December 26th - Year 28

I wake this morning to my beloved boyfriend grumbling/bellowing, "I can't find the sandwich bags." You would think I could at least get a "Happy Birthday Macaela!" before the sandwich bag question. Well, he remembered as he was heading out the door. I think me sitting on the couch opening my birthday presents from my family was a pretty good hint. We're not morning people so I totally understand the one track mind mentality when you are trying to function in the morning. Our trains were on different tracks this morning, his was "Damn it, I have to go to work." and mine was "It's my birthday, pay attention to me!" So he went to work and I went back to bed, I thought that 7:00 AM was entirely too early time to be up on my 28th birthday. And all was well again by the time my head hit the pillow.



At 9:30 I'm awakened by a very off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday." Apparently I can answer my cell phone in my sleep now! It was my Dad, Aunt, Uncles and Mother by Marriage, calling to wish me a "happy birthday." I thanked them for the presents. I have come to the conclusion that one is officially getting old when the previously funny birthday cards are replaced with the thoughtful tear-jerkers. Apparently parents get nostalgic when their only/youngest child is creeping closer to the age of 30. At 9:45 my good buddy Melissa calls to wish me a happy day and we talk for a good long time-a good long time for us is about 7 to 10 minutes-she has two small kids and I have...well...stuff. So after gabbing with her I figure, I'll drag myself out of bed. No sooner than I had started to make coffee, my mother calls. Along with the "happy birthday," I also get the yearly reminder of the day of my birth. "I'll tell you what, I sure feel a lot better today than I did (fill in my age) years ago at this time." She continues to tell me of the details of my birth like what I weighed, what I looked like, how my father didn't believe she was in labor but was quite happy I was born a week early because I was a tax break - you know the usual mother stuff.



While drinking my coffee I start to watch, Dr. Phil. I know, it is sad but I really don't like to miss the show if I can help it. And besides, its my birthday, I can do what I want. And then my grandmother calls - which completely surprises me because she usually forgets I exist. It is not intentional mind you, but I'm the only grand kid that doesn't live within a 30 mile radius of my mother's birthplace. Of course it was a "happy birthday" with a side of guilt, because it has been almost two years since I've seen my family in Minnesota. Maybe next year - but I'll be damned if I'm celebrating Christmas on my birthday (but that is another blog entirely.)



By noon I headed to the mall to see National Treasures: The Book of Secrets. Good movie, if you're a history and legend buff, which I am. I thoroughly enjoyed myself - I splurged and decided to see the movie in the Director's Hall, where they have leather-like stadium seating, assigned seats that you choose and someone who escorts you to your seat. I'm living the big life now! (That was sarcasm in case you missed it.)



I hit the mall of course, the one good thing about having a birthday on December 26th, you will always find a sale! Shopping on my birthday has never been a bad experience. At precisely 3:27 pm (eastern time) I rang in the beginning of my 28th year with a chocolate covered strawberry from Godiva and a medium cafe mocha.



I was afraid this year was going to be a bad birthday because I was spending a majority of the day by myself. I had never done this on my birthday before, and frankly, I was dreading it. But it was a great day, I didn't have to worry about pleasing anyone but myself! And I still got to have dinner out with Scott and spend time talking at a dinner table rather than on a couch in front of a television set. And I think one of my happiest moments is that for the first time in 20 years, I didn't binge on my birthday.

Here enjoy a piece of virtual birthday cake. Mmmm, tiramisu!

The Wait is Over.

I didn't get the job. They went with the other candidate. The one who is a job hopper. I hope the program goes down in flames. Can you tell I'm SLIGHTLY pissed at the moment?

Scott and I watched Christmas Vacation tonight, and Clark has a rant that he goes on about his boss. I feel it fits my situation. And thus here's the quote, with my fixes of course.

"Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like that guy, the one who didn't hire me, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there in the burg with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol? "

The Waiting Game...resumed

My interview was yesterday and it went really well. So now, I wait again...this time it will only be until next week. I will hear one way or the other soon. I was interviewed by six individuals, the Dean, four people from various departments in the college, my old professor and a member of the community. The member of the community just happened to be someone I used to act with when I was in high school and he was in college. He's the first person I see as I walk into the room and he smirks at me. My immediate thought was, "I've seen that man's bare ass across the stage!" What a way to go into an interview!

Like I said, the interview went really well, I was in there for one hour so that is a good sign. So just keep your fingers crossed. I'll say it, I really want this job!!

Waiting game is over...for a little while

I got an interview. I'll be in the 'burg Sunday through Saturday! Woo hoo!

The Waiting Game

I am the queen at the waiting game! It never fails, last week I was in a huge hurry to make sure my application materials were in on time and now I wait. I'm waiting for other people to decide if I'm worthy enough and experienced enough to be interviewed. It'll be one week tomorrow that the materials had to be in. And all I can do is wait. Needless to say I'm trying to keep as occupied as humanly possible. Thus I planned meals once again (Loaded Baked Potato Soup, page 30 of Cheap, Fast, Good! use half and half instead of milk). I also finished my second knitting project!

I learned to knit in 7th grade home economics class, but I've never finished a project. I have a lot of half finished scarves sitting around (one nearing 14 years old). But in the last month I have finished two, a scarf and a matching hat. I've never been one who can sit still long enough, thus why my projects take forever. But, Friday night during a particularly rough spell of the waiting game, I sat and knitted for 3 1/2 hours straight. I'm not one to sit still for very long so this was quite an accomplishment. Scott modeled them for me and now wants a hat to match his scarf I'm working on. This first project is a Christmas present for my Grandfather. And hopefully I'll be able to give it to him in person in the next two weeks! At least I'm being productive, but I really wish they would call and let me know one way or the other.

A cat can save the day

If you think about it, a house cat has it made! Someone to take care of them, feed them, love them, hug them, clean up after them, etc. But Ares does a lot for me as well. Today was a blah kind of day. I wake up to three cell phone messages, none of which were the best. The first message was from a reference of mine telling me that he/she put my reference letter in the mail...yesterday. Unfortunately, the place has to have everything in their hot little hands tomorrow. The second phone call was from my temp agency calling about the job I did yesterday, the office manager couldn't find the key to the money drawer and wanted to know where I had put it. Gee, right where she told me to! The third message was from the temp agency again asking for me to call them back immediately for a job opportunity.

So today, before I had coffee (you know what, I got so busy I completely forgot to have coffee today!), I was returning phone calls. Luckily the place I'm applying at will take a faxed letter as long as the reference letter will be there shortly. I missed the job opportunity and I let the temp agency know that I had indeed put that blasted key right back where it belonged, I almost added, "Tell the nasty old bat to open her eyes!"

Well after all this, I was storming around the house and went into the bedroom and there was Ares sleeping on the bed. Curled up in a tight little ball. So of course I had to hug him! And I instantly started to feel better. Nothing like hugging a warm cat when you're upset, and its even more of a bonus when he purrs and tries to lick your tears!

Frustration....oh, and a really cute polar bear cub

So I'm in the job hunt again. And a fantastic opportunity has come up! I am so excited about this job opportunity. So of course, everything must be perfect. Perfect resume, perfect cover letter (the bane of my existence) and of course the perfect references. References, that's the problem...I have a number to choose from, but I want this particular person to write one for me, who has in the past, but for some reason has been unreachable for the past week! I know this person has got my messages, so why aren't they returning an email or a phone call. And then of course, I start to think, that he or she is mad at me for some unknown reason, or maybe they don't want to refer me because they think I suck, or worse yet, they know someone else who wants the job and referred them instead!!!! (And before you think I'm over reacting, in the academic theatre world, you are always less than six degrees from someone else, so that could be a very real fear!!) So hopefully this person will return my messages, I will still go on to plan B references, but make sure the references don't feel like they are plan B's. :(

But after all this ranting I need to look at a cute baby polar bear picture. The Toledo Zoo has three of the four baby polar bears born in North America. It has been fun watching them grow up. The twin girls were out when I took my mom and dad-by-marriage a couple of weeks ago. One of the cubs decided that the den area was fun to play in, and there is a window right there. Yours truly got the best pictures! The cub even tried to bite me through the glass, ah, how cute! So enjoy the pics!

Cooking! I can do it without setting the kitchen on fire!

For the past week, I have planned and executed all of our dinners and lunches. I never had the time before, but since I've been playing house girlfriend, I've had lots of time. While it can be a pain in the butt planning a whole week of meals, in the long run, it ends up saving money and time. Go figure. I even had dinner planned and cooked by the time I got home from my one temp job. So for the last week here has been our menu.

Cranberry Chicken - this recipe was done in the crock pot. Apparently the smell of cranberries permeated the house the entire day and drove Scott nuts. I substituted the chicken pieces for boneless, skinless chicken breasts and it worked wonderfully! We had it with couscous and a salad. Quite a success, if I do say so myself. I found it in my Fix It and Forget It, cookbook on page 175.

Mac's Meatloaf - family recipe with my own tweaks. It calls for 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef, but we doubled it and baked it with a bunch of potatoes. We got six meals out of it! Works great for lunches. If you really want the recipe, I guess I could share, but I'll only mail it through snail mail!

Pasta with Broccoli, Sausage with a Ricotta Surprise - a Rachael Ray recipe. Sometimes it is a hit or miss with her recipes. The first time I make one of her recipes, I follow the directions exactly. But sometimes I find that the sauces don't reduce enough in the time the book says they should. Also, I don't have a lot of fresh herbs on hand (sometimes they are too pricey and the farmers market is winding down) so I substituted dried parsley for fresh. Also, use only 3/4 cup chicken stock (I used chicken broth) instead of what the recipe says. Pretty tasty recipe and not too bad reheated, this dish serves 4, but we got six meals out of if. It is on page 80 of Express Lane Meals.

Lemon Steamed Fillets - Desperation Dinners at its finest. I have yet to meat a Desperation Dinner meal that I have yet to like. This one is really easy and really tasty. Fish prices, being what they are, we went to Costco and purchased a large package of tilapia (it was 4.59 per pound, by far the cheapest in the area) and what we didn't use we individually packaged in snack bags and then put all the snack bags in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer. This way I won't have a fish popsicle when I go to defrost them. Very light and tasty and not fishy at all! We had ours with rice pilaf and salad. This is on page 278 of Desperation Dinners! They now have a number of cookbooks out, but this recipe was in the original cookbook.

This week, will be shorter as far as cooking goes. Tonight it's a round roast done in the crock pot. That will last for dinner and lunch for probably two to three days. And then a chicken recipe with feta cheese. Wednesday night is celebration for Scott's birthday so we're going out, and then of course Thursday is T-Day, which I don't have to cook this year. So I'll just post the picture of the perfect bird from 2004. (Didn't get one from last year, it was carved into to quick!)

I want a pizza....now!

Ok, so I'm having a crappy day and all I want to do is eat an entire pizza on my own. I'm not going to, because that would require leaving the condo, which would require me to brush my hair and look less scary, so no, not happening.

I'm trying to stay positive, but I hate looking for a job. I've been at it for two weeks now. You'd think the temp agency I'm signed up with could find me something. I've applied at more retail stores today than I care to think about. I've answered the same question twenty times! Whoever said that it is easy to find a job once you've had an education should be dragged through the streets by wild horses or NYC cab drivers, whichever is available.

And this is just the Internet side, tomorrow I get to go out and about and find the places that only want you to apply in person. Oh goody, I get to wear heels then tomorrow. I draw the line at pantyhose! Where's that damn pizza!!!!

I have a Bacon number of 3!

Everyone has played "Six Degrees of Keving Bacon." Started by some college kids the idea is that Kevin Bacon can be linked to any actor in 6 steps or less. So I got on the IMDB database to see if I could link myself to Kevin Bacon through Allan Kayser.

Allan Kayser attended CMSU (now UCM) my freshmen year of college and we were in the musical Into The Woods together in the Central Missouri Repertory's 1999 season. So on my own I linked my self to Kevin Bacon in 6 steps:

Macaela was in Into The Woods (1999 CMR)with Allan Kayser.
Allan Kayser was in Night of the Creeps (1986) with Jason Lively.
Jason Lively was in European Vacation (1985) with Chevy Chase.
Chevy Chase was in Christmas Vacation (1989)with Randy Quaid.
Randy Quaid was in The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) with Illeana Douglas.
Illeana Douglas was in Stir of Echoes (1999) with Kevin Bacon.

Pretty neat. However, I came across another website called the Oracle of Bacon, here they do the work for you. So I typed in Allan Kayser and he can be linked to Kevin Bacon in two steps, so that links me in three steps, thus my Bacon number is 3.

Macaela was in Into the Woods with Allan Kayser.
Allan Kayser was in More than Puppy Love with Lisa Sloan.
Lisa Sloan was in Starting Over with Kevin Bacon.

I will never be a homemaker...

Since I'm unemployed at the moment and currently in the throes of job hunting, I am a stay-at-home girlfriend. I do not know how the homemakers of the world do it. I am currently going through a list of things I've been meaning to do but haven't had the time. So today, it was cleaning out the closets. Talk about fun. I then made a trip to my storage unit and pulled out my winter clothes. Just the thought of unpacking all of those things and then restoring all of my summer clothes makes me tired.

This morning found me on the couch going through my recipe books and planning a week's worth of meals. I am glad, I'm doing this, but yikes it is a lot of work. The good thing is pizza is on the menu only once. So hey, that's a positive. But I think the thing that gets me the most is doing the dishes. I now have a routine of doing dishes! I do the dishes while I cook dinner. And I almost always time dinner to correspond with the time Scott gets home.

Last week, I swept, mopped, dusted and polished. I even found myself folding Scott's clothes last night. I don't even fold my own clothes! I also scrubbed the shower, I mean really scrubbed it. As in I was on my hands and knees with the Comet and a scrub brush. And yes, I had my hair pulled back with a bandanna on it and wearing mismatch clothes to boot! In my spare time I knit.

I don't have the energy to be a stay at home anything. I'm just lucky we don't have kids, I'm pretty sure they would have been locked in a closet by now.

The beginning of many...

I know. I haven't blogged in a very long time. Let's just say that I've been working through some things and the thought of writing, even for leisure, was just too difficult. In fact, I haven't even chatted with friends during this time either. I think I had to go into a hermit-like-state in order to work through stuff.

Ok, so here it goes. I have an eating disorder. I've kept this private for a number of reasons, mainly, I just couldn't deal with it. At first I thought if I said it out loud, that would be enough to admit to it. But I think keeping it to myself and not writing about it was just delaying the "recovery" process. So, there's that. I feel better now, and hopefully this will be the beginning of a beautiful relationship between me and my keyboard...wait that didn't sound right, oh well.

Oh, and I quit my job!

Weird Al and other topics

So, I've rediscovered Weird Al Yankovic's parodies. I now have them on my Ipod, so when I'm browsing, checking email, etc., I have a play list of his songs that is over five hours long. I haven't listened to it straight through. Even I couldn't stand it for that long.

Anyway, it has been quite an adjustment to civilian life. For the first time in 22 years I'm not going to school. I almost had school-supply-shopping-withdrawal, if that can even be such a withdrawal. Work has its ups and downs. Ups - I like my job most days, except when people aren't thinking and when my boss hasn't forgotten something that had to be done for the next hour. And my legs look great from rushing around the kitchen! Downs - I'm not paid nearly enough for the job I have to do. So, I'm torn...I want to continue working here, but I feel really guilty for not being able to contribute more to bills and such at home. But then I think of trying to look for another job and I want to throw-up. And if I do find another job, I'll still have to train someone to take my place, and yikes - I'd feel guilty for leaving a new person in such a crazy position.

And even if I find a decent paying job and it has health insurance (don't even get me started!) it won't start for at least three months.

But, despite those small things like money and health insurance...I'm a lot happier than I've been in years. Go figure.

Anthony Bourdain Blogging

For those of you who are Anthony Bourdain fans, check this guest blog out. Just had to share the laughs and cynical humor!

http://blog.ruhlman.com/ruhlmancom/2007/02/guest_blogging_.html

Bugs...yuck.

Today was supposed to be the day that I go into work later, but alas it was not meant to be. My boss called at 10:40 asking if I can open at 11:00. She was ill, and being that we are a food establishment, that is highly frowned upon. There are only three of us trained to open, and two who have keys to the shop. Thus, yours truly had to go in earlier than originally intended.

My boss has been sick on a Friday before. It could be in part of the partaking of drink and song at Karaoke night at a local pizza joint. Hmmm, was this the case again? Alas, I don't know, and I'm trying not to get to pissy about it.

Anyway, to the bug situation. Apparently we have gnat infestation that coincides with the spider infestation. The gnats are everywhere! We have looked everywhere and have become so anal about cleaning, that it can't possibly food particles that are left out. And those gnatscan get into anything! I swear, I think they can teleport through plastic wrap. I found seven under the plastic wrap of some bread dough I had placed out to defrost! I'm just glad they weren't actually stuck in the bread dough, rather they just kind of hovered above the loaves, I really wouldn't have liked to through out the dough because of some dead bodies.

The bug man, or hunk man as I like to refer to him, came and rescued us from the vicious gnats and spiders. However, in his destruction of the horrid creatures, he discovered a nest of crickets in a drain. Our mighty defender once again triumphed and dispatched the offenders quickly!

Alas, my story ends on a happy note. Just when I'm completely fed up with my job, my boss informs me that I am getting a raise. Not bad for 1 month on the job! I can say without hesitating that I do not believe my future lies in kitchen management (the next foodnetwork star, maybe), I think I'll be able to return to my PhD work after all...just not quite yet.

Where does the time go?

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I have blogged! Well, my new job has me working an average of 12 hour days, so by the time I get home, I'm exhausted. But hey, at least all this time on my feet is making my legs and butt look good! See there's a bright side to everything.

I just went to the ATHE conference in New Orleans, and I must say I enjoyed the conference and the city. The conference had highs and lows, high point--I remember why I do theatre, low point---I remember why I'm taking a break.

The ex and I had part of our honeymoon in New Orleans. The cruise we were on stopped in the Big Easy for the day. We didn't see much, just the French Quarter and the river walk. Well, the conference coincided with what would have been the fifth wedding anniversary. Well, during my free time on that day, I went to the same places we had gone and reclaimed them for myself and created new memories. I'm not erasing the old ones, but I'm acknowledging the past and embracing the present. (Wow, that sounds really corny, but you get my drift.) Anyway, life is too short to stay angry. If you spend your time angry, you'll miss all the good things life has to offer. Carpe Diem! (Ok, I just had the song "Seize the Day" from Newsies pop in my head, definitely time to call it a night when your blog triggers a theme song!

The fastest dishwasher on the face of the planet...

So today was my first day at work. I got to sanitize all of the new kitchen hardware. The dishwasher, is an industrial strength dishwasher. From beginning to end, 1 minute flat! If I had one like that at home, I wouldn't have any dirty dishes sitting around ever again. Yeah, but sure would take up a good portion of space.

Before I could run all of the hardware through the dishwasher, I had to remove all the little stickers off the stuff first. Now, I know I am new to this business, but wouldn't it make sense for a restaurant supply company NOT to put sticky labels on the items they know have to be sterilized? Makes sense to me...but hey what do I know.

Finally moved in, now to get on with life.

I have finally finished moving into my honey's place. Now "our" place, but that will take some getting used to on both our parts. Ares is testing his boundaries every step of the way. Just when I think he might have kicked using the furniture as a scratching post, he goes and does it on another piece of furniture that hasn't been covered with the sticky pads or no scratch spray. Today he has been in his carrier for a total of three times. From 5 to 7, then again from 8:30 to 9 and 9:30 to 10. He is now sound asleep. Just like with any animal, he'll adjust. If he doesn't then I guess Ares and I will move again. (Like I'd ever get rid of my cat!) :) But I don't think there will be any need to worry. The boys and I will just have to learn a new routine and figure out each others' boundaries. I know for sure that if Ares is in his carrier too much, it will have the adverse effect and instead of behaving he'll act up even more.

My job starts tonight. I was called this morning by my boss saying she needs help setting things up. So for the next two days I'll be setting up a kitchen. There's a good chance I'll be kitchen manager by the end of August. I have a chef's coat and everything. I'm looking forward to the change of pace.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is on our list Saturday. Only we're going to see it at the IMAX up in Detroit. The last scene is in 3-D. Not too much longer and the seventh book comes out! I'm going to try to improve my knitting so that I can get the Harry Potter knit book and make my stepsister a House scarf for Christmas. I think she's a Ravenclaw if I'm not mistaken. Someday I'll tackle Dobby's socks, but that might still be a long way off. Oh, dear...if I start talking about the different stitches in knitting somebody smack me!

Moving...still

Thus endith day seven of THE MOVE. Temperature was running cool today as was everyone's tempers. Exhaustion has set in along with slap-happiness. Explains the incomplete sentences. Day eight will bring the rusty moving van. Transmission could go at any minute. Windows don't work. Whole truck shakes when stopped at a stop sign. Hope the old boy gets us through the move before he dies. Might have to put it out of its misery. Uhaul would be none to pleased with me. Beer and pizza lie in wait for our noon break tomorrow. Five of us moving stuff, should go fairly quickly. Day nine will bring cleaning of the old place (ICK) and more trips to Goodwill. Looking forward to the beer. Mom brought Ares fresh catnip. He will be happy no matter where he is with that stuff. Mmmm, beer.

Ares' new sport

Ares' new sport is cat dish water polo. Lovely mess, isn't it?

I admit it, I'm a pack rat

This is a picture of the paperwork that has been gathering on my desktop, coffee table, end table and pretty much anywhere else with a flat surface. I'm cleaning out my office today getting ready for the move. I have come to the realization that I inherited a bit of the "pack rat syndrome" from my Grandmother. Just looking around the office, I have noticed that I have nine 14 gallon tubs going into storage full of books, six file boxes of files, another four file boxes of knickknacks and keepsakes, three tubs of Christmas decorations...you get the picture.

It is going to be a long day, that is for sure. Now that I've cleaned all this stuff out, I need to go through and decide what few things go with to Scot's, what goes into my storage unit, what goes into the garbage. Right now, I feel like crawling under the desk and pretending it doesn't exist (otherwise known as the "if I ignore it, it will go away" disorder that I inherited from my other grandmother). But that won't get things done either. I'm sure Scot will read this and say, "I told you so, you're a pack rat." Well :P !

The Saga of Moving

Some day, I hope I can be in management so I can screw people over! Wouldn't that be fun? So latest saga in the moving experience. I go to the manager's office last week only to be informed that my lease was renewed for another year. It turns out they never sent me a renewal notice, but yet I have a lease for a year because it was in my original lease. So I have two options, buy out my lease for the lump some of $1228 or take the chance that someone might want my place and can move in before the end of July so I don't have to pay the buyout price. They sent renewal notices to others, but not me, yet its my fault and I'm stuck with the price.

Well, the moron in charge told me to call him back in a week to see if my place being rented was a possibility. A week was yesterday and I called, he never called back. So I go in there today, and told by the office chippy that, "Well, he's the president of all our properties and usually gets over 100 calls a day, he'll get to you as soon as you can." This guy is a real slime ball, you know kind of a cross between a CEO and a used car salesman. Anyway he looks like the offspring of Allen Kaiser and George Hamilton. I've met this guy a number of times and each time he acts like he's never met me. So now, I wait, yet again for another moron to determine my schedule. I'm going to make such a nuisance of myself that they will be very glad to get rid of me.

To top it off, I'm trying to pack things for the move but don't have any boxes. Kind of makes things difficult.

Stupidity, it is a frightening epidemic.

I just got off the phone with my mother and heard the saga that is my stepsis2's love life once more. Her boyfriend is truly an idiot. Raise your hand if you know better than to drive through standing water. Well the idiot did and it cost a lot of money and once again my dad-by-marriage had to go and help out. This is after the idiot was pulled over in my stepsis's car for speeding. He got arrested because of a probation violation, and he wrote a bunch of bad checks. My first question is "Why would stepsis2 even let him drive her car again?"

This just happened yesterday I guess, so I know my stepsis1, who live in the twin cities doesn't know about it yet, so of course I emailed her. Stepsis3 lives there so I'm sure she's heard, but she's a teenager and probably is to engulfed in driver's ed to give it too much thought. I've met the idiot once, I wasn't impressed but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I would really like to call stepsis2 and say, "Girl, dump the sorry excuse for a person." But, since I don't think she particularly likes me too much, I don't think that would make a huge impact. Maybe stepsis1 can talk some sense into her, then again, when I was stepsis2's age I wouldn't have listened either.

Grilling with the honey and family

Today we grilled out over at Scot's dad's place. W has a nice gas grill that has hardly been used, so we are making use of it this summer. We're glad because W has also gotten out of the house more and used it himself. So anyway...today we grilled brats (not the small children, but the German sausage) and corn on the cob.

Altogether a very enjoyable meal. We have now decided that grilling corn on the cob in the husk is the way to go. Ok, so the first time Scot and I tried it...it was a disaster, we didn't know that you had to soak the corn in water first. You know, its that whole steaming thing and such...water is kind of important for that. The dog, Sophie, especially enjoyed chewing on the corn cobs when we were finished. I'm not sure who enjoys the cookouts more, me, Scot, W or Sophie. But today we learned that Sophie has acquired a taste for sauerkraut. I can honestly say I saw a dog eat sauerkraut...bet that's something you didn't think I'd say.

We stuck around a while longer and did some cleaning in the garage, you can almost walk in there now...alas those blasted golf balls are still there...someday, mark my words, someday they will be gone. A non-golfer owning over 2000 golf balls that are over 20 years old is a little, well, weird. But then again, who am I to talk, it wasn't until last year that I finally got around to throwing away all my notes from high school! W has graciously allowed me to store some of my things in his basement. With Scot and I moving in together, we must combine two households into one. What stays, what goes, what goes into storage, we both are facing those questions and I'm facing a lot of cleaning. Yeah...I'm thrilled...can't you tell?

See I told you I'd start blogging again!

Well bitchbarn cast, Scot showed me how to edit my blog stuff, so I won't be bugging you all with computer questions for the time being! I found a job for the time being. I'll be working at Super Suppers starting the end of June. Yeah! A paycheck! Also, Scot and I are moving in together, it should be fun.

I saw the videos of myself on Robyn's blog! AHHHHHHHH! How scary was that. Scot got a good laugh out of it though.