Yum-O

Last Wednesday a few of us went out to lunch.

We chowed on Mongolian Grill food. We like this place because we can each choose what we want, the ingredients are fresh, the service is quick, and you can get lots if you desire.

We like it so much while we were there, two of our other co-workers came in too.

Out of respect for the cooks, I captured only the grill. I want one of these in my home.

Won't you join me for a blurry picture of some hot and sour soup?

I like mine nice and spicy. Lots and lots of jalapenos and cilantro this day.

Good food. Good company. Good times.

I've said it a time or two before. I am blessed to work with some really great people. Love you. Mean it.

At Least We Are Alive

Our governor summarized it nicely, "Washingtonians endured quite the weekend."

First came the snow. Then the rain. Followed by the wind. Paired oh so nicely with rain, rain, and more rain.

We have flooding. We have mudslides. We have sinkholes. We have road closures, including major parts of Interstate 5. We have downed trees. We have some areas without electricity. We have washed away bridges. The National Guard has been called in.

Forecast calls for a bit more rain followed by a dry stretch with cooler temps. The winds are supposedly behind us.

Bring it on Mother Nature. At this point, I believe the Washingtonians can handle it.

He's Gonna' Lose It All

Who is gonna' lose it all you may be asking yourself right about now.

This is who...

What is he going to lose? Well, that would be his savings and retirement plan.

Where? Um, can you say Sin City?

Yep our very own McChocolately is officially on his way to Las Vegas to visit with a friend.

He's a kindred spirit in regard to gambling. Neither one of us do it so the chances of him losing his savings and retirement plan are pretty much nil.

It sounded good though huh?

Lets talk about the said savings and retirement plan for a moment. I'm going to let you in on an inside joke.

There we were. Dinner at Applebee's before the comedy competition. Andrea asked Ace a question (what I don't remember) and his response was "I have savings and a retirement plan."

Andrea's response was something to the effect of "Wow, you are quite the catch aren't you?"

Now that I type this out it doesn't seem as funny as if you had been there in person.

Anywho, I'm just saying, for a man in this day and age, with his own savings and retirement plan, does equate to a positive attribute in a potential partner for this girl.

Andrea says she has her own (as do I) and can take care of herself so it is not a selling point so to speak for her.

For me? Yep. It means he can take care of himself. That's attractive to me.

So, after a shared Jack in the Box late dinner, some TV watching (Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, the news, Chelsea Lately, and Iron Chef) we headed to bed.

Get your mind out of the gutter y'all. He was on the couch and I was in my bed. Sheesh.

We got maybe four hours of sleep. Early morning flights really are the best but getting up before dawn is not so much fun. Especially when it is raining, raining, and raining more with wind gusts to boot.

See ya' Saturday buddy. Enjoy the warm and sunny weather...I'm off like a dirty pair of PJs...work is waiting and a warm shower is calling my name.

Happy Monday everyone!

Weekly Challenge #9

This week's challenge is to eat at least one fresh thing a day.

A piece of fruit.

A veggie.

Something not processed.

Something not out of a box.

Something from the earth, a tree, a bush, a plant.

Your body will thank you.

I'm off to the store to stock back up on celery, cucumbers, and spinach.

NOTE: In the blender is a cup of fresh spinach, a fuji apple, half a cucumber, and two celery stalks. Might sound ugggh but it is good when blended together.

Marcus Won!

When: Saturday, November 24, 2007

Where: Silverdale (Applebee's) and Bremerton (Admiral Theater), WA

Who: Maricel, Channy, Andrea, Ace, T, Snookums, and moi

What: Seattle's 28th International Comedy Competition - The Night Before the Finals

This is what the text from Ace proclaimed Monday morning. "Marcus won!"

We were very happy by the results as he was our favorite from the get go.

Congratulations Marcus!

Of course now I won't be able to hear the song Umbrella and not be reminded of his act. We also need to see Labyrinth to get the full David Bowie effect he re-enacted. Nonetheless, his win is well deserving.

Now that you know who won, allow me to share our night with you.

Maricel, Channy, Andrea, and I started with a round of drinks and an appetizer at Applebee's. Ace joined us a little bit later on.

It was a very smart move to order this as it took over one hour for our dinner order to be taken. One hour people! Yes it is true we were seated at a table in the bar area. We did order one drink each. We did enjoy each other's company but one hour? It was not that busy. If we wanted something, she had to be flagged down and even then she was snippy and slow.

I guess we drew the short straw and were waited on by a substandard waitress with a little bit of an attitude. Good thing we were in good spirits or she might have received a complaint or endured the wrath of one of us.

MaricelAndrea

Channy

I believe Ace is starting to influence me

Ace goofing once againWhen we finally were able to order and received our food, these were our selections.

Maricel and I shared an order of steak fajitas. Channy ordered mini burgers.
Andrea chose a turkey and bacon ciabatta.
Ace got a bbq chicken sandwich. Getting our bill was yet another challenge. By this time we were running late and none of us were happy.

Again, two hours? This wasn't a four course meal. This wasn't a dinner party. This wasn't an European dinner. This was Applebee's in Silverdale, Washington on a Saturday evening.

After making our way over to Bremerton and hooking up with T and Snookums, we found our seats and I for one was grateful the show didn't start promptly on time. Otherwise, we would have been those people who show up late, block your view, and well...annoy you.

I think it is safe for me to say we had a great time. I know I did. Andrea says I am going to live a long life since I laughed so much.

The lady sitting right in front of me told me after the show I reminded her of her sister and enjoyed my outbursts.

I have one of those belly laughs that is unmistakable and out there. Used to drive my ex husband nuts but do you see the key word there, ex?

At some point during the show, Ace excused himself and returned with

Good call Utensil. Good call.

During intermission I got snap happy.

T, Ace, and Me Out of respect, I will not post the other pictures. We were goofing and some of the pictures are not that flattering. I like to get permission for internet viewing on those.

Anywho, the show ended and we went our separate ways.

In bed, snug as a bug, by 12:3oAM.

Good times y'all. Good times.

Come On! Update

When: Friday and Saturday, November 10 - 11, 2007

Where: Seattle (Capitol Hill, Westlake, and Queen Anne)

Who: Ace, his cousin, Anthony, his sister, and moi

What: Come On and the 4th Meal

If you remember, I updated you earlier on the day's events for Saturday, November 10. This is the day we saved our calories and snarfed on the southern goodness of Southern Kitchen.

This is also the day I was snug as a bug when I was summoned from the comfort of bed after 10:00 PM to "Come On!" so I trekked to Seattle without any of my girls to meet Ace and the peeps he was out with.

What ended up happening was I put my contacts back in, switched purses, re-curled my hair, did my face, threw on a shirt, a pair of slacks, my knee high boots, my leather jacket and headed out.

They were here. When Ace called the joint was not hopping. By the time I tried to find them (we'll get to this in a minute), it was packed and they were just about ready to go.

For the record, I do not parallel park. This is best for all of us mmmmkay?

I failed, yes failed, this portion of my driving test back in the day. I have not mastered the act of backing in to park either. To back in and squeeze myself between two cars is not going to happen without some sort of damage occurring, lots of swearing, white knuckling, and some nervous sweats to boot.

This was not an issue when I lived in the South. Texans like their parking lots and parking garages.

Here, especially on the streets of downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill, and Queen Anne, parallel parking is the norm.

Lets just say I drove past many open parallel parking spots on my quest to meet up with Ace and crew.

I finally found a parking lot where others had parked, asked a few guys getting out of their SUV if they had parked there before (I didn't want to be towed), and went for it. I pulled my little friend up next to the dumpster and trekked up a hill on the way to find them at Havana.

Looking to and fro for the address that should have been easy enough to find (yea, right).

See this picture, taken in the light of day, of the entrance to the club?

Find that in the dark of night. By the way, it is off the street too.

No markings. No signs. Little to no lights either. I was the one on the other side of the street asking everyone and their brother, "Do you know where Havana is?" Yea, good times I tell ya'.

Finally I called Ace and he was all like, "It is across the street." And y'all it was. But seriously, how I was supposed to find that if I had no idea of where it was?

So anywho, like I said before, by the time I got there and they assessed the situation (a long line to get in and a cover charge to be paid plus the alcohol they consumed and the dancing they were done doing), we headed out to get the 4th of meal.

Oh, all was not lost. Ace and I took a camera phone picture and sent T a happy birthday greeting from the parking lot.

Yes y'all, I drove up to Captiol Hill and then drove around to find a parking spot to walk up and down the same block at least a dozen times to pick the peeps up so we could go eat....AGAIN.

I'm not hating. I am just saying. We seriously ate our way through that weekend.

They all piled in my car so I could take them to their car. We headed over to the Westlake area, they got their car (Ace was sober so he was able drive), and we decided to head up to Queen Anne to eat at a place we had eaten at in January but weren't sure of the exact location. Last time we were there a cab dropped us off. We were buzzing way too much to pay attention to a detail like the name of the place let alone an address.

Somehow or another, after going down multiple streets and Ace breaking a few traffic laws along the way, we arrived at Mecca.

This was my selection of the night. Want to talk about some extra crispy taters? Those puppies were overdone. It's a good thing the meal was free because I love me some taters.

Burgers seemed to be the choice of the night. Ace, his cousin, and Anthony ordered one.

By the end of the weekend Ace's cousin was totally into taking the pictures. Don't you just love how he posed the ketchup for us?

Here is Anthony and his sister scarfing on their meal. Which they ordered and ate before we even got our food. This would be why our meals were free. The cook needed a break. He was working a double. To his credit he asked us if we minded if he took a quick smoke break before cooking our meals.

We told him to go ahead thinking it would be just that. A quick break. Boy howdy were we wrong. Like I said though they made good at Mecca and our 4th meal was free.

This also gave me more time to torture the hungry peeps and take pictures. One of these days I will get a picture of Ace not goofing. Do you hear me Baby Jesus? Just one good one please.
After the bellies were full once again we went our separate ways and headed home.

Good times y'all. Good times.

Happy Hump Day

Happy Wednesday to you and yours!

I have an exciting day of calls, number crunching, copying, emailing, and faxing ahead.

What about you? What do you have going on today?

Let It

Snow!

Oh yes it did last night.

It didn't stick but it was pretty to watch while the flakes were falling.

Of course, being out in it, wasn't too much fun because I was not dressed for it.

Yep, I decided yesterday wearing a long sleeve knit shirt, a mid thigh length sweater jacket, tights, herringbone slacks, and low heel boots warranted no need for a jacket.

Boy howdy was I wrong when I decided to go grocery shopping on my way home from work.

It was not so bad except for when the wind was blowing. Then all I could think to myself was "Holy hell. It is cold!"

Thankfully my sweater jacket has a hood. And I was counting my blessings I had a warm place to be after making my purchases.

I couldn't help but say some prayers for the homeless and the people working last night that had to be out in it, especially if they weren't dressed for it.

But then I started thinking "holy hell. It is cold" after I got home and had to drag all the bags of groceries up 25 stairs by myself.

Yada Yada I know...at least I have a place to live and the means to purchase groceries but living by yourself on the 3rd floor sucks when you have to haul stuff up and down the stairs.

The good news? The fridge and pantry are stocked again and they are predicting 14 inches in the passes today.

Know what that means?

We may get to go play in the snow soon. A certain someone I know wants to break out their snowboard. And I am always up for a road trip to the snow.

Peace and Love Peeps. Break time is over...and I have a two hour conference call starting in mere minutes.

Happy Monday

Happy Monday!

We might get some snow tomorrow night and Thursday evening too.

How is the weather where you are?

Weekly Challenge #8

This week we are focusing on our dental health.

The challenge is two fold.

Replace your toothbrushes if needed.

Schedule a cleaning/check up, especially if you are past due.

We are given one set of choppers.

Show them some love!

Lots of This to Come

My crystal ball says lots of giggles are in the future.

For at least 7 of us that is.

Ace, T, Snookums, Maricel, J, a friend of theirs, and moi are getting together for the night before the finals comedy competition this evening.

I hope you have some time planned with your loved ones too...if not, what are you waiting for?

Good Eats...SK Style

What: An indulgent meal

When: Saturday, November 10, 2007

Where: Tacoma's Southern Kitchen

Who: Ace, his cousin, me...and later M2 and family

We've talked about this place before. September 23rd to be exact. We went back to punish and treat ourselves.

We saved our caloric intake for the day. Literally, after multiple texts and a few calls, no one ate breakfast or snacked.

See, this is what we have decided you need, wait, make that HAVE to do so you can truly savor the experience and don't feel so guilty about indulging in the food we grew up on. Food loaded with bad stuff that tastes oh so good. Food that clogs the arteries and expands the waistline among other body parts.

Food like this...

Sweet tea. In a mason jar. And y'all, when I say sweet tea, I mean *sweet*.

And just like at your momma's, the glass never ran empty.
Does biscuit and country gravy say southern to you? It does me.

I had to try theirs. The last two times I have been there it was too late in the day and they ran out. But this day? This day the biscuit and gravy angel was on my side.

Allow me to say, perfection. The dish definitely gets my stamp of approval.
My main dish selection was the cajun catfish strips with cornbread dressing, red beans, and mashed taters. I shared my dish with Ace, as he shared his with me too, so I could be sure to satisfy the fried chicken craving.
Here's the fried chicken. Scrumptious huh? Ace likes his meals with greens, rice with gravy, and cornbread dressing. His cousin chose the whole catfish, fried okra, and red beans and rice. Later he asked for light bread.

Do y'all know what light bread is? In case you don't, it's a Southerner's way of asking for white bread. These two lovelies waited on us.

Meet Ruby (not her real name but what we affectionately call her amongst ourselves). She is on the left.

Talk this day was all over the place, including being shot at, and of course the obligatory smack, trash talking from the kitchen.

Good times y'all. Good times.

As you have come to know and love, we feel life is too short not to have dessert from time to time.

I selected the award winning peach cobbler once again. Ace chose the sweet potato pie with whip cream.

Once again, Ace was able to finish his pie and I ended up taking only a few bites and taking the rest to go.

We hung out, talked, laughed, observed, watched some football, and waited.

M2 and family joined us after we finished chowing on the grub. They had to make a trip to the airport and run another errand before they joined us.

I don't recall what they ordered and at this point Ace had commandeered the camera so just know it was more soul food.

There were lots of other pictures taken but the only one I can share with you would be this little diddy.

How cute are these Chucks?

The other shoe in the background is her daddy's.

So, after a bit more time in the joint, we departed ways. When I got home I reeked, and I mean reeked of fried food. Not so good y'all. Lets just say I promptly took a shower and changed.

I'll remember that smell the next time I crave the goodness of Southern Kitchen...

Happy Thanksgiving

Taking a moment to wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.

I hope you are able to spend the day with loved ones and enjoy the spirit of the day.

I am thankful for so much, so many people, and feel I am truly blessed for all that I have and have experienced.

You my dear internet peeps are some of my counted blessings and a part of what I am giving thanks for on this special day.

I leave you with what would have been this year's Thanksgiving card if I had not gotten sick and been able to finish them in time to mail with an arrival prior to today. I am usually ahead of the game but now I will be really ahead. Hopefully you'll forget this design by this time next year.

I got everything done but adhering the leaves to the card, filling out the personalized sentiment, addressing the envelopes, and dropping them in the mail. The finished card will contain all leaves with swirls.

See how much fun being creative and green can be? We all know being sick is never fun. Thankfully I am on the mend...Peace and Love Peeps.

Do You?

Do you do Black Friday?

Is the day after Thanksgiving a MUST shopping day for you?

Do you scour the ads well in advance?

Are you up at the crack dawn to get that sale?

Or do you head out before midnight to stand in line until the store opens?

I made the effort once or twice back in the day.

These days, come Friday morning, you won't find me near a store at the crack of dawn...unless it is a work emergency.

For those of you brave, or crazy enough, to venture out Friday, I wish you a happy shopping day.

May you find a parking space near. I hope the spirit of the season is with you and everyone around you throughout the day. Be sure to take care of you - hydrate and make time to feed your body. Wear comfortable clothing and shoes. Travel safe and go get those sales!

Good, Quick Read

This was one of the books I picked up while shopping with Ace last week.

I read it last night after I snuggled under the covers with the kitties.

I had not heard of the book until I stumbled across it last week.

Apparently Tom Hanks has signed on to do a movie based from the memoir in 2008.

If you are looking for a quick read or a gift for someone this holiday season, this could be a good option.

With that being said, which one of you peeps is ready for me to send it your way?

Friday, 11.09.07

When: Friday, November 9, 2007

Where: Downtown Tacoma

Why: To Celebrate Marie's Birthday

Who: Marie, M2, Ace, his cousin, and little ole me

How: Tacoma Comedy Underground Style

Marie, who is M2's Mom and close friend/family of mine, was in town from Texas for the week and Ace's cousin flew in from Tennessee for the long weekend.

Friday was Marie's birthday. She wanted to go to a comedy show since we had such a good time at the competition Tuesday night and was not able to join us.

So of course we wanted to honor this birthday girl's wishes. How adorable is she?

They all piled into one car and drove around. I met them here to see this dude.


They were running a little bit behind so I was seated, ordered and tried not to make a new friend.

I seem to attract the freaks. We've talked about this before. The saying of the freaks come out at night certainly applies to me.

Here's the latest one to add to the list.

His peeps tried to contain him but he was having no part of it. After trying to figure out if he had too much to drink, not enough to drink, was off his meds, or was simply trying to drive me crazy with his version of reality, the peeps arrived.

They ordered their drinks and the show started shortly thereafter.

I would love to tell you this show as good as the 16 we saw Tuesday but I am unable to do so. There were moments of comedic genius but for the most part, the amateurs were funnier.

Don't get me wrong. We had a good time and the company I was in was great both nights. Tuesday just offered more laughs. I didn't even need to get the aspirin out once.

We left the show and as is the norm, took a few pictures before we went our separate ways.

And then because I am funny like that, I decided to take a picture while I was driving home on a rainy, fall, Pacific Northwest night...

Coming up later this week for sure will be southern peeps eating at the Southern Kitchen and the Saturday night excursion out for the fourth meal and trekking across Seattle.

For now, I am going to crawl under the covers with the love kitty and just be.

Peace and Love Peeps.

Weekly Challenge #7

This week's challenge is to SLOW DOWN.

Enjoy time with loved ones.

Take a moment or two for yourself.

Give thanks.

Live in the moment.

Love.

Laugh.

Simply be in the midst of the chaos holidays can bring.

Love You but Let Me Sleep!

Princess above.

Jasmine below.


Neither one has really left my side, which is normal when I am feeling blue or under the weather.

What is new is the bickering between them to see who gets to lay on my throat as I sleep.

The key word here is S L E E P.

In the midst of growls, hissing, meowing, and boxing not much of the key word has been going on.

I love you babies but for the love of all that is good and right in the world, will you please let me sleep?

I promise there is enough of me to go around for both of you.

And y'all that have been here know putting them out of the bedroom isn't option. Howl and scratch central is more of an issue than what I am dealing with as I try to curl up under the covers and sleep. And sleep. And S L E E P.

Blah

Woke up from my nap with a sore throat yesterday.

The crud has taken up residence in my body.

15 hour work days and going out on school nights will do that to this girl.

The good news? So far it is not strep like last year.

Y'all say prayers and send vibes my way it says that way.

I just want this to be a simple sore throat and stuffy nose.

Peace and Love Peeps. I am going back to bed.

Crapola

I can be my own worst enemy.

I totally just erased my entire iPod library.

I was trying to make my laptop the primary as my dinosaur desktop hard drive is on the fritz and what do I do?

Erase it all.

Infotech or Geek Squad is 'bout to get some of my bank.

Grrrrr.