Kinfolk... or close to it.

I managed to get up to a few cool things this weekend. More accurately, two very cool things found me.

First, my Italian twin Gina made the trip from Long Island to have a fantastic, restful Saturday evening and Sunday with me in Jersey. I feel so lucky to have her near me again. We went to dinner, started and almost finished an entire season of Sex and the City, talked, laughed and enjoyed.

It was very nice to share the great conversation and mutual gawking of Times Square. $9.25, Dave. $9.25!

Sportsmanlike conduct

All of you that participated, or intend to participate in the "Four Things" survey- thanks. Whether I tagged you or not, each person managed to make me smile at least one time by one of their responses, and I enjoyed learning something new about all my blog peeps. I expected the whole thing to go over like a fart in the wind, so I am pleasantly tickled by the spirited initiative to humor me.

And not to worry, I won't make a habit of it. The devilish part of me just wanted people to actually blog on the weekends for once.

Four things

Taken from here, through here. I only tagged people who I know 1. read my blog on a semi-regular basis and 2. will actually respond. List your four things on your own blogs, and tag (harass) others at will.

Four jobs I've had:
1. Winery tasting room associate
2. Highly visable and francished lingerie store associate
3. +arget
4. Current job, with actual salary, of unrevealable nature

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. The Sword and the Stone
2. The Princess Bride
3. Finding Nemo
4. Liar Liar

Four places I've lived:
1. Way southeast
2. Pacific west
3. Smack in the "middle" of the midwest
4. South central
(5.) Northeast

Four TV shows I love:
1. Sex and the City
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. American Idol- shoot me now.
4. Alton Brown's Good Eats

Ten highly regarded and recommended TV shows that I've never watched a single minute of:
1. Trading Spouses
2. Wife Swap
3. The Bachelor in Paris
4. Bones
5. Without a Trace
6. My name is Earl
7. The Office
8. The OC!
9. Love Monkey- but I'd like to.
10. Criminal Minds

Four places I've vacationed:
1. Myrtle Beach
2. THE LAKEHOUSE (selected readers know which one...)
3. Daytona Beach
4. Miami

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Chicken Parmesan
2. Sushi
3. Cookies and Cream ice cream
4. A well-cooked flat iron steak with smashed Yukon Gold potatoes and onion curls

Four sites I visit daily:
1. dictionary.com
2. blogger.com
3. gmail.com
4. most of my links on the right

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. With my loved one.
2. In a bathtub- with bubbles.
3. In Italy, drinking a great cabernet.
4. All of the above combined.

Four bloggers I am tagging :
1. Brett- for saying that we aren't updating enough, and then going to Savannah to get schnockered every damn night.
2. Jen- because I know she blogs frequently, and that her answers will be unique.
3. Russ- because his answers will be snarky but honest.
4. Dave- because I want to give you even more to do, from a rookie to the seasoned vet.

Home from work

After a sleepless night and worsening of symptoms, I politely asked my boss if I could leave work. I cannot be incapacitated for tomorrow's commitments, and need to rest. Luckily my load today was light and I finished up by noon. Off to bed for Oob.

I hurl rotten tomatoes in your general direction

Now wait a minute. I thought you were supposed to lessen the severity of the symptoms. Notsomuch.

Can I take this with it?

*gasp* It has sucralose in it.

Foodies

So far this week I have stumbled in from work, changed into warm and comfy clothes, gotten under the covers in bed, and watched food shows. Rachel Ray (who is getting her own talk show - handed to her by 0prah!) is a bit too Ka+ie Couric-cheerleader-pep for my taste, but whips up some damn good looking meals. Al+on Brown, that quirky, nerdy guy from high school who grew up to be cute in a strange sort of way, has blended the worlds of science and food. I learned the intricacies of coffee beans (hence the mention in my anti-sweetener diatribe) yesterday and cocoa tonight from him.

Another newly discovered foodie and friend from my former life is this lovely lady, who bravely moved to Paris with her husband, found a great job, and now blogs about all food divine in this yummy city.... while sharing recipes that make me drool.

Sadly, I don't currently have free and clear use of a kitchen... so my desire to try out these new ideas will have to wait for a while. But at least I can learn a few new things for later down the road.

Workaholic

Ever feel this way?

I do, and as a result I believe I'm coming down with a splendid cold. I refuse to whine about it though, considering the fact that I haven't been really sick in over a year. Considering all that's happened in my life, I'm lucky. I'll test the truth of the praises of this product, and get back to you. Why that particular method of dosage?

Breaking news... prepare yourself for another Oob quirk.

I hate aspartame, saccharin, Equal, SweetNLow, Splenda and any other fake sugar out there with equal and fervent passion. Coffee, but no sugar handy? I'll drink it black before I'll blaspheme the taste of perfectly good coffee beans. Diet sodas? Never. Neverever. And pharmaceutical companies that believe adding artificial sweeteners to +hera-f1u, or any other liquid cold remedy should be severely reprimanded like the misbehaving children they are. I'll gladly suffer the consequences if it saves me from that horrific taste of phony, mouth-coating grossness. My palate is extremely sensitive to this tragic malady, and if you ever attempt to trick me you will sorely be proven wrong. Blech. I'd rather use the non-painful, non-disgusting-tasting nasal swabs than subject myself to that kind of needless torture. Putting the end of a gooey q-tip in my nostrils is waaaaaaaaaay better.

Now that you all think I'm weird, I'm going to confirm your suspicions by going to watch American Idol.

Annnnnnd...

Happy Birthday (for real) to him. He's now old. As in, thirty. The big day was yesterday.

No offense to anyone over thirty. I am required to give him copious amounts of grief, in partial repayment for years and years of brutal adolescent torture. He knows I love him. Even if he's old.

Apologies

More data is required, apparently... but there's a catch.

My job requires me to work on Saturdays. I have a strict blogging policy that I will not, and do not, blog about work. I apologize for "blue-balling" you.... Brett, but I cannot reveal any more details on this public forum. Email is better, if you know my real one. Or hell - call me. I've had a hellacious week, and I'm lonely.

Bizarre weekends

Did I mention that I helped test drive a 36 foot and a 42 foot yacht last weekend? Yeah. It was very cool.

This weekend has already been as surreal. Yesterday I learned that I can be relatively calm in a crisis. Dialing 911 is scary. But I handled the situation, and everyone is okay. Sorry I can't give more details...

Today, I am off to the big bad city to reunite with a very old friend from middle school and high school. I don't think we've seen each other since 1998, so it will be fun. Toodles.

New beginnings

I wanted to take a moment to announce a piece of outstanding news in the midst of a crazy week. My singing buddy/ ex-roommate/ longtime cohort/ fotch-losing/ lawyer-type/ dearest friend Devin, and his beautiful wife Anne, are having another baby. They are blessed with their beautiful two year old daughter Emma, and with their permission I am delighted to announce that their next is a boy. Hearing the excitement and happiness in his voice made my week, and I am so happy for the two of them. I know that Devin reads my blog, so to all that know him and even those that don't - leave him some love here. Congratulations!!!

Escape

When the occasion presents itself, I will hoist a literary work and read until I am either satisfied or the pages have run out. It so happens that I was of the mind, body and emotion to spend my Sunday with the company of this book. While the rest of the town battled the newly iced/snowed over roads and blustery wind, I remained curled underneath my nest of soft sheets, down comforter and fleece blanket. And I finished it. I am no book critic, and will not attempt to offer my humble opinion. But I will undoubtedly make an effort to see the film, if for no other reason than to visually witness the beauty described in the memoirs.

Wars waged

Go here or here (thanks Ln!) to see pictures of the infamous extend-a-bus. Now imagine that you are driving alongside one of these beasts when they decided to change lanes. Into yours. *shudder*

I spent my evening battling wits with a five and six year old. If possible, I think the younger's temper surpasses my own. The war waged against bedtime- and sleeping in his own bed- petered out when I simply lay down next to him and closed my eyes. Amazing, childhood.

Sleepy Oob tonight... and my Saturday wake-up call? 6:00 am. G'nite.

The morning commute...

.... would be pretty boring without these guys. Elvis Duran and the morning zoo make me laugh out loud more than once every single day. Some days it's by rolling Greg T down a steep hill wrapped entirely in bubble wrap with a mic strapped onto his head. Others it's the discussion about email "symbol" etiquette. (Think about it - How many LOLs or OMGs or JKs or :)s or :(s or heehees or hehes or teehees are in your emails?) My favorites are the phone taps - there's nothing like hearing someone get maliciously phone pranked when you are wedged between a Jersey soccer-mom suv, a tow truck and an extend-a-bus.

Oh, an extend-a-bus? You know... the busses that look like someone chopped off its butt, and attached a second three-quarter length bus with a rubber, accordion-like section of material. They're huuuuge! Betcha can't find a picture of one. At least, I couldn't. Prove me wrong. They're funny looking.

But I digress. They're a wacky bunch that are very good at their jobs.

I've had a pleasant two days of rediscovering old friends. One is this one. Classic, outstandingly funny, and fantastic person overall... Warren T! The other is from waaaaay back - like middle school. And she's living in that other city near me...what a small world.

One last question: Why, when you move, do you manage to lose the most random items of clothing? And why does it make me sad? They're clothes. But I still want them. And I can't find them. sigh

How to have an embarrassing day at work

Lose twelve pounds and wear thigh highs. With a knee length skirt.

Oh boy.

I don't get any points for smarts here, do I? The first time they fell below the skirt was in the elevator - the minute I got to work. After about the tenth time, when I was crossing the street and walking past a bus stop full of people with nude-colored baggy anklets, I said **** it. They were safely and discreetly removed in the next five minutes. I walked into my important meeting with confidence and spent the rest of the day with bare, pasty white legs - stubble and bruises from moving proudly displayed for all to see.

Sometimes it's just not worth the angst, and you just gotta laugh at yourself. Wow.

I'll say it:

To all you people raving about how great this movie is...

I told you so.

Ouch, my arms.

I feel like a year's time has passed since I last blogged, when in actuality, I have officially moved to New Jersey. Thanks to the immense generosity and awe-inspiring muscles of my dad and my boyfriend, all of my personal belongings/ worldly possessions/ boxes-of-crap-I-should-throw-away-but-cannot-bear-to now rest in my top-floor abode. The entire process spanned a mere two days. Dad flew into the midwest on Wednesday, we loaded the trailer Thursday morning, drove to my aunt's on the edge of Lake Erie to sleep, finished the drive yesterday morning and unloaded until 9:00 pm last night. It must also be mentioned that my burly, manly movers were sick with terrible colds and still fought their way through a bit of snowy weather, the fun that is driving a vehicle while pulling a trailer, a traffic warning for following too slowly???, and of course, hauling furniture, boxes and said useless things up one flight of normal stairs and another flight of ridiculously twisty-turny narrow stairs. Simply amazing. I am humbled. The two of you are gracious beyond words.

Why is it that moving inspires you to irrationally curse everything you own, no matter it's purpose or functionality? I found myself carrying on inner dialogue such as, "Dammit, why do I have so many clothes? Why didn't I throw out the things I don't wear before I did this?" "Oh yeah, I did an entire 'Clean Sweep' on my wardrobe in May and dumped five black garbage bags onto the doorstep of Goodwill." "Well, do you really need...." And so on, and so on, and so on. This disastrous line of thinking occurred while watching my dad pack a 5'X8' trailer. At first, I was certain that there was no possible way to make everything fit, but with Tetris-like ease he managed to arrange all pieces so efficiently and harmoniously that I was sorry I ever doubted him. He is pure genius.

The only casualties in this move were my filing cabinet (not the files, of course) and a microwave cart. Neither would fit, and I wound up breaking a wheel off the cart anyway. In total, about $50.00 worth of furniture that I can both do without and easily replace if necessary. Didn't bother me a bit to leave them behind.

And now, as I sit here and type, I feel like I'm finally and truly here. It is real. And this is where I'll be for a while.

My mixed emotions and sore biceps tell me that it's done.

Harrumph

How awful. Just awful.

I joined the UGA/WVU game a little late last night - about halfway through the first quarter. I never gave up hope of a comeback... hell, remember Auburn and quadruple overtime? My spirit remained until the fake punt. Dirty pool, you bastards.

A few ponderings:

• The Redcoats sounded waaaaaay better than WVU-who kept playing classy, eloquent tunes such as "Louie, Louie".
• The camera men did an excellent job portraying the beautiful, spirited attitude of southern football fans. (one exception - the GA mullet guy with a dumb look on his face. Really, man. You give us all a bad name.)
  
• WVU supporters looked like mountain-folk gone bad. I especially enjoyed the very overweight WVU fan slouched leisurely on the bleachers- who painted the letters W.V.U. over the entirety of his enormous beer gut. Seriously. The sportscasters didn't even attempt to hide the laughter.
  
• An 8-yr tawny port makes you very, very, very sleepy - no matter how much of a Georgia fan you are. I was dying by the end of the third quarter. But I stuck it out.
• Even though the outcome was horrific, I still missed being there. And I missed seeing the flying Chic-fil-a cows. (I know - not at the Sugar Bowl. But still.)
  

Ghosts of the past

Watched Skeleton Key last night, and was promptly haunted by very strange and twisted dreams involving me and a house. Wait...That won't make sense unless you've seen the movie. Think voodoo/hoodoo, haunted houses and spiritual (re)possessions. They were the kind of dreams that wake you, covered in sweat and heart palpitating, then you fall back asleep into the same - but somehow different - dream over and over again.

In my childhood, I was plagued with nightmares from this show. We all know the premise - to bring to the public's attention stories of hauntings, murders, and unspeakable crimes that are/were unresolved. Yes, that's smart - when you're ten, watch the episode involving a man with a huge knife that hides underneath or beside children's beds, waiting for them to fall asleep before brutally ending their short lives. Discover he's still at large. Now, you fall asleep. Or tell yourself that you're "grown up" enough to watch Alien, or Terminator, or Predator with your big brother. And then try to drift off to a peaceful slumber.

I never really let on to my family how disturbed I was by these dreams, or for how long. Or that I ever had difficulty falling asleep because I was certain the man with the knife was in my room. I guess my hell-bent stubbornness and refusal to ask for help started at a young age...

Then and now, to coax myself back into a peaceful slumber I use a method of focusing on positive images and happenings. The memories don't need to be specific, only happy. I meditate and think only of them until I fall back asleep, and nine times out of ten the nightmares stay away. But I still remember them.

I think I need more coffee to get through the day. At least I am not at work, but at Tim's - however, I still have much to accomplish today in the form of non-blog writing. Need to sound smart. Not fuzzy. Here goes nothing.