LONG WEEKEND! YEAH!

I have a five-day weekend coming up and I seriously can't wait (7/03-7/07). I plan to visit the park as much as possible and get some walking in. My so-called diet is still going good! :) I might work on the craft room a bit too, though I make no promises. I'm SURE a trip to the winery will be tossed in there somewhere as well. Some would call me and the winery an addiction problem. A violent and shameful love affair. I just simply call it, delicious! We've also been invited to attend a 4th of July party on Saturday. I don't have the full details yet but I know enough to know that I'm looking very forward to it! If it's anything like last year then I'm in for a treat. It's at the same location and the house belongs to the family of one of Nicks’ good friends. It's out in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful and HUGE piece of land. I mean, we could get together at any one of our places but why would we? This place is glorious. Also, where else would we (could we) set off the over $250 dollars worth of illegal fireworks that have already been purchased? Not my place I tell you. NO WAY!

Last year consisted of fireworks so loud that my ears were close to bleeding. But man, they were pretty.

Three handles of Captain were consumed (this is no lie) and two coolers of beer magically disappeared. I had to pat out a small fire that was burning on the back of someones' shirt after a duel with some flair type fireworks.

There was an onslaught of water attacks coming from the drunk in the pool and there was food and music everywhere. Oh I tell you, it was magnificent!


I'll make sure to do an update on the occasion once it's all done and over with. Don't worry Papa, I'll be responsible. HA! ;)

I would also like to wish a heartfelt goodbye to Mr. Mays. Oh Billy. You touched all of our lives so deeply with your sweet husky voice promising clean shirts, carpets and comfortable walking shoes. I MISS YOU ALREADY!

The day of the Papa....

It was a hot day in our wild town. Temperatures were nearing insanity. The dampness in the air stung the eyes. I loaded up the car and made my way across town. Traffic was heavy but my mood was numb. I arrived just in time and could see the excitement in all their eyes. They were full of both hope and wonder and just a dash of greed. I pushed my way through my adoring fans. They were clamoring to say hello and to tell me how much they have missed me. I couldn’t be bothered right now though. I was on a mission to put the "stuff" in the fridge and to put the "surprise" on the table. I didn't want something bad to happen and for me to have to go crazy up in here. We sat down ritualistically in our assigned seats and began our discussion. Once I realized that it was going nowhere I quickly handed the old boss the surprise. His sweaty and excited little hands tore at the paper. Not like he didn't know it was coming. It was the pretty teaser sitting in the middle of table. Tattooed on his eyeballs. He was consumed with curiosity. Bribery will get you everywhere. After the shock of his brilliant surprise wore off, we moved on to feast. Oh the food was good. But nothing could make it better then the "stuff". I quickly grabbed it from the fridge and placed it on the table. The richness and aromas of its decadence consumed the room. People were crying.

With mouths dripping drool they dove in. Singing songs of praise as they scooped it onto their plates. Their eyes were rabid with hunger. I had them right where I wanted them. And just when you didn't think it could get any better, Mr. Burger made an appearance. Wow!

We continued to celebrate. We dabbled with strategy, swooned with romance, danced with the devil.

It was a day they will never forget. My job here was done. I left that cool house of comfort with a smile on my face. I knew! I just knew that the "stuff" had made me the favorite. Little Miss. Princess had to step down to #2. Yeah....... This was a great day indeed.


Happy Fathers day again Papa. :)

Walk the talk....

I decided to start walking again and working out. My ass has been in a constant state of perpetual lethargy for more months now than I care to (refuse to) admit. Though I think if you take a gander at the size of my ass, it it will MORE than speak for itself. :-O


What brought this on? Not any one specific thing really. More like a combination of dullness with repetition, the current size of said "ass" and constantly feeling worn out and tired. Also, the ever evolving nice temperatures that we have been experiencing as of late beckon me. I just want to be outside. There are several parks close to my house that Nick and I plan to visit in the next few days to see what they are all about and to check out the paths. Though he's interested in jogging, not walking or hiking. I got two words for him. F that! I loathe running!! Always have and always will. I may walk fast but that's about it. My body doesn't handle it well because of the accident I had when I was kid and my right leg just cramps up after a few minutes. Also, running WITH anyone for me is a joke. You see I'm short (5'2") and while someone who is taller (lets say 5'9") is running at a comfy speed, I'm at full on animal cheetah speed just to keep up. Hell, I have to damn near jog just to keep up when we are walking. Stupid. I don't mind going with other people to a park or trails but basically it's a "see you around" sort of a deal. We both do our own thing and see each other in passing. It's a compromise I'm happy with.

Moving on.....

I was doing a bit of drawing again last night. Of course I was doing it in a small corner of the living room because the craft room is still INCOMPLETE! AGH! I will have to work on it soon. I don't want to at all so I will have to force it. BAH! My most recent drawing is below.


And that's all I have for today. I bid you goodnight.

Sounds of Crazy.......

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with strings,
these are a few of my favorite things.

I also enjoy............

Eating cats.


Getting dressed up for a special night out.


Drawing super fast portraits of myself and others.


And traveling at the speed of light.


Yeah...... these are a few of my favorite things...... HA!

In memory of my healthier youth.

My sister had her Birthday this past weekend and turned (shhh). We did the annual pilgrimage to the lush vineyards of fine Northeast Ohio and began our long journey and adventure in which we celebrate our youth. So in other words, we packed some snacks, some boardgames, our cameras and drove around the corner to our favorite local winery to get "enlightened" by fine wine. We visit several times a year and a Birthday is as good of an excuse as any.

We spend hours there refining ourselves. We take great pride in being well mannered, elegant and sophisticated ladies with style and class.

The above was a complete lie just now. We are far from sophistication. HA!

I was almost malled to death by the way. There was this rabid stupid dog there. At first we thought it was cute so we called and lurred it over. But then it became VIOLENT and kept insisting on sitting next to either one of us on the bench and refused to leave. I'm telling you, I almost had my face ripped off. I mean, look. Just look at this monster! We spent about an hour jumping every time it moved. Then suddenly and as quickly as it came, it started having a fit, kept barking, acting crazy and then ran off into the wilderness.


All in all the day was perfect though. We both had fun and the OLD Birthday hag was left worn out, happy, full of food and intoxicated. All signs of success in my opinion.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY little princess. (we both know this statement is a complete lie)


I got home somewhat late that night and collapsed on the couch. I felt worn out and lifeless. What has become of me I thought. Where has all the energy that I used to have go? Is this what happens with age? With those stupid thoughts rampant I drug my ass to bed and passed out. I woke up Saturday morning and felt like I was dying. My nose was running, my eyes were swollen and watery and my throat felt like I gargled with razor blade molasses all night. I had a freaking cold! Can you believe it? Little princess gave it to me. Must have been to thank me for a great day. ;) So basically where I'm going with all of this is.... I'm not old... I'm not weak and unable to hang. I'm just sick. HA!

thinking about how crappy I felt in the morning and how hard it was to get up also inspired a poem. I will call it, morn.

Morn

Early morning, barely dawn
Crooked thoughts abound
Limbs unfolding as I spawn
My arms feel oddly bound
Twisted form mutating
Flesh stretching in vain
Swaying while baiting
I begin to strain in vain
The floor is scared frigid
I stumble towards the light
Contorted shape so rigid
As I bend out of the night
Creeping slowly outward
Hunched and sloping along
Can't focus, vision blurred
Legs so heavy and long
Early morning, barely astir
In semi darkness I sway
As I crawl out of this blur
I'm greeted by the day

Oh to be me.

Let me backtrack just a few days so that I can vent to you a bit about my week. Because It's been one of "those" weeks so far . I mean it had some good points for sure, such as our Anniversary which was lovely. But then of course, there is the below. Also known as the typical.

Friday - I got the mail as soon as I got home. This was after a horribly crappy and long week at work. The first envelope I open is from my best pal John A. Donofrio. OH GOD I thought to myself as I gently peeked inside my envelope of doom. AGHHH, It was the bill for the second half of my property taxes. This will be the first time I pay it myself since my Escrow Co. closed doors due to the economy. This of course means that the Chicago trip we had been talking about for a few months is not going to happen. We were supposed to visit for a long weekend roughly two weeks from now. PISSED. My angry ass then began to make dinner . I was baking some fish in the oven. While clearly comatosed and not paying attention, I attempted to remove the freaking cookie sheet from the oven with my right hand. Then with my left hand, I began to close to oven door. As if by some sheer force of magic, while I was doing this my right hand (with cookie sheet in hand) began to creep towards my left arm. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURN! Shit stung for hours afterwards. I was already hot because the temperature in my house was a balmy 75 or so. I swear the burn made me sweat even more. I kept touching it by accident making it worse. I think this one may be a permanent scar. YAY.


Saturday - I went down into the basement to do laundry in the morning and noticed a small river flowing across the floor. Uhm, it hadn't rained in days at that point so all signs were pointing to oh-shit-ville. I quickly discovered that the leak was coming from the furnace vent. Which of course made no damn sense. I woke Nick up and half asleep we both investigated this amazing phenomenon. We quickly discovered that the fridge had a hose coming off of it for the water dispenser and the ice machine which came into the basement right above the furnace. MYSTERY SOLVED. We ran to Home Depot, got the parts we needed for a few bucks. We cut off the bad part of the hose and changed out the fittings. Voila, problem solved. Of course because this is me we are talking about, this was NOT the end of our adventure. When we pushed the fridge back into place, we pushed the damn thing right over the hose we had just fixed and tore a nice, new and refreshing hole in it. Soooooo, we made trip #2 to the hardware store, purchased more parts, fixed the damn line again and GENTLY pushed the fridge back into position. The kitchen stank like wet mold. Hopefully it will dry up in a few days. ...sigh...

Also, Nick accidentally grabbed the burn on my arm later that night and ripped the protective layer of skin off of part of it. Ohhhh yeah, it felt so good. Bleeding is fun.


Sunday - I woke up and walked into the bathroom. I couldn't put my finger on it but something was awry. Something didn't "fit". Yeah, uhm, I'm pretty sure that it was the CAT VOMIT chilling in my jaccuzi tub. My cat has this disgusting habit of climbing into the bathtub and licking the jets. I have no explanation for this insanity. Oliver (my cat) is a special breed of crazy, mean, moody, hissing, scared all the time ball of stupid. Also, he likes licking elbows and stealing my hair ties. Yeah, I don't get it. When we fixed the fridge yesterday I found at least 15 stolen hair ties under there. All wet and nasty from the leak. DISGUSTING! After cleaning up the mess I walked downstairs only to discover MORE VOMIT in the dining room. Did I mention that I have white carpet!!!!!!!!!


Also, the burn on my arm looks funny. And it's still tender. BAH!


Monday - I wore this stupid new silk shirt to work. Bad idea. Every time I sat down in my office my boobs looked like they wanted to crawl out of my shirt to come out and play. YAY FOR PROFESSIONALISM! I kept my door shut as much as possible. Which in turn caused my office to become extremely hot! Sweating and work stress = crazy lady. I got home from work about 2 minutes before Nick and by the time he walked in I was already wearing my pajama top! HA! I took a bath later that night (I should mention that the tub has been properly cleaned since the vomit incident) and when I was done I realized that the freaking skin on my never ending burn of doom was loose again. Probably from all the hot water and steam. So once again my flesh is exposed. I smothered it with triple antibiotic ointment and put a band aid on it this time. What the hot hell is going on this week already?

The above are just a few examples of what I lovingly refer to as "the curse". It has made crazy, you see.... (Yeah, that IS me below.)

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This.

My dream last night was very strange. I can’t remember it exactly but the parts I can remember are confusing. I’ve heard that dreams are the things that your brain doesn’t have time to think about while you are awake. That they usually involve real aspects of your life, desires, past events, people you know or want to know and that they usually make some sort of sense. Well this one made no sense.

I dreamt that me and this “man” (his face is all fuzzy) came upon one another. He was from the future and he came back to find me to profess his love for me (Is this because I want to see Terminator?). I was with a friend who was very hesitant of the whole situation. However, I felt very deeply drawn to this man and I wanted to help him somehow. So we spent some time together, but the things we did all seem fuzzy (nothing dirty you pervs.).
I just remember feeling this intensity when around him. Like I had to be with him. I remember crying in my dream but I don’t remember why. I remember taking him to this building. My un-approving friend lived there. I felt as though I was going there to say goodbye. As if his time here was limited and he had to go. We were both very sad about it. We got to my friends building and then it got weird. She and I all of a sudden turned into cunning Real Estate Agents. She was there with some rich snobby man that was thinking about getting one of the condos in her building. We gave him a tour and the first place we walked into had an entire exterior wall made completely out of glass block. No windows, just a wall of glass blocks. (Is this because I watch a lot of decorating shows on HGTV?) He climbed up on a ladder that just so happened to be propped in front of it and he began to rub and hug the wall. He said that he was meant to live here in a creepy erotic and disturbing way and then he licked the wall. Then all of a sudden I felt compelled to walk over to the glass block wall. I started to strain to see through it, and then all of a sudden, it became clear. My strange friend from the future was outside, down below, standing on the edge of a river. I knew it meant that he was leaving. I started to run. I ran fast and I could feel my hear beating inside my chest with pain. I reached him and we just held each other. My friend appeared and pried me off of him. With both of us crying he started to walk away and then just disappeared.

Now please tell me. WTF does that mean? HA! Honestly, I don’t dream very often. But when I do they are usually confusing and an eclectic mix of nonsense and hog-podgery. This one just left me feeling empty.

One year, AWE SNAP!

This was our Anniversary weekend (1 year on the 7th). We went out for Sushi on Saturday to celebrate at Sushi Katsu in the Valley. Oh it was so tasty. I highly recommend the place. I would say that it was romantic but it's a little hole in the wall. I don't recommend going there for ambiance. However, the food was RIDICULOUS! Man, I love Plum wine.

Today I decided to cook a HUGE pot of Jambalaya because he loves it and I don't make it very often. I figure that making it a year is sort of a big deal so I GUESS I can put in the effort. ;) I always make it super spicy and hot and use a ton of different ingredients. Try it! It’s tasteeee.

Ingredients:


3 cups cooked white rice
1 green & 1 yellow pepper – roughly chopped
4 stalks celery – roughly chopped
1 large Spanish onion – roughly chopped
LOTS of garlic (as much as you like) – roughly chopped
A package of smoked Kielbasa sausage – cut into bite sized pieces
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 small cans tomato sauce
2 cans kidney beans
1 tsp each of cayenne pepper, red pepper, onion powder, paprika
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Make yourself a drink first to keep hydrated. This is a very important step!! Try my favorite. I call it a “Coconut Cooler”. ½ parts coconut rum (yes, I said half), ¼ part apple juice, ¼ part cranberry juice & a dash of peach schnapps. It’s yummy.


Start cooking the rice in a large stock pot before you start the rest of the steps.

Sauté the onion, celery and both peppers in a large pot on low heat in some olive oil until tender. Add the garlic in now instead of in the beginning to keep it from burning and keep sautéing a bit longer, maybe 10 minutes.


Add in the Kielbasa now and cook for roughly 10 more minutes.


Add in both cans of the diced tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes or so, turn off heat.


Add the Kielbasa mix to the cooked rice. Now add both cans of kidney beans and both cans of the tomato sauce. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes to let the flavors blend. Ta-daaaaaaaaaa. Done. SO GOOD!