctor says, "Okay lets look at Sam's eye...UH...Where's Sam?"
Three Vet Techs, one Doctor, and me (plus sick Suki) later we find Sam who had decided to wander the store on her own and pee everywhere. Awesome. Sam is crazy. I am pretty sure the vet thinks I am the one who is crazy. Sigh.

4 Things I often want to photograph in a unexplained list. For Steph

2010-05-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

Jacaranda Trees in front of brick buildings.
My dogs
Your dogs
Shoes

Its a metaphor for something...

2010-05-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

Driving to pick a friend up at the airport the other night I was sitting at a red light when a bright red heart shaped, half deflated mylar balloon came dancing into the intersection. I watched it get thrown back and forth, swirling about, tossed on the air but somehow managing to stay afloat in its feeble attempt to keep its purpose.
I thought to myself, "that must be a metaphor for something." and smiled as I drove past it and watched in the rear-view as my car's gust of wind pushed the heart high in the air before it started its dance afresh.
I didn't get as far as deciding what the metaphor was until a couple nights ago on a walk. Then it was clear the obvious comparison to mankind's fragile hearts getting tossed about on the winds of life yet still popping back up for another go at it. People coming in and out of your life through death, moves and those temporary friendships that seem to rush by you much like the cars in the intersection. But what is it that is keeping you afloat? How do you still dance in the ups and downs?
Its what's inside the heart that counts. If it weren't for that little bit of helium left in the balloon doing its scientific magic the heart would already be in the trash.

A list weird things that gross me out..Just because

2010-05-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

Gum (yuck yuck yuck chewy, sticky, chompy, smacky)
The collar of men's suit jackets. (sweaty neck dandruff, 'nuff said)
Purses belonging to people I don't know. (gum could be in there.)
Other people's makeup. (its messy)
Movie theater Seats (people will have to sit on these sticky nasties in hell. I am sure of it.)

planting seeds

2010-04-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

getting ready for the annual restart of the garden!

Alice

2010-01-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

LOVE love LOVE this picture of my "Mamaw" (mom's mom) from 1942

Newest Obsession

2009-10-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Miriam on one of my favorite blogs Kafferepet I now have a new blog obsession...here.
Its like Christmas everyday! An incredible treasure trove of ideas. I can't get enough of it.

I WIN!

2009-10-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Wendy for too many reasons to list is one of my very favorite human beings ever.
Yesterday she sent out an email to see if anyone could house/dogsit for her. I responded immediately with reasons why she should choose me, and then I chatted her reasons why she should choose me, and even admitted I was indeed talking to myself about it.
This morning I opened my email to this little gem:

From: Wendy
To: Tam
Subject: You Win!

Tamara Leeper, You have Won.

You and two four-legged guests are invited to stay at the Hula Palace from 11/5 through 11/15. Your all-inclusive stay includes your choice of luxury bedrooms – both queen sized for you and your THREE 4-legged friends.

In order to claim your prize you must:

1. Come to a 90 minute dinner and presentation by the Hula Palace staff

2. Make the Hula Palace staff laugh

3. Submit your grocery list to have all your taste needs met.

In return…I will be eternally grateful!

PS – I have a huge laundry set up in the garage – bring everything you have ever wanted to wash.

Thanks

Wendy

YAY FOR WINNING! and YAY for having Wendy in my life. :)

YAY! Finally got it.

2009-09-08T13:05:00.001-07:00

Be jealous.

Are you kidding me?

2009-08-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

Its not the fact that these people received mysterious laptops that bugs me about this article on Yahoo! odd news. Actually they all had my respect for being so careful, that is until I read this last sentence of the article:
"The state's auditor was also tricked into rerouting nearly $2 million meant for vendors into bank accounts set up by what investigators say is a Kenyan-based fraud ring."
Really? Doesn't everyone know about those frauds? I probably don't have nearly as much education as that auditor and yet somehow I know....I wonder if that person had a job the next day.

Imogen Heap

2009-08-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

New album at the bottom of my blog to listen to....

I wish

2009-08-14T12:55:00.001-07:00

I sometimes wish I had the power to deflate people's car tires with my mind when they do one of (but not limited to) the following:

Cut me off and then drive slow (I would of course move out of the way before the deflation)
tailgate me and then get all super pissy pants and speed around me (thank Carrie for the pissy pants term. She is a treasure trove of excellent terms)
shout things to me when driving by (Catalina Blvd. is the College Ave of Point Loma/OB so there are a lot of college idiots)
Misuse the merging zipper affect.

I imagine these people all smug in there ridiculousness and then BAM! a nice slice of humble pie and their prideful smugness crumbles before them.

The one with the concert friend

2009-07-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

Tina is the best. She somehow always knows about all the concerts in town. For Christmas she got us Adele tickets (awesome) and now for my Birthday she got us these:

Don't eat my pizza

2009-07-17T13:44:00.001-07:00

Crab Races Apparently

2009-07-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

So last night I went to dinner with the lovely ladies Carrie and Vivian. We decided to try this newish place in OB called Blue Parrot. I haven't been there yet because it took the place of my fave Ortega's so I was holding a bit of a grudge.
Well anyway, little did we know it was Crab Racing Tuesdays. Apparently this is a really big deal. I had no idea. It was really loud and there were a ton of people. So we are sitting there trying to have normal conversation over the death metal music they are playing (for the crabs?) and this plastered guy walks up,
"You gals gonna get in on this race?" he breaths his nast beer breath on us all,
Carrie "No man I think we are gonna sit this one out"
Mr Nasty Breath "Yeah like how do you cheer on a crab? hahahaha"
and then he walks away beer in hand.
What? Really? So weird. The food was pretty good but the place was really strange...I don't know if I would go back in fear of meeting Mr Nasty Breath agian. Seriously. Brush your teeth or something.

What's wrong with this picture?

2009-07-03T22:10:00.001-07:00

Was this supposed to be a clever add or have I been missing 2 days a week?

What did I just agree to?

2009-06-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

I am not a huge shopper but I do like clothes. Being short and wide its hard to find something that looks good and is comfortable. So why did I just agree to Karyn's Challenge here?
I have been accused of being a bit of a tree hugger, and I do really hug trees sometimes as illustrated here:

(photo by ryan gwillim)

However, I don't always do my part to save the planet. That's right, I admit that sometimes I get lazy and use plastic bags instead of washing out my sandwich Tupperware and reusing it. I often forget to bring my reusable bags to the store and although I try to have them stuff everything in one bag I don't always say anything when they double bag it.
I do want to do my part in simple living though. I want a garden I actually use and I want to be able to say that I am honestly trying to live more green without thinking of my horrible consumer habits in the back of my mind. And I don't want to be a trend that fades in a couple months. If I don't do my part who is going to do it for me?
So even though I feel like I am signing a contract that scares the crap out of me, Thank you Karyn for kicking me in the butt and making me live up to the accusations of tree hugger in at least a small way.
As Karyn puts it "in the name of recycling, living simply, and polar bears. I vow not to purchase any new clothing for the next 2 years." (Although I might change the polar bears to owls, they are cuter.)
Anyone else in? You should take the challenge too, everyone is doing it. (note the peer pressure...)

Spoons

2009-06-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have a favorite spoon when you were a kid? The one spoon you always looked for in the drawer when it was your turn to set the table just so you could make sure to get that spoon. The one with the pretty flowers. Not that it was any different function wise than any other spoon but it was your favorite.
Confession: I have two now. Selfish? yes.
I think I could literally get rid of all my other spoons and be content with just the two. One long tea spoon and one wide soup spoon. They certainly are shaped different than the other spoons in the house but there is absolutely no real reason they should be my favorites. They just are.
There was no reason for this blog. Just my thoughts on spoons.

United Sucks

2009-04-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently I am not a fan of United Airlines, as evidenced by the onslaught of annoyed texts I sent Katie in my traveling frenzy Sunday.
I am not really one who complains to companies about their service. Actually I don't think I have ever sent a formal complaint to a company. There have been times when I should have, like when the Best Buy jerkface made me cry, but still did not feel the need. However if you mess with a senior citizen you will be messing with me.
I have always had a soft spot for Seniors. From their stories of old times to their set in their ways attitudes. There is history in their eyes that you just can't read in a book. Sunday a very unhappy flight attendant decided to take her attitude out on the poor guy sitting in my aisle.
Below is my letter to the airline and their response:

Hello,

I just returned from a trip last night flying with United for the first time and was greatly disturbed by the way one of the Flight Attendants treated the elderly gentleman sitting next to me on my flight 859 from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco, CA.

When it was time to serve the complementary drinks the Flight Attendant took my order and tried to grab the man's attention, however he was looking out the window and quite obviously hard of hearing. I turned and tapped him on the shoulder for her but when we turned back she had already walked away to get my drink.

Upon her return he quite politely asked for a drink and to my utter astonishment she scoffed at him giving him a very nasty look, nearly spitting on me while doing so then walked off grumbling to herself. When she returned she shoved the drink into his hand and he politely thanked her only to receive a very hard smile in return.

I understand that the drink service is complementary, however I would think that like most airlines, United would strive for their employees to serve with a smile, complementary or not. What's more, being that the gentlemen quite obviously did not or could not hear her I would have never imagined she would have treated him with such disrespect, its common respect for another human being.

I have done my share of travel domestic and international in the past and I have never come across the amount of hiccups I had while traveling with United. Most were small and not worth mentioning as I am not one to usually complain. I could not however in good conscious disregard the Flight Attendant’s actions.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. It is my hope that United might find it in their best interest to send some sort of apology to the gentlemen in seat 22A who was the unfortunate blunt of United’s unhappy Flight Attendant.

Best regards,

Tamara Leeper

RESPONSE:

Dear Ms. Leeper,

I regret to learn from your report about the unsatisfactory behavior of
one of our flight attendants.

To begin, customer satisfaction is an integral part of our commitment to
you, therefore, we expect our employees to treat our guests with
courtesy and respect while providing attentive, professional, service at
all times. The unprofessional conduct you report is unacceptable and
never tolerated. Rest assured, I have shared your comments with the
In-Flight Management Team for their internal review with the flight
attendant involved. Please know reports of this nature are taken very
seriously and are given our complete attention.

Please give us an opportunity to provide you the service you expect from
United Airlines.

Regards,

No United, I don't think I will. Thanks though.

I never claimed I was a Geometer

2009-04-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

I flew to Oregon to see Ryan who took me to see wilderness that is actually green. Yes folks/fellow San Diegans, hiking destinations that are green.
Yesterday we hiked 15 miles and I saw so many waterfalls that I actually started getting picky with which ones I was impressed with (oh, thousands or millions of pounds of water pressure pounding into a pool from 200 feet? If you like that sort of thing I guess it is cool. Nature and all, whatever.)
The hiking and views were of course AMAZING and everything was so HUGE. I managed to forget my slight fear of heights for the day and walk a foot away from 100+ foot drops and cross bridges (even standing on the hand rails of one!) that looked over huge ravines with water flowing below.
Besides the excellent hiking there has been side splitting laughter and the inability (unability) to actually articulate anything I am saying. i.e. Geographer is equal to Geometer and Portland is next to the ocean (it is not FYI). Also they use metal forks here apparently, to which I showed my utter amazement. In actuality I thought Ryan had a metal spork and exclaimed "Is that a metal FORK?!?" only to have Chris and Ryan look at me as if I had lost my mind.
Anyway click here for pictures from the hiking! And a couple below too....

Excited, An understatment

2009-03-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

This month I, Tamara Leeper, get the distinct pleasure of flying to Portland to:

See Ryan and Chris who ditched the San Diego friends to be cool and live in Oregon like everyone else eventually does. I can't even poke fun at them cause they are not even posers as proved by their incredible photograpy.
Hike in the Oregon wilderness with the promise of waterfalls. Something that has been on my list of things to do for years because Oregon = green and reminds me of Nor Cal unlike the desert of So Cal.
See Karyn, who sadly I have not seen in like AT LEAST 5 years and that is stretching it. I love Karyn :)

So thank you William Shatner for your incredible negotiator skills.

Menthol Monster

2009-03-20T09:10:00.001-07:00

My sister is weird. I love her and I am practically her myself however, sometimes I think, "whaaaaa?"
Yesterday I received a package from Jenni containing three things:

A card, of course. With piglet on it and mushy gushy stuff like "I love and miss you" I am okay with that mushy gushy stuff.
An awesome handmade scarf that is super soft.
And finally, last but certainly not least, the reason for this blog entry entirely: the menthol smelling sock monster below

I do not pretend that I get this little monster in the least. It has given me quite a few laughs though. Jenni WHAT is it? LOL

Obvious and the Oblivious

2009-03-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Its back. That little springtime is almost here, lets kick it into high gear and actually have a backyard garden to relax in mode I semi embraced last year.
My jasmine has started climbing the walls of the apartment and the blooms smell amazing. The leftover onions are still hanging out in the ghetto planter box that gave me that nasty bruise last year. My aloe looks like it would rather die a thousand deaths then live another second in my garden but my Rosemary and mint LOVE me.
So after suffering through the fall and winter feeling like a gardener looser and doing nothing to change the state of my sad garden, two weeks ago I took action and put some good hard work into it. Cleaned up the trash and spread the rocks that Susan so nicely donated to me. Went and bought some pots and plants for my newest idea to keep the idiotic apartment gardeners from ruining my "wall" I had built for the umpteenth time.
The idea was to rebuild the wall again, because apparently stepping on it and collapsing it SEVERAL times did nothing to help them learn from their mistakes, (oh and thanks gardeners for collapsing the wall so many times and NEVER putting it back together) and then put plotted plants on that level so they would not step on it. Obviously makes sense right? I mean if you saw a wall that had previously been collapsed with new plants on it would you step on it? I wouldn't but apparently I am not as oblivious as some people. They went right ahead and found a nice little space next to my plants to put their big fat feet and collapse the wall again.
Not only that but somehow I just knew after last year's weed whacker incident with my onions (oh yes they did) that they most likely had done something else as well. I was right. My nasturtium that I was so happy had seeded itself from last year was gone. They had pulled it out like a weed and went ahead and clipped all the branches of my pepper plant as well.
Apparently my landlady had not talked to them like she promised. Big surprise. I guess I will have to make a sign. That's classy.

Wait for it......Awesome!

2009-03-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

So Tina is amazing and got tickets to the Adele concert for Christmas for me. Thank God she thought to get them early because after the 2 Grammys it was a completely sold out show!
Here is a list of the happenings of the night:

Crazy teenage couple decided to place themselves right next to us never giving up trying to scoot closer to the stage and not caring how many people they left dead and bloodied along the way just so they could get closer to the stage not caring how many people they left dead and bloodied along the way just so.... Also they were REALLY weird. LIKE AWKWARD. The guy kept reaching out his hand tentatively as if to try to pet a venomous snake that would attack at any moment. He would switch between that and blowing kisses to her and texting his mom. I can't make this stuff up. It was so strange. The girl was just annoying.
The opening band for the show was called "The Script" from Ireland. They were pretty good, actually I think I did really like them (and their accents), however the lead singer was like an awkward version of Orlando Bloom if he were in a band. That is the only way I can describe him. They also swore a lot when they were not singing and talked about beer(and drank it LOL).

A M A Z I N G
Adele was sooo awesome! She had this very real humble attitude about her.
LOVE LOVE LOVED it.
Thanks Tina!

Comfort

2009-02-19T08:32:00.000-08:00

I sit on my floor in front of my closet mirrors to do my hair and make-up every morning. Almost with out fail, within a few minutes of sitting down Suki joins me and usually has to be leaning on me. There is nothing more comforting than a constant companion that is content to just sit near you. I know Wendy and Jenni will totally get this.
I don't know what I would do without my Suki. (I love Sam too of course but she is usually oblivious of me and in her own world)

Exactly, well to some extent.

2009-02-10T12:58:00.000-08:00

So I read this on CNN the other day and thought to myself, "good point"
You should read it too. Its hilarious.
25 Things I Didn't Want to Know About You
and before I am labeled as the hater of facebook, which I am not, facebook and I are pretty tight (if I could add facebook as a friend I would be all over that), I would like to point out that I do in fact want to know 25 things about some people but don't really want to know it about those people I added as friends because I can't say no to a friend request. Even if I don't really know them or I knew of them when I was in high school. Okay okay, basically if you are reading this or if I have ever actually, legitemetly hung out with you in my life time then you are indeed not included in the 25 things I didn't want to know about you.
And now I am rambling.

Monsters with Nose bleeds.

2009-02-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of having dinner with Wendy (and Ginger). We chatted over a delicious meal of soup, salmon, artichokes, and veggies. And then Wendy introduced me to a crazy show called Fringe, which is like a weird X-filesish show.
The episode we watched had this virus that made people turn into these creepy porcupine monsters. The only way they knew they had the virus before morphing was that they would get a nose bleed and then their teeth would fall out.
So then this morning I was getting ready for work and had a massive nose bleed. My first thought? "Check teeth"
LOL Thanks Wendy!

Happy Groundhog Day

2009-02-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

Just a little Something for your day...

2009-01-30T10:59:00.001-08:00

Just came up on my ipod in shuffle so ...
In honor of one of my Favorite bloggers Kafferepet

Just call me Tambra

2008-12-16T11:48:00.000-08:00

Apparently I mumble, I have discovered over the years that no matter what name I use or how I say my name, the Starbucks Employees almost always get it wrong.
Today I am Tambra. No, I am pretty sure that is not a name.
Other Starbucks names of the past include, but are not limited to:
Amber
Pam
Tamber (yes, also not a name, or if it is your name...that's cool)
Tamera
Tamra
Tama
Tamar
Tammy (oh no they didn't!)
Someday I will have the guts to use a completely false name that they could not possibly misunderstand. Like Jennifer or Barbara OR even better when I was a kid I wanted to be named Felicity.

Lovely Night

2008-11-19T08:57:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid I wanted Teddy Ruxpin, because what kid doesn't want a bear who actually talks to them? Lucky me I got him for Christmas and loved him for years. My Mom even made him a new little outfit so he would match my room. My favorite book/tape combo was the Lullabies. Jenni can probably vouch for the fact that I fell asleep to it practically every night, when I wasn't making her sing me to sleep.
Last night I was trying to remember the words to one of the songs for Jenni when I found this:

Awesome.
And then Lisa found one too...Love it.

Baba BaBo Sister

2008-11-14T12:05:00.000-08:00

My spelling may be wrong but that is Crazy in Thai.
Letter to my crazy sister:

Dear Jenni Penni Pumpkin Head,
Viewing this video solidifies my decision to ban you from ever conducting the Trans Siberian Orchestra in my car ever again. There is also a new ban on dancing.
Your very concerned sister,
Tamara Dawn

And One more Birthday!

2008-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

November is full of Birthdays!
Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-11-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

Today is my Mommy's Birthday! Even though she doesn't do the online thing (way too techy for her) I just wanted to give her a shout out.
Love you Mom!

(here is a pic I took of her and my nephews a few years ago. Love it)

Wait it out

2008-11-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

People are so sneaky. Imogen Heap is my favorite singer ever. She was supposed to release her new album this fall but as luck would have it she just had too much to do so sadly she pushed it back to July or something.
Anyway, back to sneaky people...She appeared at Pop!tech this year and sang one of the songs she has been working on for her new album and some sneaky (genius) person recorded it. I can't get enough of it! She is so amazing!
Since her last vBlog talked about the sneaky person putting it on youtube I feel like I can put a link here since she kinda did...here is the song
Its called Wait It Out.

I...Nevermind.

2008-10-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am being crushed and compacted into an unemotional puppet. Everything I say can and will be invalidated.
I tread with caution.

On My Playlist Right now...

2008-10-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

ROLFL-Haha ;)

2008-09-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

You've Got Mail is one of my fave movies. I love the quotes. Its one of those movies you can pop in and only half pay attention to while you clean or knit or whatever you do.
Today I was trying to explain that to someone and came across this little gem where someone edited the movie and put in all the stupid internet lingo that no one actually understands:
I was seriously crying it was so funny.

Autumnal

2008-09-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall!
My favorite time of year. Too bad the trees don't change in SD but the weather knows! This I woke up and I could just tell it was fall. It was so dark outside that I thought someone must have reset my alarm as a joke.

How to scare the crap out of your Massage Therapist

2008-09-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last night I had an appointment scheduled with Wendy for 6pm. I usually try to show up a couple minutes early to set up my table ect. so I arrived at her house around 5:55.
I can tell she is home because her car is in the drive and I can hear her TV in the room. Ginger the Schnoodle dog starts barking up a storm at me (I am pretty sure I am actually one of her favorite human beings even though I have to trick her to pick her up) but no Wendy. I knocked, rang the doorbell, called out, called her house and cell, waited for a while and still no Wendy. So I repeat, knocked rang the doorbell called out and even knocked on her window.
By this time ten minutes have passed and my over-imaginative brain kicks into overdrive and I start imagining that Wendy has somehow fallen and knocked herself unconscious so I call her phone again this time leaving a message that sounded something like this:
"Hi Wendy, its Tam again. You are really starting to freak me out so I just wanted to let you know I am going to break into your house now. So, sorry if you are in the bathroom or something. Ummmm, okay bye!"
Luckily her back door was unlocked so I stuck my head in her house and called out to her...No answer. "Great" I think, "She is unconscious"
I head toward her room and lo and behold there she is, and in a manner of speaking she was unconscious. If by unconscious you mean sound asleep in her bed.
I thought about letting her to sleep and just leaving a message for her saying I would reschedule but that just seemed awkward so I decided to wake her. The best part is she didn't even freak out when I woke her. She turned over and said "Oh hi, I knew I forgot something."
Thanks Wendy for being so calm when I was freaking out inside. You seriously scared the crap out of me! Haha

Fall is coming- I can tell

2008-09-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up and was actually too cold to get out of bed! Not that this summer in SD was especially hot, it was actually really mild compared to the last couple years.
My hope is that this means there will actually be a cooler fall and a cold winter (and by cold I mean for SD of course). Also, rain. I would like some rain this year.
And although fall does not actually begin until the 22nd it is already fall in my house! That's right folks, Tamara pulled out the fall decorations! Her apartment may not be full of many leather bound books and or smell of rich mahogany but it is full of leaves and smells of pumpkin spice!

A blog about a blog about a blog about Michael

2008-09-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

My friend Laura posted a blog referring to another blog so of course I had to check it out. In a way I guess you could say I am now posting a blog about someone else posting a blog about someone else's blog...ect.
While pursuing the latter's blog I can across this little gem with this video: (real tears followed)

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

A post for Erin

2008-08-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

Erin practically threatened me with a cruel and unusual death involving ROUS's if I didn't jump back on the blog train and post something. So here you go Erin...
Random thoughts pertaining to recent happenings in the life of Tam/TamTam/ Tamara/ Tamtamkabam:

I discovered recently that I get really annoyed with plumbers who feel the need to point out to you that the reason the shower drain is draining slowly is because it is clogged with hair. I know this. It is one of those things that no one ever really talks about but we all deal with it. Humans have hair, and we loose it, maybe some not as much as others but it is inevitable that it will happen. There are two girls with long hair in my house and hair is going to clog the drain every once in a while, so please Mr. PlumberMcPlumberson don't feel like you have to go into detail about what you took out of the pipes.
Looking at my sad excuse for a garden yesterday I found one of these on my tomato plant. I was not pleased. That sucker was HUGE!
While buying plane tickets usually means something fun in the future, I have come to the conclusion that it stresses me out to no end. There is something about pressing that confirm button that makes me feel like I just trapped myself in a large cage. Even when I was just buying a ticket for my Grandma with her money.
The rudeness of some people astounds me.
Sometimes I want to just kick myself for forgetting to put food away. There is nothing like the feeling of walking into your kitchen in the morning and realizing you left what you were going to pack for lunch today on the counter all night long and it now resembles something you wouldn't let your worst enemy touch.

Believe it or not

2008-07-08T08:54:00.000-07:00

I have a strong suspicion that there are little elves that come into my office after work and tangle my phone cord until it is an unrecognizable mangled mess (say that ten times fast). No matter how many times (at least three times a day) I untangle the cord it is always a mess in the morning. I don't get it...

Wendy is my Hero

2008-06-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

Wendy is a computer genius. After almost having a meltdown last night because I somehow managed to make the sound on my computer stop working, I called my wonderful, brilliant, marvelous friend Wendy and went super sonic with my whining level.
She invited me over and although she claimed I had stumped her, I installed the driver she downloaded for me and SHABAM! my computer has sound again. Its like God's sweet blessing of manna in a friend.
Thanks Wendy!

Garden Garden garden

2008-06-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

What has been going on with Tamara lately you ask? Well here you go (be warned- a long explanation of my garden to follow):
Many months ago I convinced Tina to help me start redesigning the yard behind my apartment. I don't really call it a backyard because there is no direct route to get there except swinging through my window (and don't think I don't do that- that's the most use my hammock swing gets, is to propel me through my window).
A year ago it was barren and looked like a big waste of space. No one was doing anything with it and there was junk everywhere. I decided I needed a space and after Carrie started gardening I caught the gardening bug. It took me a while but Tina helped me take the first big step back in February and it has been slow going since.
We dug out and leveled an area, added some "walls" (which the gardeners promptly stepped on and toppled along with taking the weed whacker to the only thing I had planted at that point - my onions. Bitter? yes) Added a bit of river stones and called it a day.
The next day I took it upon myself to move the shed, much to Carrie's amusement I did this by of course crawling inside, lifting the sides, strongman style, and walking it to the top level of the yard. It was like a whole new world! The yard was so big!
So I planted the onions in the ground and put out the herbs, built a little planter box and cleaned up a lot of junk.
Today I finally got out there for longer than an hour and worked on my yard. I toiled some more dirt and added Peet Moss and Garden Soil to offset the nasty sandy soil that is back there and then planted tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, sweet peppers and one tomato plant I grew from seed. I can't wait to see how they do and if they will actually like where I planted them!
Here are a couple before (well midpoint really- after Tina and I got back there) and after, as in today's work. I am standing on opposite sides of the yard. (in the second the shed is behind me). I am sure I will post pictures when I am finally done with the whole yard.
I still plan to finish putting pavers all along the bottom level, add a fire pit, BBQ and patio furniture. That all of course costs money, which I don't have at the moment. So for now it is just the beginning.

More pics here

Found a picture of the begining... (and posted more pics)

Andy's #1

2008-05-22T14:54:00.001-07:00

For the last two years I have had the pleasure of spending an evening every month with four of the most amazing women ever. We cook together, sip amazing drinks and talk about everything from scandalous shoes to dogs to what ever crazy things have occurred in our lives in the last month.

Last night was our night and somehow the night turned into something I think none of us expected, a "makeunder" for Erin. I don't know how it happened, perhaps a little margarita and a bit of pure genius, but Erin ended up with definite Polygamist hairstyle. Of course she was very humble in taking the role and graciously let me take pictures. I took it upon myself to un-groom her brows to make her Wife #1 material. I really think it works for her...The earrings are so unholy though.

You know you watch too many DVRed programs

2008-05-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

When you see a truck pass on the street with something weird in the truck bed but your friend misses it and your first thought is, "oh that's okay I will just rewind it". You only then realize your mistake when you actually lift your hand with your invisible remote control to "rewind", that this is real life, and it does not come with a remote control.
Lucky for me I have recently finished my current DVR obsessed show and will have a more moderate collection of DVRed shows. What will I do with all my extra time?

We have a blog

2008-05-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

Jenni and I have a photo blog for our project....You can find us here.

Just for Lisa's clarification

2008-05-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

The sister picture are now being posted on my flickr page here

Seen in this morning's headlines

2008-05-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

"Vatican: It's okay to believe in aliens"

Didn't read the article but the title was awesome. Thanks for the permission dear Vatican.

Day 3

2008-05-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

Our Jungles, Day 2

2008-05-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

A Day in the Life of...

2008-05-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Jenni and I decided to try and take picture of our lives for each other everyday and then post them together. We got the idea here and thought it might be interesting. Hopefully we can post everyday...We will try!
Here is our first...

Poem

2008-05-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

HAha! Lisa wrote me a poem. I do believe she gets a little bored at work sometimes. How fortunate for me!

Two Sisters

2008-04-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Two Memories:
Once Jenni and I were in opposite rooms of the apartment. Our TV was blaring and that stupid Six Flags commercial came on the TV. You know the one I am talking about. The one with the masked "old" man and the house music? So the music starts and I am overcome with this need to dance like an idiot, so why not dance into the living room? And I did only to find that Jenni was doing the exact same dance coming from the other side of the house. We both gave the "what are you doing?" look and then fell into fits of laughter.

Sheryl, Jenni and I went to Party City to buy some things for, well, for a party of course! While we were pursuing through the aisles I came across these awesome Harry Potter wands that light up. So naturally, as any Harry Potter fan would do, I picked up the wand and did my best wand wave saying "Alohamora!" Of course, since Jenni is almost me and I am almost her, standing on the other side of Sheryl, Jenni had found a wand too and was also doing her best "alohamora" wand wave out loud and at the same time. Poor Sheryl! I think she vowed never to go to Party City with us again.

Sometimes we are so alike it is scary. I miss you my Jenni Penni, more than Sirius misses James.

Thanks Erin, I wish you would have told me.

2008-04-17T23:38:00.000-07:00

I wish somebody would have told me. What do I do now?

I was wrong

2008-04-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

Its not just a bruise. Its a whole rainbow of colors. And overnight I have developed a few more bruises and some very sore ribs. I can't even laugh!
Don't think that's a problem? You try conducting the Tamara train to Giggle Town without laughing. It's just not possible people, trust me.

Um, Ouch

2008-04-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

Today I was working on my garden, slipped on a loose brick landed on my butt and then fell off a four foot wall, did some weird twisty thing in the air and then almost did a face plant onto half concrete pavers and half dirt. Before I moved I thought to myself:

ouch (and a few cuss words, oopsy!)
that probably looked really stupid
Hmm, you know Tamara most accidents happen post fall from people getting up to fast and playing it off. You learned that in Massage School and if you are going to give people that advise you should probably take it yourself

My dog thought I had died or something because she came running over to check on me, sniffed me and then walked away. Thanks Sam.
Luckly, only a few scrapes and one large bruise on my butt shaped like the corner of a brick. Sweet.

I got tagged- Meme

2008-04-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

It’s another 5 things meme and it has rules:

Each player answers the five questions about themselves.
At the end of the post, the player tags five more people, posts their names and then goes to their respective blogs where they must leave a comment letting them know that they have been tagged to play along.

What was I doing ten years ago?

I was worrying about fitting in to a normal high school instead of independent studies.
Dyeing my hair for the first time and cutting it about 5+ inches.
Trying to figure out what this life thing is.
Loving my nephew Andrew and like Jenni waiting for Joshy to arrive
Wondering why Tiffany and Michael were living at our house and having a teenage attitude with them.

Five things currently on my to-do list

Go camping.
Get a new camera.
Finish my garden/ backyard oasis.
Drag Katie to Best Buy to get them to fix my computer without me being a girl and crying.
Clean my room.

Five snacks I enjoy

Strawberries
rice cakes and peanut butter
skittles
anything Wendy makes
watermelon

Five things I would do if I was a billionaire (I am cheating on the first FOUR and stealing them from Jenni)

Buy my parents a house, cars and set them up for life.
Buy my sister a house, car and set her up for life.
Take care of my nephews for the rest of their lives.
Travel the world.
Get my license and create a foundation that takes care of Senior Citizens by utilizing Holistic Health and Healing through massage and building relationships (obviously not in a dirty way, get you mind out of the gutter people!)

Five of my bad habits

Bitting my nails
sleeping too late in the morning to work out
throwing my clothes on my floor
swearing while driving (Its those other drivers!)
Loosing my temper too quickly (took that one from Laura, Me Too!)

Five places I have lived

Castro Valley, CA
Napa Valley, CA
Castro Valley, CA (lived here twice...)
San Jose, CA
San Diego, CA

Five jobs that I have had

Sales Associate for Berean Christian Stores in the Curriculum Department
janitor (me too Laura!)
Nanny for a summer for two little girls
Massage Therapist (on the side...)
Accounting Department at an Architecture Firm (still here...)

my five tags:

Lisa
Carrie
Aaryn
Ryan (even though I don't think he will do it...)
Susan (you have to do it on flickr tehehehehe)

Tehehehe

2008-03-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

How can my sister NOT love me when I do things like this?

Oh the Terror

2008-03-14T08:22:00.001-07:00

Watched this today and I am totally laughing! Didn't they learn anything from Harry Potter? They are supposed to swing it over their head and toss it out of the garden!

The kind of deliciousness that is not good for me...

2008-03-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

I made scones this week. Chocolate with walnuts and Apricot. They taste like sugar heaven and I feel the consequences.
Good thing I shared them at work otherwise I would have gained 15lbs just looking at them.

Steven Segal is Creepy

2008-03-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

And when I say creepy, I mean creepy

Lifesode #2-23-08 Learning to pay attention

2008-02-24T16:59:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to the Souplantation with Sheryl and Laura for dinner. I had finished my salad and Sheryl and I decided to go refill our drinks and grab some pasta. Now mind you I was feeling pretty tired last night, however that does not give me a excuse to be a complete space cadet.
So we head back to our table and I put my stuff down and notice I forgot a fork and so I exclaim to "Laura" "Ahhh man! I need to go get a fork" only then did I turn and to my utter horror realize that it was indeed NOT Laura, but some lady who is looking at me like I have lost my marbles and I ain't gonna find them at that table. I finally see Sheryl out of the corner of my eye who has frozen in her spot and looks completely bewildered about what the heck I am doing and hear Laura behind me say "Uh, Tam? I am back here..."
"Right, Um sorry about that." I turn around and sit down at the right table but really want to just crawl under it instead. Another day in the life of Tamara.

On the verge of Hilarity

2008-02-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

Mint is not my favorite thing. I don't hate it, but the smell is weird to me.
THIS had me in tears laughing though. Sick.

Confessions

2008-01-29T21:19:00.000-08:00

I watch American Idol. There I said it. I am one of those people.
I like to bury my head in a pillow when someone is singing so off key that it is painful to watch.
I like the looks Simon gives when he actually appreciates someone's voice.
And I love watching Paula do that clap over her head that proves she has indeed descended from the Family of Otariidae as I have alway suspected.
And then like tonight when you hear a finalist hopeful say something they will forever be made fun of by their friends for:
"I am going to Hollywood and I am gonna prove to Simon that I am America's Next Top Model."
Uh, wrong show, that's embarrassing.

Ewwy!

2008-01-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

Things you never think of as a kid: Lucky Rabbit foot
Who ever thought this was a good idea? Katie and I had a discussion about it last night and I am amazed and appalled that I never thought it was gross when I was a kid. They were so popular, why didn't anyone think about the fact that they were number one, either real rabbit feet, or number two, something made to look like a rabbit foot. Chop chop. Sick.
Read this for more info and a laugh. Poor cross eyed, cemetery dwelling bunnies...

I just don't love it.

2008-01-03T10:10:00.001-08:00

One of the things I hate most are those stupid ads on sidebars and headers on websites with the dancing animated people. I want to rip their friggin' arms off. They are so annoying and does anyone really ever click on them? I mean do those ads really work?
The worst part is they are usually on the News sites and I can't even read the articles because of the constant repetitive movement. What I want to know is do people actually dance like that?
Please say no.

Imagine

2007-12-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

I knew this by what Jenni has told me, and I have seen it with my own eyes but this really solidified it in my brain for some reason.
Can you imagine if our Presidents weren't so controversial and deserved this type of respect from the American people? I think our nation would be less angry as a whole.
Not to say that Thailand doesn't have crime or any anger in the public but they are just not a confrontational kingdom. Take a look at the Coup last year, as far as I know it was a pretty peaceful take over- Jenni didn't even know it was being shown as a big deal on foreign television.
The Thais have this King that they all love and respect because his actions command it. All we ever hear about with our Presidents is how they lie and cheat.
I know there is completely different politics involved here but seriously when was the last time we had a completely genuine leader of our country? Have we ever?
I don't know why I am even ranting about this, Politics is SO not my thing. I'll leave it to Susan and Aaryn now. They always have so much political information that I could never come back with a comparable educated response. I have a sneaking suspicion they absorb their knowledge from osmosis.
And also why is it that I can't think of anything to write about with NaBloPoMo and then it ends and here I am posting again. Sheesh.

Old memories

2007-11-30T18:30:00.000-08:00

I was talking with Jenni and Wendy the other night and somehow it came up that Jenni doesn't remember when she was four. It made me wonder how far back can people actually remember? Are there statistics on that sort of thing? Am I the only one who wonders about these things?
I know I rembember things from when I was four and there is one specific memory of a camping trip and slipping halfway down a steep hill that my mom says I was like three (Jenni disagrees). Does it seem weird to remember things when you were that young? I guess there is really no point to this blog except to say I am just curious of how far other people's memories go back.

Oh and Ps. this is the last day of NaBloPoMo! YAHOOOOOO! I made it!

Frustrated...

2007-11-29T16:28:00.000-08:00

Today I spent the whole day trying to sort out the billing for one stupid job.
Wouldn't you know it I am off by $100 dollars and cannot figure out where it is coming from. I want to scream at the stupidity of it all.
I have wasted my whole day on something that should have only taken me 1/2 an hour but instead people like to make up fancy ways to mess up the billing. What ever happened to communication and letting the accountant, the one that actually bills the client, know about changes to the contract?
Ugh. Nothing Sees Candy can't fix.
Oh and PS apparently I blog about work now since I am out of topics. One more day...

Ma Baba Babo nit noy ka

2007-11-28T16:06:00.000-08:00

my dog is a little crazy. That’s what that means in Thai. And she is.

On another note my boss had a nice little chat with Jenni today when she came to pick me up. He asked her all kinds of questions about how she liked Thailand and if she had been anywhere else in Asia.

He was delighted to hear she had been to China, his homeland, and very interested in Burma. And then proceeded to tell her all about how his Dad grew up in Burma and then moved back to China at fourteen and how there used to be a very large population of Chinese in Burma…I have never heard him talk so much like that. He is usually really quick in his conversations with strangers but he was just so interested in Jenni’s travels. Even going so far as to tell her she should take me to Vietnam next time I am over there.

Oh Jaydubsies, what are we gonna do with you tho.

Lunches

2007-11-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

At work we often have lunch presentations. Free food equals no grocery shopping. I like that.

What I don’t like is some of the weird food we get. Like today there were sandwiches. Innocent enough sounding right? Wrong.

They were some kind of nasty. I cannot even guess what was on them. One was supposed to be salami and I am here to tell you it was not.

I know beggars can’t be choosers but can’t we just have Pat & Oscars?

Scammer Buddy

2007-11-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

Last week we got an invoice from some random company for toner for the copy machine. We didn’t order it but it was a scammer company. Today the guy called me and I gave him the run around (I am good at that…) until he finally told me he was calling about a past due invoice.

Dude, if you are gonna be a scammer and you want to get money from unsuspecting companies you might want to tell them right off the bat that you are inquiring about an unpaid invoices otherwise they might think you are actually trying to scam them, which you are.

Anyway I have always been really suspicious of callers that don’t tell you what they want right away. Isn’t it sad that people are so dishonest in this day in age that you can’t trust them?

Well anyway long story short I looked the company up on Better Business Bureau and found that they have been graded F. Also some other people have complained about the exact situation that is going on with our company.

So in my excitement to be able to rip someone a new one who actually deserves it I called the idiot back. He didn’t answer.

Well Buddy, you have just given me more time to think of something to Zing you with later because if those other companies are right we are gonna have a long and prosperous/ dysfunctional relationship. Talk to you soon.

Laters,

Tams

"Dinner Rolls"

2007-11-25T16:06:00.000-08:00

There are several things Katie has taught me over the years. Some of these things are as follows:

The difficult skill of making raptor noises.
How to make a marvelous bruschetta.
Tips on tweaking photos

And today she taught me how to make a "special" kind of dinner roll that her aunt taught her how to make. I had already made dough when Katie came in and excitedly told me her Aunt makes amazing rolls for dinner and she could show me how to set them up.
So I did as she instructed and she rolled them. When we pulled them out of the oven we fell into a fit of giggles.
She swears it doesn't turn out that way usually, but unfortunately this time they ended up looking a bit phallic. I would include a picture here but I will leave that up to Katie.
Next time Katie tells me she is going to teach me something I may ask her to be a bit more specific.

Jenni

2007-11-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

This is Jenni hacking into Tam's blog just to tell the world that she is the best sister ever! She has taken such good care of me since I came to America. She has let me sleep in late every day since I don't sleep at night due to the time difference. And today she took me to the movies and then to Taco Bell for dinner. This was very exciting because I have been dreaming about Taco Bell for a year. Weird? I know, but so good! She is so fun and the best sister in the world!

I love you Tam!

This is Tam saying that Jenni is the best sister ever! What a sappy blog post huh?
Oh and PS we watched Dan in Real Life which I already saw once and I love it. I love Steve Carell.

The Office

2007-11-23T17:33:00.000-08:00

I discovered last year the office is completely dead on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I literally was the only one there until about ten today and the phone rang one time.

This year however I learned something new, if I plan to leave early I should always come in and leave before my boss gets there. When there are only a few people in the office he gets bored really quickly and thinks of a billion things for you to do.

It's your turn to say Happy Thanksgiving back.

2007-11-22T17:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving back!

Not much to say today. Had Thanksgiving with friends and Jenni was here. We ate too much and now I have a food coma and I can't write...
maybe tomorrow I will be more into writing something. Happy Thanksgiving...

The One with the Prom Dress

2007-11-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

When I was a senior in High school my house consisted of my parents, Jenni, my oldest sister, her two sons and our two dogs. Life, you could say was a bit crazy.
I remember coming home from school or work to get ready for Senior Prom. The house was empty for once and when I walked into the kitchen I saw the beginning of what would turn out to be a rather surreal chain of events that could only have happened to DJ from Full House.
I noted when I first got home the dogs were rather quiet, so it was no surprise to find that they had got into something. It was a surprise however, to see that they had actually ripped apart the kitchen trash so well that it was strewn all over the kitchen.
I of course was mad and set about trying to round the two dogs up to put them in their crates for time out. Shelby the smaller of the two and the "family dog" (where as Hali Bop was actually my dog) ran for it. I chased her and to my horror she ran straight into my room jumped up onto my bed and squatted right on my prom dress. Yes, you read it right, she peed on my prom dress.
My screams of anger were probably heard by most of my neighbors and most certainly by the pool guy who had chosen that moment to show up to clean the pool. I marched Shelby to her crate and called Mom to see when she would be home to help me with the disaster.
Enter Andrew and Joshy- the two and three year old nephews who's main purpose in life at that point was to be adorable and cause as much trouble as they possibly could.
I had cleaned my dress up and luckly the material it was made of dried pretty quickly after dunking it in water to furiously wash it. Now Mom was working on my hair and my nephews were "playing" in the living room. We were always on the look out for their sound cues that they were getting into trouble and sure enough we hear silence followed by high pitched giggling.
Walking into the living room we see that Andrew and Joshy had pulled down a 5 gallon bucket of white paint my Dad had been painting the house with and rolled in it. It didn't stop there, after rolling in it they decided to run back and forth on the dark green couch leaving footprints and handprints everywhere. Tiffany (their mom) blew a gasket and they were immeadiatly put in the tub while she scrubbed them from head to foot the whole time lecturing them as loud as she could about how that was a no-no.
Enter Russ- the friend and prom date.
Russ was to come straight from work and so we decided that it would be okay for him to take a shower and get dressed at our house. I cannot imagine what he thought when he came into the house to the sound of Tiffany screaming at the boys my mom muttering curses under her breath as she was cleaning up the mess (which on a side note turned out to not only be paint but also they had somehow got a permanent marker and wrote all over the week old pergo flooring. We could have been a commercial for that floor- It all came out!), the dogs barking in their crates and me, in my prom dress, hair half done, and running around trying to figure out how I can help with out causing damage to the outfit.
Oh the chaos of prom night. The rest of the night turned out to be pretty dull compared to how it started.

-okay I realise this didn't get up until the 22 but I totally wrote it on the 21 hense the date and time stamp. In my fury to get the Turkey and whatnot ready I forgot to press post. Sorry...

GASP!

2007-11-20T00:20:00.000-08:00

How can I show you all how excited I am at this very moment? I most likely look something like this right now:

Originally uploaded on Flickr by Katester

yesterday I decided to once again look up Jenni and my old choir teacher so we could ask her about that song. Well, I FOUND HER!!! and I sent a really dorky email asking if she knew what song it was. I thought it was really a one in a million shot that she would actually email me back but guess what! SHE DID and she KNEW THE SONG! ( I will try to refrain from shouting at you all- BUT SERIOUSLY! I have tried to figure that song out for years, YEARS!)
So here it is you lucky scoundrels Streets of London (Follow the link to Jenni's Blog for the video)
This one in for you Jenni, Safe Travels! Only one day until the sisters are reunited.

Rather annoying actually.

2007-11-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

I have had a couple Netflix for two months now. I finally got the chance to watch one last night.
Love Actually...I got mixed reviews from friends so I thought I would just check it out.
Mmmm I am gonna have to say I wasn't so fond of the ending or maybe the begining and the middle. Only a few of the stories they had going were actually resolved. I did like how they jumped around and showed how everyone was related (neighbors, sisters-brothers, husband, wife) but the end result was poor.
I think the overall idea had potential but the rest was eeehk. Not really worth waiting two months.

On another note I am supposed to go and see This tonight. I am such a nerd and still I am completely excited about it!

Zoo riddles

2007-11-18T20:25:00.000-08:00

Went to the zoo yesterday with my friend Carrie. Tina and I got annual passes with a vow to actually use them. Last year I had them too but never made the time to go except once or twice. Anyway Tina had picked up our passes and therefor got our free guest passes to. I forgot to get them from her earlier and asked if before she left town for the weekend, she could drop them at the office for me to pick up.
Being the sneaky one that she is she decides to instead leave me a riddle to find the tickets. Meanwhile poor Carrie is down in the car waiting. After 10 minutes of flipping through books getting confused and running around the conference room looking under chairs I finally found them stuffed in the water well of my coffee pot. I was of course led there by a picture. Gotta love the friends who give you as hard of a time as you give them.
Watch out Tina, I will figure out a way to get you back...LOL (insert creepy laugh not unlike Dr. Evil)

Old man Sweeping the Diner

2007-11-17T21:14:00.000-08:00

When we were kids Jenni and I shared a room. Here are some things I remember about that time:

Placing masking tape directly in the middle of the room to separate sides.
Convincing Jenni that we should stuff all of our mess from our room in the closet and clean it up later so we could go outside and play.
Jenni had the habit of sleeping with her arm hanging off the bed with her palm up. I once put about 50 pennies in her hand one by one and then scrambled into my bed and waited for her to wake up.
And last but not least I insisted that Jenni sing me to sleep every night. My favorite song was about an old man who would sweep up a diner every night. To this day we cannot for the life of us figure out how the song went. YOU WILL BE MY HERO IF YOU KNOW WHAT THAT SONG IS!!!!!

Haggis, food for life.

2007-11-16T21:36:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you've ever had anyone like this in your life, but I'm dealing with a certain sort of person right now. I like to call him: Mr. Creepy Pants. Take that how you wish. You're probably right.

I'm working on a way to extradite him from my life. I'm hoping France or Mars or wherever he came from will ask for him back. Soon.

There are a few components that give cause for a label like Mr. Creepy pants.

1. Creepiness
2. Creepy conversation hog - "Enough about me, what do you think about me?"
3. A creepy love for haggis
4. Breath that smells creepy (probably from the haggis)
5. Overall creepy nature. (This is totally different from general creepiness BTW.)
6. Creepy finger snapping. I'm sorry, life is not one big poetry reading.

Any ideas on how to rid yourself of a Mr. Creepy pants?

Randomness: 90210 + Work does not = much work done

2007-11-15T23:08:00.000-08:00

First a confession:
Kim, my roommate and I have been watching 90210 college years for a few months now. 2 one hour episodes back to back and no commercials thanks to DVR. We enjoy giving each other that all knowing look every time Brandon is given a stupid line (happens a lot more often then I remembered) or when something else tragic happens to Donna or Kelly. Seriously if their characters were real they would be some messed up girls in need of serious counseling.
And tonight:
Tonight I needed to catch up on some work so I set up my computer in the living room thinking I would just listen to the show while I work. Not so my friends.
Despite my ability to listen to music and whatnot during the day while working (at work) apparently I cannot listen to tv.
(side note- nothing to do with this at all but my dog Sam is curled up on my new couch and SO cute. I have the cutest dogs ever. done.)
I had this simple spreadsheet I wanted to set up tonight but I can't seem to make much progress on it. The formula's have told me I am false about a dozen times now and I am thinking seriously about yelling at my computer for not having a number keypad. I have never been able to do the numbers on top. Ugh.
And HOW am I supposed to work when Donna is being stalked by a psycho and David is making stupid decisions that make him unavailable to save the day? (note to self: never scream like Donna does unless I really do want someone to kill me ie. Kim)
Well anyway back to trying to at least finish some of this task. Peace out yo.

Coffee

2007-11-14T21:48:00.000-08:00

Last year a guy from my office brought unroasted coffee back from Ethiopia for another girl in my office and myself. The coffee sat there for months until finally I volunteered to figure out how to roast it.
I had my friend Carrie over who is the queen of all things cooking and new. You could see her blog on our first roasting experience however apparently I can't find the actual post. Regardless it would basically just show you we learned the hard way that it is much easier to roast the coffee beans over the stove. After finally getting the hang of it I decided that fresh roasted coffee is loads better than Starbucks that has been stored in the fridge for a week. I tastes richer and is way more bold.
Well I ran out of beans to roast about the same time that I decided to go on a coffee fast for a couple weeks. Now it has been a couple months and though I have started drinking coffee again I had not made the trip to the local Ethiopian Market to get the famous Harar Coffee beans.
Yesterday was the day though. I dragged Tina along and we finally found the Market and the beans.
Tomorrow I plan to enjoy them, freshly roasted and full of flavor. I am going to bed now so that I can wake up and smell the coffee...