My life is now complete

Wii is on order.

I can now rest knowing that Wii is jetting her way to me.

Free Shipping, No tax at Hamgo.com

It is a great start to the New Year. It is a Wii Year!

Apparently, I have started to speak Smurf but with Wii. "Happy Wii Day Papa Wii!"

Work?!?!

I should have taken today off from work. I had a good....I don't know....hour of productivity today. I spend a lot of time talking about my new love....the Wii.

Don't get me wrong....Wii has not replaced Precious. Precious is still number one! There is room for Wii though. "I am coming Wii!!!!"

Stop everything and read.....

"Are you there Vodka, It's me Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler.

This book had me crying with laughter! I forced G to read some parts. He laughed as much as I did. He compared Chelsea to David Sedaris.

You MUST READ THIS BOOK! Hilarious!

I have her first book "My Horizontal Life" on my reserved list at the library. I cannot wait!

Is there a name for it?

I have played a lot Wii the past few days. Love the Wii. I should be mad at Wii because the fitness test on Wii Sports shows that I am 79 years old. 79 frickin' years old. HELLO!!! I work-out damn it!
Anyway...I am sore. Really sore. My back, arms, legs, my wrist. My wrist! I have carpel Wii syndrome!!
I am wondering if there is a name for Wii induced muscle aches. Anyone know?
I am now begging G to buy me one. Begging. We don't have any money however G can earn overtime soooo......
Welp, we are driving back home tomorrow, hopefully stopping at the outlets on the way. No money but again overtime...
Merry Wii Christmas everyone!

BTW: My mood is better and I no longer feel like a hypochondriac (at the moment anyway).

Hmmm...Can I say it?

It doesn't feel like Christmas Eve. It feels like any other Saturday.
Can I say it? I am just not into it this year.
I am not being a model aunt or wife.
I did get to play the wii for the 1st time so there is a bright spot.
Maybe someone needs to knock some sense into me.
Sigh

It is 1:00 am

It is 1:00 am and I lie on this futon at my sister's, wide awake and worried.
Worried about...
...My leg pain and hoping it isn't Lyme disease.
...Seeming like a hypocondriac because I think a little leg pain is Lyme disease. Seriously though, it is wicked leg pain.
...My cats all by themselves. I am hoping that Zoe doesn't gang up on Gracie.
...Gaining more cookie weight. Why does it take 2 weeks to lose 1 pound and 4 hours to gain 5? It is just plain wrong.
...Missing the mark on the nephews Christmas gifts. We are pretty lame, so there's that.
...My Dad driving to Rochester on Christmas day after being in the hospital for a couple of days.
...The weather and wondering if I will be able to exercise in the morning. There is no treadmill here, so my exercise is walking the neighborhood. It is supposed to rain.

I guess I should stop worrying and go to bed OR I could go find cookies to inhale.

This post was written using Precious. I love Precious. She is feeding my obsession with traffic updates on the NYC Thruway. She is an enabler.

Parents! They are like children

Parents! Why is it that when they get a little older, it is like they are children?

Hey Dad.....I am talking about you here. Listen up!

We had a bit of a worry today. That is really an understatement. A big worry.
My sister got an email from my fathers friend wanting to know what hospital he may be in.

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! Hospital?

A little background:
My father lives alone. He is about 4 hours away from me, much further from my sister, and slightly closer to my brother. No one lives near anyone. In 2004, we found out by accident that my father was in the hospital getting open heart surgery. "I didn't want to worry anyone." He came out of that fine. Flash forward to today....

My sister called me. We were using land line,s cell phones, and computers to try to deduce what hospital he may be in. My sister has me on land line, my mother on cell. I was calling hospitals on Precious and we were both on the computer looking for hospitals in his area. We called maybe 10 hospitals. Finally, we found him. They patch me to the room number, a nurse answers and says ICU. Hello!!!!

I get on the phone with Dad and say "What is going on?!?!?!" His response, "How did you find me?". My sister wanted to know if we should call someone to take care of the cats. Dad say "I already called him." You called Cat Man but not your kids!

Here is the thing:
I shouldn't have to find you. I should know what is going on. I guess no one learned (when I say no one, I mean Dad) from the whole 2004 heart incident. Things are going to change.

Anyway....he is fine. Should be home tomorrow. I will be making myself a royal pain. I am good at it.

The next steps: a communication plan, a phone tree, maybe a wiki or blog for communication sharing. I am going to project manage the shit out of this!

Sheeeeeesh! Parents!

The snow can bite me!

The snow has ruined my big plans.

(Ok...so my plans weren't that big but still...)

I had taken today off from work so I could go Christmas shopping. Then....I hear about this storm! Really, Mother Nature, really?

G and I decided that we should do our shopping before the storm so we went last night. Take that Mother Nature!

I spent more $$ than I wanted to. Of course. I only bought a couple things for myself which I gave to G to give to me.

So, today, I was going to sleep in, go to the library to pick up "sTori Telling", read and watch episodes of the Ghost Whisperer. I did sleep in and I did pick up the book (The book finally came! I have been waiting for months!!!!! I can't wait to start reading it!).....that is as far as I got. Instead, I have been on the computer all day....counting the accidents on the NYS Thruway. I am not even in the stuff and I am obessing about the snow!

So...Snow....Bite Me! You have ruined my day. Jerk.

See....still no Holiday Spirit :(

Here are pics for you all to enjoy-

Tidbits and other randomness

There is nothing happening. Nothing exciting. It has been quiet.

I have noticed that some posts leave some questions lingering in the mind:

1. The cookies that I mentioned here actually turned out really well. I ended up resting the dough for 48 hours. It wasn't supposed to rest that long but I seriously did not feel like baking. When I did finally bake them, changed the baking temp to 350 instead of 375. Lastly, I put a pinch of Kosher salt on the cookies before they went into the oven. Damn! They were really good!

2. Gracie got fixed on Monday. I mentioned that she was in heat here. She is doing well. The vet said it was risky to do the surgery while she was in heat....blah blah blah. Like I really needed to hear that as I was leaving her there! Things turned out ok anyway. Last night she slept with me (she usually doesn't). I couldn't sleep at all. G and Zane were hogging the bed. Milo was at my feet and Gracie was on the other side of me. I had no place to move and I was sweating.....I digress.

3. The rash? Remember? It is gone. I ignored and it is gone! I guess you CAN ignore something and it will go away. Life as we know it has changed. Imagine!!!!!

4. I have no Christmas spirit. None. Zero. There is not one decoration up. No tree, no lights. I am just plain not in the frickin mood.

5. Cookies trays went to work with G and I. I over did it as usual. I was actually going to bake this weekend. Obviously, I am crazy. I will not be baking anymore this month. I am done.

6. How is it that on Sunday, I weigh one thing and on Monday I weigh 3 pounds more? What the F people! My obsessive behavior is telling me not to log my weight with Weight Watchers Online. How exactly is that going to help me? Why can't lipo be as easy has buying milk?

7. I am annoyed that The Fringe is in reruns until the new year. Has anyone else noticed that the lead character is beautiful is some scenes and butt ugly in others? Maybe it is just me and my hyper-judgemental ways.

8. I got nothing else. I am tapped out. I think "The Bored" is coming back.

You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone

1:30 am- BZZZFFFffffffffzfffzzzfffffffffffttttttt

1:31 am- WTF!!! Power is out.

Did I mention that I live in Upstate NY...home of the massive Ice Storm of '08?

Picture it......Winter, rain, sleet, freezing rain. Cold. Husband uses CPAP to live (so I don't kill him from the snoring). CPAP requires power. Continue....

1:35 am- squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee High water alarm on the Sump pump. This is going to be a long, long, long night.

G deals with the alarm. Secretly praying that the rain stops and all moisture is instantly removed from the ground.

I am cold so I do not move a millimeter away from the down comforter. I don't move when G gets up at 3:50 am and helps the sump pump by taking buckets of water and pouring them down the sink. I don't move when G gets up at 7:00 to check the basement and I hear "Son of a Whore, Mother F&%ker" Stomp Stomp Stomp. I helpfully call out "What is wrong?" The basement has an inch of water.

I grabbed Precious (she is never too far from me) and tried to get some info about the goings on outside. Seems that the county that I work in is in a State of Emergency. It also seems that the county I live in is in a State of Emergency. Apparently, I am not going to work. How sad for them....I was planning on showing up un-showered and without make-up. They sure missed out on a treat.

I finally dragged myself out of bed and layered up. Lucky for us, G's brother has a portable generator and they had power. So J and B drove the generator to us and we were able to save the basement, the fridge, and the 2 freezers. We were still cold but at least not flooded.

Precious took some pics of the situation but alas.....that damn cable is still at work. Oh well.

So anyway, I did nothing all day but obsess about the weather and the lack of power. Precious was so overworked that I had to charge her in the car.

We are very lucky. We got our power back around 5:00 pm. There are tens of thousands without power, still. Some may not get power until Sunday or Monday.

My fingers are no longer frozen.

Can't I just ignore it?

I have this rash. Do I really want to start a post with "I have this rash"?
It is on both arms. It isn't really a rash, more like weird bumps or skin bubbles. It is starting to spread to my hands. Here is what I can tell you:

1. It is not heat rash
2. The bumps will bleed if scratched What? Too much info???
3. The bumps are not clustered together. Could be one single bump or maybe three.

I was really hoping to just ignore the situation. Maybe.... look down at my arm in a few days and say "Oh good, the rash is gone. Proof that ignoring something does make it go away. "

Now.....I think I have a weird bump in my throat. Can I still ignore it? I don't feel sick. I am not any more tired than usual.

My co-worker said "Are you sure it isn't flesh eating bacteria?" Marvelous! Thanks for that!

What if it is Flesh eating bacteria?!?!?!?! or German Measles!?!?!?!?! or Thypus?!?!?!?


ahhhh.....what the hell, I will just ignore it.

Oh yeah....and Gracie is in heat. Yay for me.

I will be the first to say it....

I am not afraid, I will say it. I just don't get Facebook. Yes. I said it.

I mean, what is the point really.

I have a Facebook account and profile. I started out by keeping up with it and then my interest quickly petered out. I am just not seeing the point of going in and telling the world what I am doing at that moment. Does everyone really need to know what I am doing? How about....most people don't give a crap that I just ate a cracker. I mean seriously!

I seem to spend more time waiting for Facebook to refresh the page.

I have gotten some use out of Facebook; I was able to “connect” with some high school friends and some friends I haven’t talked to in a while. It is nice to see what people are up to. That being said…..I haven’t really had any conversations with these people, just looking at their profiles. So, did I really connect with them?

One friend and I write on each other’s wall but that is about it. I don’t understand the poking and the snowball thing. It just seems weird.

If I was really on top of things, here is what my day would look like on Facebook:

Shaz is grudgingly going to a meeting

Shaz is eating lunch with her peeps

Shaz is furiously typing her life story on the blog

Shaz is headed to Pilates

Thrilling! Right?

So what is better? Facebook or Twitter? I have a Twitter account too. I haven’t been on Twitter in more than a month. I am telling Twitter the same thing I am telling Facebook. “What am I doing?”

Why does anyone want to know?

Adventures in the City

We had ourselves an exciting adventure in NYC yesterday.

G, my friend BAMF, and I went to see The Dan Band at the Fillmore last night. We had made the decision to drive because the train was way too expensive and we would have never made the last train home. We considered staying overnight in the city, however, when I checked hotel prices, I was floored at the expense! Damn this holiday! It turns out our best bet was to drive.

I am not a city driver; I am a nervous, obsessive wreck. I spend a considerable amount of time with directions, weather, and parking lots. I found a GREAT website to find parking garages in NYC. What an absolute life saver!

So....we were armed with directions, a borrowed GPS, an iPhone, and "Precious" my Blackberry (yup...I named her.) G did the driving, I did the navigating and BAMF went with the flow...the perfect combination. It was time to party like 40 year olds. Whew Yooooooo!!!!

The show started at 9 but we decided that we should eat dinner before the show so we left at 1:30 pm and got to the city at 4:00 pm. We had 5:15 pm dinner reservations at Les Halles so we walked a bit and found a bar called the Watering Hole for a beer (Poor G was in dire need of a drink....the whole Major Deegan to FDR Drive switch is a major pain in the jack hole).

After some beers....we slowly walked to Les Halles. It was exciting, fascinating, enlightening, and cold. BAMF hasn't been to the city much so it was fun to point things out to him. We got to Les Halles early so we had more beers at the bar. (I have pics of all of this however, I do not have Precious's cable at home to unload her of pics). Dinner was FAB. The food was amazing and not expensive! We would certainly go there again!

We had about 1.5 hours to kill before the show so we walked up to Times Square. Holy Mother! That place was ridiculously mobbed! It was crazy. The lights of Times Square are so bright that you would think it was daylight. We had to walk through this weird bus parade....all the tour buses were picking up the holiday shoppers to go back home. There had to have been a good 50+ buses and throngs of people. We quickly got through that mess.....we are not one for huge crowds.

We got to the Fillmore about 8:30 pm.....was a really cool, inviting space. It is a standing only type venue. Really comfortable and loose. We found some spots in the balcony and waited. We did some people watching....this band brings in all types and all ages. I saw some very young (early 20's) to people in there 60's. Truly. I saw some incrediby obnoxious gaggle of girls. Somehow, these obnoxious girls always seem to find me. This one group....one stood directly in front of me, so close that every time she flipped her damn hair, it hit me in the face. She could absolutely care less. So, I moved over a bit. She moved over. The game went on and on. Then, the group started talking (so really shouting because it was loud in there) about the last time they had sex with "random dudes". Really? I am pretty sure that I do not need to be privy to such info. Anyway.....I also saw quite a few people fall down....drunk. Fall down drunk. I have to say, these were NOT the 20-somethings. These were the older folks. Seriously? Embarrassing.

The show was great! The Dan Band was fun and unbelievably awesome, and I wished they had played about another 2 hours. It was a great time! If you haven't heard of the Dan Band....you can find some of their stuff on You Tube. Go look for it!

G and I would definitely do it again.

So today, Sunday, after getting home around 3:00 am, I am exhausted. How did I do this party thing when I was younger? I need like 2 days to recover and I barely had any drinks. A sure sign of aging. I have to go take a nap.

I may as well be eating for 2….

That is what I must have been thinking as I engorged myself on Taco Bell last night.

Ahhhh, Taco Bell (G calls it Taco Bone). I love, love, love Taco Bell. We don’t go that much because it is not convenient and I shouldn’t be eating it. I think that last time I was in a Taco Bell was in February! Really!

The only fast food that I eat on a semi-regular basis is Subway. I always get the same thing, 6-inch turkey on wheat with tomato, green pepper, cukes, and olives with 1 line of light mayo. I love it!!! My body tends to reject other fast food. When I say reject, I mean it. No more McDonald's or Wendy’s for me. I get sick within minutes of eating it. (....that reminds me of my Sonic experience……shudder)

So, Taco Bone. I should have ordered off the new Fresco menu…low fat…blah blah blah….instead I ordered the T6 (this Taco Bell is a Long John Silvers/Taco Bell combo restaurant) AND a Caramel Apple Empanada.

The T6 is 2 Chalupas and a taco. There is something about the Chalupa that I just adore. I don’t know if it is the fried shell or the sour cream/fried shell taste…..whatever it is, I want to bath in it. I ate them very slowly so that I could savor every bite. I ate half of the soft taco and gave the rest to G. I, then, thoroughly enjoyed the apple empanada. I will say it…I am not afraid to…the Caramel Apple Empanada is WAY BETTER then McDonald's Apple Pie. Yeah…..I said it.

As I was eating (gorging) my Taco Bell, I did consider that I am on Weight Watchers. I am allowed 20 points a day. I considered it and then dismissed it. Hey, this tasty feast was already ordered and in my mouth. Low and behold, my body does not, I repeat, does not reject it. It is a sign.

Fast forward to today…..today I need to enter into my Points Tracker what I had for dinner last night. I am a little scared and a little intrigued…..what kind of calorie/fat mess did I consume last night? The verdict:

1135 calories
63 grams of fat
27 points

Holy Mother of Monkey Love!!!!! What in the hell have I done to myself? I had more than a day’s worth of points in one meal! The treadmill this morning only killed 343 calories….that was about 45 minutes. I guess I need to run a marathon to dispel the remaining calories.

So I am at a cross roads. On one hand: I loved eating that food. It was super and tasty and I did not feel guilty about it last night. On the other hand: I ate more points that is allowed for a normal human being.

My final thought is this…….my body must have been craving greasy empty calories. You know how children crave things like milk….it is all because their body needs it. That is what went on here. My body needed it.

That is my story and I am sticking to it.

See you next year Taco Bone…..I will miss you.

Cats like cookies

Who knew? Cats like cookies.

I was baking pedestrian chip cookies last night (you know.....chocolate chip). I had made the dough on Saturday and I just got around to baking them. It was about 8:00 pm last night and I was scooping the dough out of the bowl and I turn around and Gracie has her head in the bowl, grabbing a chunk of dough. The cat is a pig, I am telling you. Anyway....I extensively examined the bowl checking for cat weirdness....there wasn't any....however these cookies will not be on the cookie trays this year.

So....ha ha....Gracie likes dough. I went back to the baking routine.....I heard growling and saw this:

This cat is a pistol! No, cat worriers...she did not eat the whole cookie.

I had to keep an eye on her for the next hour because she kept coming back for more.

After a while she resorted to trying to eat the cookbook and then, quite pleased with herself...sat down on the directTV box to rest and watch Queer Eye on FLN.

Zoe watched the whole thing with complete disdain. "That little one is a complete moron!" is what I believe she said.

Caught my eye

This article caught my eye today as I was surfing the web (and solidly procrastinating writing Release Management documentation).

Top 11 Lamest Blogs by PCWorld (a quick fun read if you get the chance)

Thoughts running through my mind:
1. OH NO! We are now being publicly judged on our utter lameness instead on privately being mocked.
2. Why 11?
3. Who got hired to actually go through the entire Blogsphere, read, and hand-pick the lamest blogs? I want that job.
4. Phew!!!!! Mine is not listed!

Well...now that I have you procrastinating....go to my favorite celebrity blog and read up on the dirt. I love the writing from this group....hilarious.

Quick side-note: Someone other than my mother, my sister and my cousin D read my blog! I am so beyond thrilled! I actually called G to tell him. Thank you VeryBadCat! I hope you continue to enjoy.