sinus wars

happy thanksgiving to all my readers. i hope to enjoy some turkey. and my new favorite addition. cranberry sauce. (must be mixed with the turkey. not solo). but i have a sinus infection. damn me. for always being sick with these things. i forgot to take my zyrtec for one day. and bam. infected.

mother and i will be making a feast. from my new barefoot contessa cookbook. for the four of us. no traveling. i am bringing house guests. two pups. to play with zola. and romp around the house. so i dont have to drive back and forth. and now so the rents can help me care for the doggies while i stake my claim on the sofa. this makes for easy packing. two days of pjs.

zola is starting to get her adult teeth. she is already 40 lbs. halfway to her ideal weight. pictures to come of her with her new friends. she is scared of everything. so i hope she is friendly and likes them. it will be good for her to be socialized. i think she is more of a 'dog' than cory. cory was pretty much human. she didnt like other dogs. had little interest in anything that wasnt a treat or napping. and a walk. just liked being the lady of the house. zola is now the princess.

chef boyar-me

last night it was my turn to make the meal. for our dinner group. when discussed. i knew exactly what i wanted to make. as during pj wearing, lounging all day on saturday. i salivated most of the day watching foodnetwork. one in particular was giada's turkey raviolis. it is ground turkey with cranberry sauce and other fixins. with a nice white cream sauce. i added my own tomato cucumber salad. and a side of corn. delightful.

the ravs. were made from wonton pre-made dough. so that was pretty easy. the hardest was the sauce. my first attempt came out paste like. eeww. so i whipped up a second round. and it came out nicely. it didnt have all the ingredients as the first. but i slathered the paste on top of the ravs. and then poured the creamy goodness over it all. below is untitled's plate. i paired this dish with a nice chardonnay. and water. ha.


my guests brought desert. and some poo. ha. little chuck must have smelt past house guests. and got nervous. and just needed to get it out. i thought it was pretty funny. it was on the linoleum. and his dad. scooter. cleaned it up. along with reprimanding charles. but back to the sweets. they brought delicious red velvet cakes. also featured below. they were the perfect ending to our feast.

i purchased a new mascara over the weekend. i am very happy with it. its a nice everyday wear. lengthens. thickens. and looks natural. ladies. buy it. its only $5. maybelline colossal volum'. cant miss it in the yellow tube. now i was tempted by covergirls. orange bottle. the one with drew barrymore on the commercials. lashblast volume. have you tried? thoughts?

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag

happy birthday bruder. my best friend for life. we have traveled the world together. entertaining one another. with jokes. pranks. and many adventures. the most recent of course. going to our third ingrid michaelson concert. his true love. we ventured up to omaha on sunday afternoon. met inbloom and her friend for dinner. and made it to the venue for the 8 pm show. i decided to be a road warrior and drive home after the show. i was the d.d. and let bruder enjoy his time off from work. and this was my present to him.

ingrid was marvelous. she has such a stage presence. not only does she have a beautiful voice. but her witty comments. and humor in between songs. makes for a wonderful show. the venue was also very nice. great acoustics. and even had speakers in the powder room so you can listen while. well while doing your business. it was a late night. but well worth it. this was by far the best show we have seen of her. i was happy with the songs from the new album (be ok). but was also pleasantly surprised by 4 new, new songs. i was a wee-bit delirious when crawling into bed at 3 am. after a morning of sleep. i was content.

quite fit

the work week is almost done. and thank goodness for that. i feel exhausted. which i shouldnt. as i spent the majority of the week. sprawled out on the sofa. shifting thru my 10 fuzzy channels. and taking naps. before heading to bed. this was after some productivity at my office job. i stayed late. putting my time in. in hopes to make the following day more tolerable.

other product activities included. grocery shopping. i always find this a chore. and try to be prepared. so i dont do the usual. make it home. put things away. and realize i bought guacamole. with no chips. or pasta with no sauce. der. i also feel challenged. as i just never know what i am going to feel like later in the week. this is also dependant on if i go out to lunch during the week. am i going to want mexcian for two meals in one day. no.

second. hanging a new shelf in my bedroom. i had stuff on my radiator cover. this worked for awhile. until i came home after a weekend of dogsitting. to a glorious smell. it was the smell from my favorite candle. (that i have never used. the fragrance is so strong without lighting). i have probably had this candle for 5-6 years. anyway. it was sitting on top of the radiator cover. and wouldnt you know. judy. the landlord. turned on the heat over the weekend. with no warning. so my candle melted. melted all down the radiator. and onto the wooden floor. i had bought the materials to make a shelf long ago. in preparation. it was just finding time. motivation to do it. and then i vacuumed. yes. for the second time since i bought it. little wally dyson. is still amazing.

third. i met a good friend ck. or crazy kellie. (as a non blogger, i feel it only right to announce her nickname before just going with initials). for dinner last night. it was great to catch up. we had not seen eachother since spring time. it was funny. when i pulled into the parking lot. we recognized one another getting out of our vehicles in the dark. and called out to the other. it was then she said. you look great. you havent changed. ha. she hadnt either. it was nice. good chats to catch up since last. we vowed to not have it go as long next time. and we wont.

bumper sticker xvi

spotted. by yours truly.

"9-11 was an inside job."

happins'

i have been swamp with my duties at work. ha. why is the word duties so funny. inbloom and i spent a long time laughing and repeating it in one of our last visits. i kept telling her i have assigned her a new duty. has she completed her duties. seriously. we must be five. i also had to laugh when the new bond movie commercial was on the tele the other night. one of his lines is: i am motivated by my duties. oh dear.

felt like i needed to write. to have some sort of outlet. other than being scolded. and feeling dumb. and then second guessing what i am doing with my career. is this really what i want to be doing. its not rewarding. its frustrating. and no matter how you dice it. its always answering to someone else's ignorance. but the grass is always greener on the other side.

and now answering baby winsteads request: My friend tagged me to write 7 random facts about myself and encourage 7 others with blogs to do the same. I am choosing not to tag people, but would encourage others to do the same (stac, jgib, joj & LEM).

1. i hate wearing shoes. i am barefoot the majority of the day. even at work i take my shoes off while at my desk. and i must. must drive barefoot on long car rides. (except in the winter).

2. when i am completely comfortable. or falling asleep. i have to have something under my nose. usually a blanket. sheet. stuffed animal. or sometimes as noted by friends. three fingers. (3. yes i still sleep with a stuffed bunny named baxter. not every night. or its not like i can not fall asleep without him. but he shares my bed).

4. i love steak. thick. juicy. a little bloody. usually med-rare. yummy. steak.

5. i have an extra bone in my collar bone. that flairs when i am sick.

6. i hate cats. oh wait. thats not random. but i have had cat-scratch fever twice in my life.

7. when watching college football on saturdays. i sit in envy. i really think one of the coolest feelings in the world. would be to score a touchdown. but not just a touchdown. like an 80-yard run. with the other team running behind you. and nothing but open field in front of you. the speed of some of these guys. i want to run fast. and have my eyes on the end zone. to then complete a victory dance. (and this is not in a rudy kind of way. 8. i hate the movie rudy. its right up there with the band creed. and rid rock).

freezing

its damn cold outside. i was in denial most of the weekend. i didnt bring a winter coat to nebraska for the game. i instead decided that a windbreaker and vest would be fine. with the high of 40. same as when we left on friday. the difference. no sunshine. and the wind. but even with the cold climate. it was a great day for football. i had a tasty runza and hot cocoa prior to the 1:30 kick off. (a runza you ask. its pretty much a meat pocket. so awesome). when we made our way to our seats. i had no idea that it would be 'that' cold. after a wonderful game. nebraska played so well. they played like a team. like a great team. and i was right in my prediction. the cheering helped keep us warm. although when walking out of the stadium. my little piggies felt like i was walking on marbles. it took them a couple of blocks to thaw out. this was because i wore my cute. impractical. red converse. rather than the smart choice of. oh maybe boots.

after the game it was then time for red beers. and victory cheers the rest of the evening. we were able to meet up with our younger cousin. she is a freshman at UNL. came all the way up from austin. so it has been fun to live closer to her. and actually get to know her. at one of our bar stops. we found a phone. decked out in husker gear itself. pictured below. inbloom posing with the dead phone. and my gloves. last minute purchase. which were heavenly. oh and then the owner came back for his phone. he was so happy. his hat had lights around the n. unfortunately they didnt show up in my pic. i did get cranky. and mean to brother on the ride home on sunday. and i am apologizing for that. but i still think you drove like a student driver. ha. but thank you for letting me sleep.

the power of the internet

this post. makes me so happy. finally a feeling of relief. and one more item to check off my list. the directv debacle has been resolved. yes. done. no more ranting. and whining on here about directv. my outlook can go back to neutral. as i never had a problem with them when i was a client. it was after. weighing out.

it began with a simple email from tonerhuffer. he had found a blurb on twitter regarding another disgruntled directv customer. see below:

"Three weeks was the earliest X customer could hope to get her new HD DirecTV dish installed. Her husband was not happy about missing that much of the football season. Hoping for a sooner install time, X called back…four times. No dice. Three weeks was the earliest they could do. Annoyed, X broadcasted her frustration on Twitter and DirecTV (@DirecTV) caught it and responded. Within three days X had a senior supervisor installer in her home installing the dish. While DirecTV didn’t respond to her private call, they did respond to her public tweet."

i thought this was a brillant idea. and if you follow me on twitter. i made my first attempt. it wasnt useful. since i didnt direct it toward directv (@directv). (obviously i am unaware of 'how to' use twitter. or in this instance of using it). so tonerhuffer stepped in again. gave me the tweet verbiage to use. and bingo. within 10 minutes of my post. directv was following me. then sent me a tweet back. after all the back and forth on twitter. they then contacted me on the phone that afternoon. brad. my sexy phonevoice. directv customer support guy was ready to help. (if you are out there. feel free to call me anytime. i am single.) but anyway, back to my story. he handled the request. he was putting in a manual request for the recovery kits. varified the address. phone number. and promised a tracking number. provided his direct line at work to follow up with. i felt good. but i had this same promise so many times before. so still a little reluctant.

yesterday afternoon. i received a follow-up from brad. he then told me that i didnt need to send the receivers back. so no recovery kits will be coming my way. and this will not come back to haunt me. (i did save his voicemessage as a mp3. i am paranoid. i guess). so wipe my hands clean. i am done. he mentioned i could save them if i want to come back to dtv. but there is an electronic recycle drive for habitat for humanity next week. perfect timing. and that seems more practical. otherwise they would go to my free storage unit. ala parentals house. and i dont think they would like that.

i am off for another weekend in the sea of red. brother and i are headed to the nebraska game with inbloom. it might be a little chilly. but since we have actual tickets. i am hoping being squished among the crowd. and all my cheering with help keep us warm. GBR!

plaid and fishnets

sorry i am late. in posting halloween updates. this year untitled and i joined forces. and dressed as our favorite tv show characters. from gossip girl. serena (me) and blair. we went for the school girl uniforms. upper east side style. since the show takes place sometimes at school. although they never go to class. pictured below. not our most creative idea. but it was the easiest. and i will be able to reuse almost everything. the tie is fathers. its actually our family plaid. and since it was after all halloween. fishnet stalkings must be present. along with dancing. and apparently pull-ups. and even better inbloom was in town. to celebrate. and we had a fun weekend as roomies again.

inspiration (those unaware of this CW smash hit tv show):

and now us with friends. the 4th jonas brother. figure skaters. jackie-o. sarah connor and terminator. reggedy ann and andy. and more...