Tuesday, May 30, 2006

it's tuesday, but really it's monday

top five best things about my weekend:
  1. sleeping in until 11:15 on monday morning rulz, 'specially 'cause i didn't have to be at work.
  2. it was a good cooking weekend. making green curry from scratch isn't hard, with the help of hot, sour, salty, sweet. plus, pursuant to operation kitchen clean-out, i just HAD to make some peanut butter chocolate brownies. they were really bad. i might have three more tonight after dinner.
  3. while miserably sad, the final hurrah for willy friday night got me good -n- inebriated. to ease the pain, of course.
  4. i got some knitting done on my new zealand blanket, aka, the longest project in history.
  5. toots and i had some good girlie time, complete with mimosas and craft projects. and, mickey had two hot dates to the davinci code on sunday. the only thing better than that to a guy, i assume, would be to have two hot dates who happened to be twins.
and now the weekend is over, and i'm back at work.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

fiber crack

i just ordered a boatload of yarn for myself and a coworker/coknitter. included in my order is some fabulous debbie bliss cashmerino chunky in celery and baby blue, which i have been drooling over for many months. not that i have any specific projects in mind for it, or the five skeins of cascade 220 also in my order. that's a minor detail. at least i have a purpose for the lopi bulky ... more cutie felted bowls!
did i mention i just finished knitting my first one this weekend?

the pattern is out of "one skein," a pattern book by leigh radford, a local portland woman. i had difficulties getting the pattern to work as-is...undoubtedly my error. it called for a 24" long needle, size 15. i tried this three times using the correct gauge yarn, and couldn't get it to stretch long enough to work. i substituted #13, 16" needles, and added 20 stitches to the cast on row (the only way i could get the two ends to join). it's much bigger than the pattern calls for in finished form, but it worked.


Monday, May 22, 2006

nose candy

no, i don't have a cocaine habit. that's just me sitting in my office with the worst allergies ever. will someone please get me oven mitts so i stop scratching?

weekend was good. going away party had just the right amount of silliness and mayhem (quarters coming out of people's noses, my new/old polaroid camera got a workout, rough bocce rivalries were formed). i finished knitting and felting my first bowl, which turned out very cute. and i won my last round of pinochle. all in all, no complaints!



Friday, May 19, 2006

update: ice wine, plus more on the neighbors and the weekend

i now know what happens when wine sits in a freezer for 24 hours. i still can't find the cork, but suffice to say that the freezer got a little bath in white wine. mmm, slushy. stay tuned for an update on where the cork ended up.

we met our new neighbors for the first time last night. mickey knows neighbor-lady's mom from work and has heard lots about them, so we felt we knew them already. it's kind of weird to think that in a town this size, we'd know something about the neighbors before they moved in. it turns out this coincidence was the tip of the iceberg.

whilst moving in wednesday, neighbor-guy was wearing a university of nebraska t-shirt. when we met them last night, mickey asked him what was up. turns out neighbor-guy is a alum just like mickey and me, (two years younger than me). he lived in the dorms near where mickey and i were RAs, so i'm sure we all crossed paths at one point or another. anyhoo, it's very funny to think we share a property line with a husker. he likes nebraska football a LOT, he says. we won't hold that against him.

in other news, we're gearing up for the last big hurrah (for now) with willy this weekend. he moves to wyo next weekend, so we're having a party at our house to send him on his way. today's his last day at work (WAHOO!). it's a big day too for toots, who's resolving a dental problem that's plagued her for years. she's going to be cracked out on vicodin this weekend, poor thing. but, i'm sure it will make for a kickin' party.

am i jealous of them because it's his last day or because she's on drugs? i will sort through these feelings today.


Thursday, May 18, 2006

ice wine

toots and willy brought over a bottle of wine last night to have with dinner (lettuce wraps, cheese platter and salmon pufflets which looked like a tuffet which is something else, but not as tastee as the pufflets). so, we didn't end up drinking the one i had been chilling. in the freezer. which is where it still is as of right now.

question: does wine freeze, and if so, will it thaw out without being ruined?

in other news, our new neighbors moved in last night. i'm excited that it gave me another opportunity to move inventory from my pantry (operation kitchen clean-out continues). as a "welcome to the neighborhood" kind of thing, we're giving them a bag of breakfast fixin's -- homemade chokecherry syrup and pancake mix.

the clean-out is going well. this weekend's going to be a key time for me to re-evaluate what we have left, and decide what i can make with the remaining items. these include: kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, white beans, condensed milk, oatmeal, cereal, hot dog buns, and a crapload of condiments. any ideas for recipes?

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

highlight of my day

so, is it a sad thing that the highlight of my day has been the sandwich i made for myself at lunch? i mean, don't get me wrong, it was delicious -- sesame seed bread, turkey, ham, provolone, and a walnut pesto spread. but this is the only good thing that happened today. sigh.


Wednesday, May 10, 2006

mishmash

it's been the busiest week already, and it's only wednesday. what to do?!

last night we went to what was supposed to be a simon and garfunkel showdown between two bands. instead it turned into a hoedown, because one of the simons bailed. was quite a fun time despite his absence. i've not listened to s&g in awhile, and hearing the music again reminded me how cool paul simon's lyrics are. he's such a poet (and a one-man band, if you catch the reference).

the mariachi band is back tonight. it's so very festive outside. not to mention that the weather is gorgeous. i've got the window open and the fresh breeze is blowing in. i'm wearing my camo pants. i'm drinking a lovely cab, or is it shiraz? no matter.... life is pretty good all in all.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

office space

this morning i finally set up my office at my house. it's in a small room off the main home office, which is currently used by mickey.
please note the mrs. butterworth's lamp on the table.

this morning i'm working in my space, he in his. and thus, the office jokes begin...

me: hey, can you please print this for me?
mickey: sure, just email it to me. i haven't got the printer networked yet.
me: (send the document via email, along with a lewd suggestion to start an intra-office affair.)

(a few minutes go by.)

mickey: um, yeah, you left this on the printer. (drops the document on my desk.)

(a few more minutes pass.)

me: (yelling into his office.) hey, did you read that article....
mickey: what did you say?
me: we need to get office phones so we don't have to yell.

(a few more minutes pass. the house phone rings.)

me: please hold all my calls.

it's cracking me up. i can't wait to do a staff meeting. assuredly it will be more fun than the ones at the 8-5 job. i think i'm going to go ask mickey to run out and get me a cup of coffee and a scone, just to see what he says.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

lame-ass weekend

mickey, willy o'shea and rod cochrane are out today on their MAX bar crawl. they're taking the max from the dancin' bare in no-po, hopping off at each stop between there and goose hollow to have a cocktail at the nearest bar. for those of you who know what no-po is like, they are assuredly going to be shit-canned by the time they get downtown. (there are a whole lotta bars up here, folks.) the saving grace is that willy has to be in decent shape to compete at a ping-pong tournament tonight for the national college for naturopathic medicine. i'm placing bets on the chinese docs who are his opponent. nothing personal.

while they are out carousing and making general meyhem, here i am working on a lovely saturday (it's cloudy, but warm-ish, but who cares, it's SATURDAY for chrissake). it's not all bad, though. i'm enjoying the use of double-d's office today, which rules, i had a rockin' chai tea latte from foxfire, and just heard faith no more's 'epic' for the first time in probably five years. i guess there is a bright side to working.


we had a lovely dinner last night at willy's and toot's house. burritos and margs for cinco de mayo. so good. they do this thing where they combine spicy meat with sweet dates, and it tastes amazing. to top off the meal, toots made a black bean cake for dessert. sounds sorta weird but it was extremely tasty. must get recipe.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

hey, where'd my legs go?

i'm the proud new owner of a pair of camouflage capri pants. i've wanted a pair for a couple years now and just yesterday i found the perfect pair. mickey likes to joke about them, of course. having been a military man, he doesn't understand the fashion potential of camo, as he only wears his air force issued pair for yard work. it's very sad, really.

i'm slowly getting my lappy configured with my personal settings, and also uploading all the software i need on it, including my camera software. hopefully this weekend i'll get it loaded, and then i'll post some photos of the camo pants and last weekend's trip to the deschutes. here's a teaser: the trip involved pole dancing, gymnastics, and drunken card games. stay tuned....

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

the blunder down under

last night i heard that keith richards was in a hospital in auckland, new zealand following not one, but two accidents in neighboring fiji. while on holiday, keith allegedly was in a jet-ski accident. this was immediately after .... wait for it ... he fell out of a coconut tree.

so the fall from the tree didn't phase ol' keith. it takes TWO accidents to take him down. hard core.

rumor has it he has a concussion. doctors on the case cite
symptoms of a concussion as tiredness, poor concentration, irritability, dizziness, clumsiness, eye problems and headaches. my question is: how could anyone tell whether this dino-rocker had a concussion or was just being his normal self? regardless, he's causing quite a stir in auckland. sounds like there might have even been a concert in the recovery wing, gauging from reports of several guitars being brought into the ward. kick-ass.