Why DH wants to ban me from PetSmart

I'm too sensitive for my own good. DH and I went to PetSmart today for some kitty supplies, and the Montgomery County SPCA had a kitten adoption thing going on there. Despite DH's begging me not to go visit the kitties, but just to focus on the task at hand, I just had to go over there and take a look.

It's so heartbreaking! There are all of these cute kitties without homes; all I want to do is scoop them up and take them home and cuddle them and protect them from all those dog smells and people and everything. There were a few especially cute kitties there today. I think that there was a pair of sibling grey tabby cats and they were so sweet. I totally would have taken them both home. Instead, I donated some cash that I had on me, and of course donated the $1 when I checked out, but I was in tears all the way back to the car. DH of course pointed and laughed at me for being such a softie, but I think that he's secrety relieved that we didn't come home with another cat.

Remember, people, adopt your pet from a shelter, and, as Bob Barker always says, help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.

Sniff, sniff. They really were so cute. I'll have to pacify myself with Cute Overload and Kitten Wars.

Afraid to say anything

I'm scared to say anything for fear of jinxing it - but things that I have been working on for almost a year are finally coming together and I think that I might be very, very happy in two weeks. I'm really excited, and the fact that I might be working on one of the biggest international environmental meetings this year... agh! I can't say anymore because I've been working on this for so long and if it falls apart at the last minute, well I'm going to fall apart too.

But whales... and maybe sharks too... might just be in my future.

Worst. Illness. Evar.

So, here we are over a week later, and I am still sick. My ears are all plugged up, I'm still coughing like a 2 pack-a-day smoker, and I've finally given up and made a doctor's appointment. I'm probably going to be prescribed antibiotics, which I hate taking. But, I think that the cold has become either a sinus infection, or more likely, an ear infection, and if it's bacterial, it's the only way I'm gonna get better.

Maybe I'll feel better sometime in 2008.

On a lighter note, we've got about an inch of snow on the back porch, and I had some yummy Indian food this weekend (I got the Vindaloo - figured the spicyness would cut through my cold).

This sucks!

Please, kill me


There is nothing - nothing - that sucks so much as being sick. I'm on day 4 of this sinus/ear/throat infection/cold thing, and I am utterly miserable. DH is looking forward to going to work tomorrow just to get the heck away from me. I am a very unpleasant sick person to be around, particularly when I've gotten about 7 hours of sleep since Friday night.

All I can say is that the person who cures the common cold should be richer than Bill Gates.

Gettin' by

This week was supposed to be my first full week back at work since before Christmas; however, I've managed to avoid it! Unfortunately, it's because I'm suffering from some kind of ear/nose/throat infection thing that is making me hack up ugly phlegm-balls and ache all over. Misery.

My lot was not much improved by my choice of entertainment. I rented The Devil Wears Prada via Comcast-On-Demand and, other than some really awesome shoes and coats, it was pretty disappointing. Anne Hathaway's character was a whiney bitch, her friends were not much better, and Meryl Streep could have been a bit bitchier at the end. Not that the book was any better; some of the story elements were naturally changed a bit for the movie, and some for the better. Maybe it's me, but one of Anne Hathaway's key moral lines (if Miranda were a man, she would be celebrated for being so good at her job) was completely undermined by some of the plot developments (Anne's boyfriend assuming she would follow him to Boston, for example). Meh.

Happily, all was not lost. My new Pottery Barn couch was delivered today, and although putting the slipcover on the couch and cushions was exhausting (see blogpost point #1), it was super super comfortable for watching the less than fulfilling movie. I can totally tell the difference between the cheapo couch we've had and the nice couch we have now.

The cats are generally terrified by the new couch.

I. am. so. confused?.?

Several tidbits of news today have me genuinely perplexed, surprised, confused, and even a little scared.

#1 - CNN reports the death of Yvonne de Carlo, the actress who played Lily Munster, a character I know well, having grown up with Nick at Nite and whatnot. Strangely enough, this same actress also played Sephora, Charlton Heston's wife in "The Ten Commandments." Really? Really? It totally blew my mind that these two characters were played by the same actress. Totally.













#2 - Fark.com had a link to pictures of what Megatron is purported to look like in the upcoming "Transformers" movie. Now, I'm about to reveal a little bit too much about myself here, but here goes. When I was young, I was a total tomboy. I was utterly uninterested in most girlie things, and I loved watching "Transformers" after school. I even had Bumblebee, the little VW Beetle transformer. I was there with all you 80s boy kids hating Starscreamer and his whininess and being confused by Optimus Prime's ability to have that trailer appear from out of the blue whenever he went back to being a truck. I was awed by Shockwave (he's still one of the coolest Transformers, IMHO), utterly unimpressed by the Dinobots (SO FREAKIN' LAME), and I remember when Optimus Prime died (he was kind of fragile, as I remember).

So the raping of my childhood memories continues. I was a little perplexed when I saw the trailer for the "Transformers" movie before "Little Miss Sunshine" (huh? The Transformers aren't from Mars? WTF) But upon seeing this picture of what Megatron is supposed to look like, well, now I'm not only a little perplexed, but totally annoyed. WTF is that? The thing on the left looks nothing like the original cartoon character on the right. I call bulls&^t.












What is going on in this strange world we live in? I'm an old woman, I'm confused.

What once was lost has now been found

Phew. What a day. This morning I noticed that my wallet wasn't in my purse. Crap, I'd thought, it had been sitting on my desk all night (I'd had it out yesterday at work and thought that maybe I had left it out). I got to work - no wallet. Crap crap. Maybe it had fallen out of my purse on the train ride home that night. Meanwhile, if that was possibly the case, I called all my credit card companies to put temporary holds on all transactions - to prevent anyone from running up the bill! Chase and my credit union had no problems, but Citibank, who I have had a credit card with the longest, gave me the option of leaving it open or cancelling the card outright - no hold options. Well I never use the card anyway, so I told them to go ahead and cancel it.

The whole day I'm hemming and hawing, wondering what the frick I was going to have to go through if I had lost my wallet. My SS card was in there (I know, I know, but who listens to that stuff), my driver's license, my Metro Smartcard. Worse yet, my PetSmart and DSW Rewards cards. Argh.

So finally, I get on the train (I'd called MARC earlier, and they said my best bet was to ask the conductor on the train) and ask the conductor if he had found a small black wallet in the quiet car the night before. No dice, Chicago. The whole ride home I'm thinking where else I could possibly look. I get to my car... check it out all over the place - no luck.

Finally, I get home, and there on the couch where I unceremoniously throw my purse every night, hidden under a couple of things, was my wallet. And after two quick calls to Chase and my credit union, all is well again in the world.

Dude, losing my wallet would really have sucked this week in particular. I have a hair appointment on Thursday night.

I'm Henry VIII I am, Henry VIII I am, I am

PBS's The Six Wives of Henry VIII is one of my favorite history programs ever. I love the stories of the six women unfortunate enough to be married to him, and always wonder what I would have done if I was in their position. Catherine Howard's story is my favorite, although I always feel bad for Anne of Cleves. It's hard to remember that Henry VIII was king of England during the height of the Italian Renaissance, and that he was the father of Elizabeth I, perhaps one of the most interesting women in history. It's not quite as hard to remember that he's the reason for the English split from the Catholic church - leading to the establishment of the Church of England.

I'm watching the first part of the series now (on Catherine of Aragon), which I've never seen before. I've seen all the rest several times - so I'm happy to see where it all began!

Damn Swayze - he's the reason that Herman's Hermits are burned into my memory!

Progress on my resolutions!

Here is two, two, two blog posts in one!

1) I nearly blew one of my New Year's resolutions right off the bat today! Impulse control! I had lunch today with a friend of mine who works at NASA (he had the day off and lives in Silver Spring). We went over to Mama Lucia's - a pizza joint. I got a slice of white pizza with broccoli and a small side salad, and when asked if I wanted a drink I said "why not?" I grabbed my cafeteria-style plastic cup and walked over to the drink station and impulsively went for the root beer. Then I though "whoa, my New Years resolution!" I stood there, confused for a second. What was I going to do? Salvation - there was a ice tea brewer right next to all the sodas! New Years resolution failure - averted!!

2) We had somewhat significant progress on our New Year's resolution to finish the kitchen today! The plumber and the contractor actually showed up reasonably on time, and the dishwasher is now properly installed. Of course, I did cause a corresponding setback when I accidently smashed the glass of one of the pendant lights above the island, which I now have to reorder, but at least that part is under my control rather than relying on the damn contractors.

It's a twofer!

New Year's Resolutions

So, this is the time of year when we are all supposed to be resolving to make ourselves better people in the upcoming year. Eh. I'm never any good at keeping these resolutions. One year I resolved not to eat after 8pm (I think that lasted about 3 months), another I resolved not to use the term "starved" when I was merely hungry (actually, I slip now and then, but I am pretty conscious of it).

This year I am going to resolve a couple of things that I hope that I can accomplish in 2007:

1. Finish the kitchen. This is defined as having paint, backsplash, molding, new door leading to the garage, new table and chairs, and general organization of the kitchen.

2. Finish one other room in the house. Now that we have this new couch coming, I should try and finish painting the living room (since the color in there right now is a bit too dark for the room) or settling on what we are going to do with the yellow bedroom upstairs, or even the den.

3. Drink no soda! No diet coke, no Dr. Pepper, no root beer. This one is going to be hard, but I think I can do it. Actually, it won't be that hard, since I don't drink soda on a regular, semi-regular, or even occasional basis. However, the times when I do drink soda it is usually a moment of weakness or craving or something (especially root beer in the summertime) so I am going to try and eliminate it all together.

4. Save enough money to fully fund my own Roth IRA contribution. I funded this year's contribution with a little help from DH and some money from some bonuses that I received through work. This year I want to try and find a way to set just a little bit aside to do it on my own. I might have to use some bonus money to get there, but I'll make a go of it.

5. Be nice. I know this sounds weird, but I'm not really a very nice person sometimes, especially with people who piss me off. So this year I am going to try and find a way to be a little more compassionate, a little more understanding, and be nicer to people. I think this resolution has the least chance of long-term success.

New Year... New Couch!

Happy New Year everybody! Since moving into our new house 4+ years ago, DH and I have wanted to get a new couch for the living room. For the last two years, we've known what style and color we wanted, but haven't bitten the bullet to buy it.

Well, the wait is over. After being briefly distracted by a the new Pottery Barn Basic Square couch (until we saw it in person at the PB in Arlington - HATED IT!), DH and I have gone ahead and ordered a new PB Basic Couch in Cardinal Red. Unlike our Crate and Barrel leather couch that we ordered last October and received in February (like 12 weeks later), this one is supposedly going to arrive in under 2 weeks. Wow!

So now we've got to figure out what to do with the old couch! Any takers? We should have done this a couple of weeks ago - then we could have donated the couch to the Salvation Army or Goodwill and taken the tax deduction.

Our new couch:


I can only imagine how long it will take us to choose new end tables and a chair for the living room.

Too much is never enough

I was reminded of my high school English teacher's favorite Rolling Stones saying (and am reminded of it again tonight) while shopping, preparing, and eating DH's and my Christmas Eve dinner. I have finally found a situation that proves that adage wrong.

DH and I like to have a special meal for ourselves over the holidays, and this year was no exception. We went to the Whole Foods in Gaithersburg, in my mind looking for live lobster. Unfortunately (and so DH later reminded me), WF no longer sells lobsters (just tails) What they did have, however, were Dungeness crabs and King Crab legs. We decided to get 1 Dungeness crab, based on the size of those monsters, and two smaller King Crab claws (weighing a total of 1.8 pounds). I freely admit that the primary reason I got the King Crab claws was because of watching the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch and being completely in awe of the crab fishermen in Alaska. It was a little more expensive than I expected (whoops!) but eh, it was Christmas.

Anywho, I steamed up the claws and Dungeness Crab, and DH and I got to work. After eating one (or two) Dungeness Crab legs and 1/2 of the Dungeness Crab body, both DH and I were in rich food overload. The Dungeness Crab was incredibly sweet, actually very delicious.

Then we started in on the King Crab legs. There were three segments to the legs, and it required kitchen scissors to get to the meat. I opened the first section of the leg, and pulled out a whole chunk of meet the size of most normal lobster tails. And the flavor - well it was richer than any other lobster tail that I have eaten. I mean mouth-puckering rich. I could only eat one section, and even then I could barely finish it. DH suffered the same problem - the meat was delicious, but so rich it was almost unbearable. One leg would have been more than enough for the both of us - and we had two-thirds of two legs left! What was I going to do with all that King Crab meat - not to mention the 4-5 Dungeness Crab legs we hadn't touched.

Tonight's dinner: Crab soup.

This is a Dungeness Crab - look at the size of that monster!


Here are the Deadliest Catch boys with their King Crab catch!

The end of the holiday season

Yeah! All my Christmas obligations are over and life feels free again! Somehow, I only get into the holiday spirit after the holidays are over. Which is fine.

Sadly, this is the most unexciting time of the year. I am trying to keep busy by reading more classics - right now I am in the midst of reading Catcher in the Rye for the first time, and I've just ordered Brave New World to re-read. I really have to go through all the books in my basement to make sure that I am not ordering books I already have!

Also, in the wake of former President Ford's death, I've found myself reading a number of articles about him and Betty Ford. My knowledge of Ford and his wife is mostly from cultural references to the Betty Ford clinic and old Simpsons and SNL sketches. I've been really surprised by some of the things that I have learned about them, however. The Fords were quite progressive, very supportive of women's rights and frank and open discussions of "taboo" topics such as addiction and mental illness. I was amazed to learn about the independant woman that Betty Ford really was, rather than just a "first lady."

DC is going to be a mess this weekend, but it's nice that we Feds were given Tuesday off. Maybe I'll order a Ford biography to honor his passing.

Edit Naturally, right after I publish this post I notice this article in the Washington Post about Betty Ford's resilience and strength. Awesome woman.

Why the NYTimes is the best paper in the US

I love the NYTimes. I read far more articles from the NYTimes than I do the Washington Post. Not just the normal news stuff, but the funny stories, the weird and informative articles, and the intriguing food and travel ideas.

Here's a sample of recent articles I have enjoyed:

Futurama fans may have heard of it, but ambergris (aka Sperm Whale vomit) is actually very valuable.

These are the questions that you should ask yourself before getting married (yes, DH and I asked and answered all those questions, and actually keep asking each other those questions frequently to make sure we are still on the same wavelength)

Looking to sell your home - here are some anecdotes on what not to do.

They just always have the most well-written articles. None of these stories is particularly revolutionary in and of themselves, but the writing is just so intelligent and interesting. Believe me, I read bad government employee writing everyday.

Plus, (grammar Nazi alert!) if one more person says "less" when they mean "fewer" (less people, less staff, less days) I am going to scream!

Yeah... it's cheap, but it's so damn funny

I'm sorry, but this might be the funniest netpic I have ever seen.



I can't stop laughing at it. I'm sorry.

When the going gets tough, the not-so-tough run!

There's stress at work, stress at home, stress everywhere! I can't deal with the amount of B.S. accompanying the finishing of my kitchen (what do you mean the dishwasher won't fit!?!?), so instead of confronting the owner of the business that we went through for this work about my dissatisfaction, I've decided that the best strategy for me is to simply avoid it for the time being! Yeah for avoidance!

To that end, I am going to spend my Saturday downtown in DC. I'm going to visit the National Gallery and re-visit their Italian Renaissance painting collection (perhaps even with a history book in hand), then I am going to eat the unbelieveably delicious miniburgers that they have at Matchbox for lunch, and then I am going to feel like I am in a warm and tropical climate by visiting the US Botanic Gardens.

Then maybe, if I am feeling really adventurous, I'll head out and look for a Total Wine and More store in Virginia to get some Christmas presents. Or maybe I'll even venture into Georgetown for a little window-shopping.

It's going to be a wild and crazy day, I tell ya! Screw confronting problems head on!

I know it's been a while...

So sorry for the extended absence. Times have been rough and Thanksgiving proved to be just as stressful as anticipated - if not more. I really didn't want to go into an extended rant on the blog because, well, we all go through tough times, and sometimes you post things you don't necessarily want the world to know about, but you write to get the frustration out. So made a decision not to post until I was on the road to recovery.

Tonight, I was set firmly back onto that road by a second-long scene in tonight's How I Met your Mother episode. It was really short - if you'd blinked you would have missed it. But that split second was the funniest thing I'd seen in forever.

Marshall. Delivering packages. Chased down the corridor of a NYC apartment building. By the fluffiest, smallest, puffiest white dog ever.

I was still laughing about it 15 minutes after the show ended. And now I am desperately searching for a clip of it on YouTube, but it was so brief I know I'll never see it again. I'll just have to wait until they re-air the episode around Christmas.

Trust me, it was damn funny.

Hangin' in there

I have decided that next year, DH and I are spending our Thanksgiving in Maine. I'm having lobster for Thanksgiving dinner, and am going to spend the night gazing at a roaring fire in a seaside bed and breakfast in downeast Maine. This year is simply pushing me over the edge.

The plumbing has yet to be installed in the kitchen; I'm told that they'll be here on Tuesday to put it all in, plus finish a couple of things that need doing (cabinet doors, heat vents, etc). Tuesday night and Wednesday all day and night I am going to be washing dishes, counters, pots, pans,... more or less every kitchen related implement that I own. I am not looking forward to it. Not having basic plumbing in my kitchen for 3 months has actually made me clincally insane. And no, it is not helpful to have people note that the first Thanksgiving didn't feature indoor plumbing either.

That stress aside, I am not really sure why I feel like I am clinging desperatly to the dangling threads at the end of this rope. DH and I rented a "Rug Doctor" today to clean the living room carpets, which have been lovingly decorated with puke stains by my cats. We knew that it was too late to hire a professional, and didn't really want to spend the money to buy our own steam cleaning vacuum, so we went ahead and rented this little thing. Damn it all if it doesn't do a real good job. It's not perfect - it didn't get out all the stains entirely, but that would have taken a miracle - but it was really worth the $50. We did the living room floor today the stairs and the upstairs hallway tonight, and tomorrow morning before we have to return it we'll hit our bedroom. I'm darn impressed, I really didn't think it would make that big of a difference, but it truly did.

Also, the new oven was making a horrible rattling sound when it was on, which prompted me to call JennAir last week to schedule a service call. I don't know what I was expecting (I think I thought they were going to find a screw loose, tighten it, and then be on their merry way), but they sent a service guy out today who basically took the whole thing apart, replaced a cooling fan, and re-installed the whole thing. It took him like 2 hours, but the oven doesn't make a sound anymore. Again, I was duly impressed. I really didn't know if they would be able to make it soundless, I kind of figured it would always be a little noisy (it's a convection oven). But tonight I baked a pizza for dinner and I had to keep checking the oven to make sure it was in fact on. So that was good, too.

DH and I bought a rug from Target for the den, and arranged the furniture in there such that it looks not too bad. The dining room has its table back, which has had the leaves put in for Thanksgiving and is clothed for the occasion. Tomorrow I'll tackle the bathrooms (ick). Things aren't spiraling out of control like they seemed to be this afternoon. Actually, I had my first White-breasted Nuthatch visit my feeder today, which was quite exciting. I've had loads of Chickadees and Titmice and Snowbirds, and even a couple of Cardinals and Blue Jays.

So why am I still feeling so stressed. I haven't gone grocery shopping for Thanksgiving yet (+4 stress points), the kitchen isn't finished (+7 stress points), and ... wait for the kicker... I was guilted by my father into inviting my sister and her husband for Thanksgiving dinner (+100 google stress points, game over)

It's less stressful if I just leave on that note.

Meditative Thoughts

I can feel myself getting worked up into a frenzy, with the chaos at work, the stress of family drama for the holidays, the kitchen debacle, and general seasonal malaise all converging into a swirling vortex of frustration. So today I am listening to Gregorian Chants by some Benedictine monks to try and rachet down the stress levels. Combine with reading Siddhartha, I'm hoping it's enough to do the trick.

Listening to the chanting, it reminds me of visiting San Miniato al Monte in Florence, where in the late afternoon on certain days you could go into the church, down on the lower levels, and listen to chants by the monks there. It was nice and cool, the architecture and art are awe inspiring, and the musicality of the chants was so beautiful and relaxing. I am not a religious person by any measure, much less in the Roman Catholic tradition. And I know that in theory, the art and decor of the Catholic churches - at least as perceived by the Protestant strains of Christianity - is tantamount to idolatry and false worship. But there is something to be said for the peace and spirituality that being in such beautiful places inspires. It's actually one of the things I miss most about being in Florence; simply by walking into a church one was easily transformed from rolled-up stressball to person at peace. I think it would be interesting to do an experiment where one tested people's blood pressure before they walked into one of those churches and then right before they exited. I guarentee it would eliminate the need for blood pressure medication!

Unless they climbed to the cupola atop the Duomo, in which case it wouldn't really count.

Aw my Gawd - What's your accent?

I saw this fun American accent quiz linked today from Gene Weingarten's weekly chat. I took the quiz, and the results were dead on. Really incredible. I've frequently been told I talk like a Southern girl... which goes to show that no one knows what he/she is talking about.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The Northeast
The South
Boston
The Inland North
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes