Busy!

This is a very busy week for me.  And for some reason my place of employment expects me to show up and actually work 8 hours a day.  They obviously didn't get the memo that I AM BUSY.
Last night I met Brenda in Temecula.  Great to see her.  She was really kind and treated me to a pedicure and then to dinner at PF Changs as a birthday gift.  Delicious food and enjoyable company to share it with!
Tonight...I wonder if I will get a Christmas Tree?  It is 6:40 and I haven't left the house yet.  I think I'm running about 50/50 here.  I don't plan on mentioning the tree again unless I get it done and post a pic.  Other than that, it's all talk.
Saturday was a fun but different kind of day.  Had lunch with Rhonda at Olive Garden (thank you, Rhonda) and then we went over to the coast to visit a little place called Tracy's Piercing.  For some reason beyond my comprehension, Rhonda wanted her nose pierced!  I think it hurt me more than it hurt her.  I spent half the time watching the piercing and the other half trying to figure out if the "piercer" was a guy or a girl with a lot of testosterone!  Jury still out on that one for me.  Is "Mel" a Melvyn or a Melinda?  Here are a couple of pics.  Not sure if it's visible or not but the second picture shows a long needle (3 inches) going from the outside and coming out the nostril.  I kept making horrible faces and Rhonda kept telling me to stop it!  I think she was about ready to send me to my room.  Well, in this case she would have had to send me to the car!  Cheers, Rhonda!

I found out yesterday that I was accepted into a book club!  My very first one and I'm super excited.  I tend to read the same types of books so maybe this will nudge me out of my comfort zone which is often a good thing.  My friend Jeanette invited me.  They meet every 6 weeks on a Sunday afternoon.  The person who picks the book, hosts dinner at her home.  Sounds like fun!  When I find out the name of the book I will be reading, I will let you know!
I am a little "iffy" on the whole concept of "online shopping".  On one hand, it's a few clicks and voila, stuff is at your door.  On the other hand, I actually like to touch things before I buy them so it's tough for me make those "clicks" on the computer.  And I noticed that almost everything I want to order is either out of stock or back ordered.  But I guess that is no different than going into a store and something not being available (which is usually my luck).  I was really upset when I ordered something DAYS ago...something that said "in stock and available to ship".  And then time goes by and all of a sudden it's on back order with no projected date of delivery.  I called again today and was told it's a specialty item - limited quantities - seasonal - and whatever else.  I finally just canceled the stupid order and I am not a happy shopper.  It was important to me so I am really bummed.  Merry Christmas anyway - I'm told it's the thought that counts.  I hope so.
Zoe is growing (fast) and doing just fine (proof below). In case you are wondering...YES, I do serve meals on clean dishes - don't worry about dining at my house and finding cat hair in your lasagna.  I promise! ♥

Opening up mouth to meow!

Really Zoe?!

Got Business Cards?

Happy Friday to me!  Today was the County Counsel party.  It kinda sucked.  The food was good.  I thought if the entertainment was as good as last year, it would be a great time.  Think again.  The head of County Counsel is retiring in January.  So they had this brilliant idea to combine the two events.  The holiday party and the retirement party.  (By the way, I did not go to a Holiday Party.  I attended a CHRISTMAS party).  How is listening to a guy who makes $300k a year talk about how he got his job any kind of a party?  It was painful.  They kept mentioning his brand new home in La Jolla.  WTF?  It's their 3rd new home in 4 years.  They couldn't find the right fit.  4 stories with a jacuzzi on the top floor outside.  Poor people.  Yeah - it was a fun party all right.  I loved the chocolate cake.
The call came in last night...the call that a lot of people hope and pray for!  Luigi's mom decided that she is not having Christmas at her house and she does not want to see us.  I'm devastated.  Really.  Actually, I feel as if I won the lottery!  And I do understand it works both ways.  If my mom called and said that, Luigi would have won the lottery.
The vet put my roly poly Roxie Doxie on a diet today.  Ok, so she started out weighing 17 pounds and is now 25.  Now that I see those numbers in black and white, it doesn't look so good.  She left the vet's office and immediately had diarrhea and vomiting.  I would too if I went to the doctor and he politely called me a fatso!
Going with Rhonda to have her nose pierced tomorrow.  No comment.
Christmas shopping this weekend.  Mostly online but I do have a few stores to hit.  I need to do a few Christmas cards.  I need to mail one box to Greendale, WI.  Nothing more to ship!  I have lots and lots of cookies to make.  That's about it - sounds simple (even though it's not).  Heading to Wal Mart tomorrow night to find the perfect tree.  I mean the perfectly cheap tree!  As long as it smells good, I'm a happy girl.  I know fake (artificial is the pc term) trees are perfectly acceptable these days but it's not real Christmas without a tree with twinkling lights and a wonderful smell!  I do have a major problem this year...her name is Zoe.  Not quite sure how this whole tree thing will play out.  From the havoc she's been causing, I have a feeling it's not gonna be pretty!  She's like a destroyer missile.  She was into collecting coins but she has a new hobby going on this week.  She collects business cards!  She brings them to me in the middle of the night and places them strategically on the bed.  Where she finds these things is beyond my comprehension. Weirdo! ♥

Christmas chit chat

So I stepped into the mall last night, took one look at all the people, and ran!  I had a plan but I couldn't see it through.  My plan was to be in and out in 20 minutes.  I survived 30 seconds.  I am going to attempt it again next week in the middle of a week day and see if that works better for me.
New favorite item of the month...Trader Joe's Peppermint Stick Green Tea.  Very yummy and I'm told, very good for me.  Seems as if Green Tea is a cure-all for all kinds of ailments.  And it keeps your immune system healthy.  And last year it was a different product.  And next year will be different yet.  If someone wrote an article and said that eating cow balls would keep us from getting cancer do you know how many castrated cows would be running around?  Darn near every one of them!  It's crazy.  There is a reason I am not rich and famous.  I have not yet announced a secret potion.
Still reading postsecret.com every week.  Some secrets are so very disturbing.  Every time I think I am unique and have strange thoughts in my head I find out I am in good company.  Some secrets are haunting and disturbing.  Its a good place to relate sometimes though.  Every now and again I will read something and say to myself "I'm not the only one?"  Very intriguing.
If I hear Santa Baby or Feliz Navidad one more time I'm not sure what I will do.  I can't stand all these "Christmas" songs.  It's really sad.  I'm sad that Christmas isn't what is used to be - now it's so commercial and promotes such greed.  I miss the Christmas' of long ago.  My grandma always made sure we had the world's best Christmas.  I would think it couldn't get any better but the next year it was.  And it wasn't about all the presents (although I got plenty of those).  We had those kind of Christmas' that you see on TV.  The full on decorated house with the big tree and Santa would visit (literally - we had Santa knock on the door every Christmas Eve - too fat for the chimney!).  I would leave cookies and milk for him when he came around again on Christmas morning.  Sure enough - he ate all the cookies and drank the milk!  Amazing!  We always had a big fire in the fireplace and lots of people would come over.  We would have green punch and green jello salad (yuck on that one).  My great-grandma made green Christmas sugar cookies.  I'm glad I have all those memories.  It's certainly not like that anymore.  And I sure do miss my grandma and my great-grandma.  The kindest most loving women I have ever known and loved.  Mimi and Nanny.  Mimi's birthday would have been next Tuesday.  I plan to take a poinsettia to my grandparents gravesite this year.  I haven't been there in a long while and I think it's time.  I am the only one in the family who has ever been to the cemetary.  I think it makes them sad.  But it makes me happy because they are just resting and I will see them again one day!
By the way...my Grandma did NOT get run over by a reindeer (it was cancer - obviously she did not eat enough cow balls and wash them down with green tea)!
♥

Reality TV - Hello Kitty - Incompetent Parenting

What in the world was I thinking last night when I said I was happy to go back to work today?  That was a truly stupid thing to say.  Work S-U-C-K-E-D today.  One of the attorneys was such a mean be-otch today.  I just don't understand why some people feel the need to be spiteful and nasty sometimes.  It makes no sense to me.  It's so immature and downright hateful.  And I know this might upset some people but I seem to have noticed that some of the worst culprits are supposedly "Christians".  I want to ask what they think is the correct definition and behavior for a Christian.  I got through the day but I really wanted to be home with my pets.
Ok...so I say I want to be home with the pets.  But I also find myself wanting to be home for an entirely different reason.  The most utterly ridiculous and wasteful reason to be home...reality TV.  Honestly, it's addicting.  And the more ridiculous the better.  I talked about my Facebook Games addiction.  I'm thinking that's not so bad after all!  This weekend I discovered a new show.  New for me.  I am seriously embarassed to say this but this is a tell-all Blog.  My name is Julie and I admit that I watched several episodes of...

MARRIED TO ROCK



Really Julie?  Really?!  Could I have found a bigger waste of time?  I don't think so!  These women are married to rock stars.  And this show follows these women around to watch them shop or eat or cry.  I found them to be the most interesting of creatures.  Here's what intrigued me the most and got me hooked.  One of the women (Josie) loves the color pink.  Everything is pink.  Her kitchen cupboards are painted pink, her appliances are pink, her clothes are pink, and pretty much anything around her is pink.  She decides one day that she wants a real wedding, not just the little ceremony they had the first time.  She wants a pink wedding of course!  So I watch these friends follow her around while she plans her pink wedding.  Of  course drama ensued as it does when you have 4 spoiled, whiney, fake-boobed, rich women walking around Los Angeles.  Bottom line is that Josie wanted a HELLO KITTY wedding.  Is that not the cutest but most immature thing EVER?!  What grown woman wants to run around talking about Hello Kitty all the time?  Josie.  She even has a Hello Kitty cell phone.  I'm pretty sure that women who love Hello Kitty have had some sort of brain scrambling going on in there.  Possibly dropped too many times as a baby?  Weaned from the nipple too soon?  What is it?  I admit, I had a lapse in my own judgment at one time and jumped on the Hello Kitty litter box.  I'm all grown up now.  Now I watch reality TV!  Hee Hee!  Josie got her Hello Kitty wedding.  Pink cupcakes with Hello Kitty decorations on top.  And I think if she gets any more botox she will soon look like a Hello Kitty herself!  I need an intervention because I keep thinking about this stupid show.  Somebody help me!  And to make it worse...if "Married to Rock" was not on, I was watching 16 and Pregnant on MTV.  What are those little girls thinking?  Makes me shudder.  Glad I don't have teenagers.

And before I sign off I have to admit that I get the award for the world's worst Mommy today.  The parents picked me up at a restaurant and drove me home.  Mom wanted to use my computer.  By the way, Mom does not have the internet because she doesn't need it.  Funny thing though...she is always using mine!  Am I a sucker or what?  Anyway, I got off subject.  So Mom, Dad, Julie, Roxie, and Cassie, all head upstairs to my front door.  Zoe is looking out the window...so cute.  Look at the cute kitty everyone!  Hi Zoe!  Let's open the front door and see Zoe!  So we all go in the house and get settled.  Bev is using the computer.  Hugh is on the sofa watching TV.  His dog is in his lap (she's scared of Zoe).  I'm on the sofa myself going through my mail and watching TV and e-mailing someone on my phone.  Multi-tasking.  And time goes on.  And on.  All of a sudden I feel a loss.  Like a piece is missing to my puzzle.  I said "where's Roxie?"  Dad says "she should be right here".  I look around...no Rox.  I call her.  No Rox.  I start running around looking for my beloved pup.  No Rox.  And I knew.  It was true.  I went to the front door, unlocked it, opened it, and standing there in the cold was my poor, forlorn puppy girl.  She never said a word.  Just stood there waiting for me like a good dog.  She knows I always promise to come back for her so I guess this time was no different.  I felt like crap.  I invited her into her own home and begged for forgiveness!  Yeah, I shed a tear.  Because I felt so darn bad.  I gave her a kiss and a cookie.  She is considering taking me back as her mom...

♥