Random Wednesday

In no particular order:

• Since leaving my full time employment I’ve become obsessed with (a) Gummy Bears and (b) Vitamin Water
• Gummy Bears and Vitamin Water do not qualify as a successful (or responsible) (a) Breakfast (b) Lunch or (c) Dinner
• People who grocery shop at 4:30 on Wednesdays are fucking RUDE
• For the life of me I cannot figure out how my Husband keeps getting the “AntiVirus 2009″ virus on his computer…he’s gotten it maybe 6 times in the last year
• He wonders why I won’t let him use my computer.. (No way Dude….)
• Daytime television blows
• I’ve decided that I don’t work for the money (oh dear Lord… did I just admit that?), but I work for the social interaction
• Dear God… I’m BOOOOOORRRRREEEEEEDDDDDDD
• Being out of work for almost two weeks feels like two months.  I don’t know if that’s good or bad
• On the plus side:  My finger/toe nails have never.looked.better
• Every day I make a “TO DO” list for the next day, so I don’t spend the day loafing on the sofa
• So far.. the one thing that never gets done is the “GYM”.   So much for going daily
• I was highly impressed with two of the three MBAs I interviewed on Monday.  It made me very proud of my alma mater and the program
• I just had to ask my husband if I spelled “alma mater” correctly
• I’ve reverted back to my bad habit of staying up late and getting up even later
• It’s driving my husband crazy… I get it from my Mom (she does the same thing)

That’s all I’ve got.   For tonight…

Now.. I’m off to play some Mario Cart Wii before the husband MAKES me go to bed.   Bahhhh

The One Where She Saw Her Shadow

So yesterday… was my birthday.

And I woke up to this….

…which was nice since it practically never snows in Knoxville.

After waking up to a lovely snow storm that eventually left around 1.5 inches of snow in the front yard.. I headed out to a day of appointments.

I had lunch with a former adviser to talk about job options in the area and then assisted in administering mock interviews to some first year MBAs.    After that.. I had to fight with the unemployment office about how their system was FUBARED last week which prevent me from submitting my information correctly.

By the time I was done.. it was 5:00 pm, and I had spent my entire birthday being an adult.   Booooo

So.. imagine my suprise when the husband decided to take me out to dinner… here.

Squee.  I big fat puffy heart  The Melting Pot.   Since my birthday fell on a Monday, I assumed we’d go much more low-keyed than this.

I was a very happy girl.    And overall… it was a very nice birthday.

(More later on the ’suprise’ party my husband threw me on the 1st).

I know.. right

So you’re all saying “That Beeyaaww.. she’s not even working and she can’t blog more than once a week? I mean.. REALLY?”

Sorry. =)

… But You Can’t Stay Here

Please ignore the crazy hair.....

So on Friday… I lost my job.

I was laid off, canned, shown the door, given the boot, eliminated, terminated, ‘let go’.

I was not, however, fired.

So.. you know how big companies are about these things.  It’s all ‘hush hush’ and whispers.  So I can’t tell you much… right now.

But I can thank all of you for the supportive emails, text messages, twitters, hugs, prayers, and network contacts that you’ve all sent my way.   It’s a hard time to be out of work and with me not being relocatable.. it makes it even harder. But you guys have been great and my spirit is not broken.

Luckily the Husband and I saw the writing on the wall months ago and have been anticipating that this day would eventually happen.  We’re fine financially (unemployment benefits will run out before we have to touch our savings account), and since we saw this coming, I already had an extensive plan laid out.   The MBA-money monger in me keeps reminding me that the sooner I find a job, the more money I make off my severance.   I’ve already lined up lunches, network events, and meetings with several of my local contacts.

That being said, not having to get up at 6 am to get to work today was a bit odd.  Sitting on my couch, typing out a blog, not taking a vacation day or sick day to do so, is also a bit weird.   The last time I had time off like this was between my MBA graduation and my acceptance of the job I just got laid off from.   At that time, the Husband (then fiance) nagged me to death about getting a job ASAP, and when I say nagged.. I mean… one more day of it and I wasn’t going to need a job, I was going to need a good lawyer.   We’ve made a pact (and by we, of course I mean ME, and by made a pact, I mean… threatened to smother him with a pillow if he did) that he will not be nagging me to unheard of stress levels about my employment status this time.  I predict that lasting all of a week.

(God.. grant me the serenity to not smother my husband to death in his sleep if he asks me 30 times a day if I have “found a job/heard about a potential job/talked to anyone about a job/looked at jobs online/met with contacts about a job/cold called some random stranger to see if they have a job/begged and pleaded with anyone who would listen to give me a job”.  Allow me to see that he is just trying to be supportive in the only way he knows how, by stressing me out.    However, if you cannot grant me said serenity, then please make me temporarily deaf… until I find a job.    Amen)

I’m talented, I’ve got mad skills, and some company out there is dying to hire me.  They just haven’t gotten the memo yet.    Everyone’s support though, has been unbelievable… so Thank You again.   I may not need your money (yet…. seriously people.. can we go one day without the news of more layoffs???) but there will be times I need my blog to whine on.

This too shall pass.

I just hope we don’t have to move into a cardboard box off of Kingston Pike beforehand.   (Just kidding Mom.. we’re fine… REALLY!)

So… Lipgloss.. Right?

In high school, I had a bit of a lip gloss problem.  Ask anyone who knew me… I had a backpack full of chapstick and lip gloss, and yet… I rarely used the stuff.   However, in college, I tossed out the chapsticks and proclaimed my love for all things lip gloss. 

I was especially fond of this stuff:

But man.. this stuff is S.T.I.C.K.Y and I always managed to get my hair in it and then my hair would transfer the lip gloss to my face and then I’d walk around for the better half of the day with little lip gloss lines all over my face and nothing says “I still play in my mommy’s makeup” like little wisps of lip gloss everywhere. 

In 2006, I spent the summer in Austin, TX, where it’s a gajillion degrees, and I needed a lip gloss like product that was light, a pretty sheer color, and wasn’t too sticky.   So I found this:

And while I loved it (I still love it), the color options are limited and well… it isn’t very exciting.

So.. when a very close friend of mine starting selling Mark, I took the time to investigate what lip gloss offerings they had.  She recommended I try this.

So I did.  And you know what… OMG.. it’s the BEST.LIP.GLOSS.EVER. 

See

It forms a “personal shade of pink” depending on each person.  Kinda like mood lip gloss I guess.  But it looks nice and natural.  It’s just the right shade of pink, just the right amount of shine, and feels great on (it’s not a bit sticky).

The only problem:  I always forget to order the gloss before I run out and then I have no patience for the fact that once I do order it, it could be up to two weeks before it arrives.  

I know that this store offers a very similar product.  I took a look at the ingredients and besides some extra ’oils’, they are almost the same product, but it’s way more expensive (like almost 4 times more expensive).

I also know that this blogger swears that this…well… we’ll call it an unorthodox product makes the best lip gloss. 

What do you think?   Should I suck it up and just order the gloss and wait?  Should I try McMommy’s suggestion?  Or is there something else I should try?

It’s not my hearing.. it’s my brain

So.. umm.. yeah.   Remember the story about the R-U-G?   And remember how I told ya’ll I’d share my brilliant moments with you, when they happened or as I remembered them?

Buuwwhahahahaha

Last Saturday, I had to take the Murano in to have the oil changed and the tires rotated.  The husband and I had gotten a call saying that the couch was in and was to be delivered this week (It came yesterday.. more on that later) and since we still needed a few pieces to finish the living room, I thought it would be a good idea for the Engineer to pick me up at the dealership while they worked on the car (yes.. I take it to the dealership… yes.. I know… bla bla bla… no matter what you tell me.. I’m still taking it to the dealership) so that we could do some light shopping (we still needed lamps and new window treatments). 

Anyway, I left the house 20 minutes before my husband to take the car in.  On my way out the door I remembered a few calls that I needed to make, and I knew I’d have some time to wait at the dealership,  so I threw my bluetooth headset on my left ear and hit the road.

Fast forward 3 hours.   The Engineer and I have purchased new throw pillows, a side table, some candle sticks, two candles, two clearance priced picture frames, and a blue pottery-type jar.  We have not purchased new lamps or new window treatments.   He drops me back off at the dealership so that I can finish running some other errands and he heads home.   So I pay for the service to the car, hop in, and crank up the radio as I peel out of the parking lot drive toward my next stop.    As I’m navigating the ridiculous obnoxious Saturday traffic on Kingston Pike, I notice something was just not right.

I had asked the service guy to check the door panel on the driver’s door because it had a rattle in it and it was driving me crazy.   I figured there was something loose.   When I cranked the radio, the sound on the left side of the car was muffled and hollow sounding.    

ME:  What the Fuck?  Those A-holes screwed up my speaker.   For the love of all things holy.. I just asked for them to check to screws in the door panel to make sure they were all tight.  I did not ask them to mess with the Bose.   Grraaaaahhhhhrrrrr.

I proceed to drive down the road, while fickeling with the radio.  I moved the fade to the front of the car, and the balance all the way to the left.   AS.I.DRIVE.DOWN.THE.ROAD,  I feel the speaker in the bottom of the door.   Nope.. I can feel the bass and there’s movement coming from it… so it’s working.    I feel the speaker at the left of the dashboard.  Nope.. it’s working too.

ME:  Damn it.   They’re working.. but they sound like crap.   Hummm…. maybe I’m congested…but I don’t feel congested..

So while driving down the road, swerving into both lanes I reset the settings on the radio and continue to run my errands.   I make a mental note to get  more Vitamin C in my diet this weekend.  And I swear that the radio sounded just fine before I dropped off the car. 

………Are you ready for it?

It was 60 minutes later, when I was trying on something in  a dressing room at Belk , that I realized my drastic (but humorous) miscalculation.

Yeah… when your bluetooth headset covers your entire  left ear…. well… it kinda makes your car stereo sound like ass.   Apparently, I had forgotten that I had it on. 

I’m just glad that I didn’t go back to the dealership to pitch a fit. 

(I’m also glad that this story not only provided blog fodder, but also a good laugh to my husband and two (TWO) sets of our friends this past weekend).

UPDATE: The door still rattles.

I’m No Longer A Virgin

A blog award virgin that is.  

I got you with the title didn’t I??   Sorry Mom 

(I can’t wait to see what kinda traffic thats gonna bring to my blog)

 

I was bestowed this lovely award from fellow TN blogger, Rachel who writes Burning the Souffle.

Thanks Rachel.. for the fantastic (and pretty) award!

So like most blog awards, this one has rules, and they are as follows:

1.  List six things that inspire your creativity

2.  Pass the award on to 6 more kreativ bloggers

3.  Link back to the person who gave you the award

4.  Link to the people you are passing it on to and leave them a comment to let them know

 

1. Six things that inspire my creativity

      a.  My family and friends (especially my husband)

      b.  The outdoors / My environment

      c.  Books and Magazines      

      d.  Television

      e.  All 171 bloggers on my Google Reader

      f.  The voices in my head  (just kidding – no your not – shhhh.. yes I  am -           are not – shut up!!)

       

2.  I bequeath this award to:

      a.  Jenny at The Road of Life

      b.  Jennifer at So This Is Love

      c.  The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

      d.  Lucy at Visiting Lucyville

      e.  Candy from Legally Brunette 

      f .  The Modern Gal  

 

A special thanks to the 6 of you for helping me get through those slow days at work!  

 

And now for some warm and fuzzies…

I have several things to blog about this week…. I only hope to get to them before I forget them….(Buuwwwwahahahha.. yeah.. not likely)

But first.. some warm and fuzzies… and you can help (which means that you too can have some warm and fuzzies)!

***********

A… conundrum, if you will, presented itself to me this weekend and within hours a solution appeared, making me seriously question if the morally ‘correct’ angel on my right shoulder had finally gotten the best of the hot little devil on my left shoulder (however, shortly thereafter I threatened to smother both cats and my husband in their sleep if they didn’t stop chewing so loudly thankyouverymuch).

What was I talking about? Oh yeah.. warm and fuzzies

So.. as I’m putting away Christmas decorations this past weekend (Hey.. they went up late.. they came down late), I noticed that I had a stack of Christmas cards dating back to 2005. I know right… THREE YEARS!!! I hate to throw these sentiments away but I really have no use for them. So I did what I do every year and I tossed the card holder into it’s plastic storage box, with 3 years of Christmas cards still attached (on the plus side, when our friends come over during the beginning of the Christmas season, and see all of our cards, it looks like we’re hugely popular. Score!).

Two, maybe three hours later, I was perusing through my latest copy of Taste of Home when I noticed an blurb about recycling your old Christmas cards for a good cause.

Apparently, St. Jude’s Ranch has a Recycled Card Program. They take the fronts of used previously enjoyed cards (from all occasions: birthdays, holidays, thanks yous, etc), and they make new cards with them using recycled paper for the back of the card. Then, they sell the new cards in packages of 10 for $8 (while the website doesn’t say, I’m assuming the money from the cards goes back into St. Jude’s Ranch).

According the the website, anyone can send in card fronts as long as the card does not contain witting on the back. St. Jude’s Ranch will be accepting card front donations until February 28, 2009. You can mail your donations to the following address:

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children
Card Recycling Program
100 St. Jude’s Street
Boulder City, NV 89005

This is a great way to be a little nicer to Mother Earth by recycling those old cards you have lying around (warm and fuzzies), while at the same time helping a good cause (super big warm and fuzzies).. all for the low low cost of some postage!

I know, it’s awesome right!? Being green, getting rid of paper clutter, and helping a good cause.. in one big swoop.

This concludes my warm and fuzzy post. Now.. back to your regularly scheduled Snodgie-ness

Yay and Nay…

Yay:   I got paid today.. at 100% of my biweekly salary 

Nay:  OM…Effin..G  Working 5 days a week B.L.O.W.S

********

Yay:  It finally stopped raining and the sun is out in full force

Nay:  It’s literally like 25 degrees outside.  

********

Yay:  It’s Friday

Nay:  Oh holy hell.. I’ve got so much to do this weekend.. I don’t even know where to start.. and all I really want to do is nap and read

********

Yay:  I still have a job

Nay:  For now 

********

Yay:  I finally found (and purchased) that elusive navy suit I’ve been looking for that’s perfect for interviewing in

Nay:  In the past week, Kville has announced layoffs totally more than 2000 people.  That’s A LOT for our big “little” city.   That means I’m now competing with 2000 new people for THE.SAME.JOBS.   It just got 2000 times harder to find a job, and those employers who are hiring are taking advantage of the potential employee pool that runeth over.   In other words:  The mean salary in Kville just got alot smaller.  

********

Yay:  The husband and I finally have a gym membership and I LOOOOOOVE it

Nay:  I’ve only been to the gym once this week (at this rate.. it’s not paying for itself)

********

Yay:  Regular scheduled TV programing has begun again.  Weeeee.. all new episodes of Grey’s and CSI and Psych and American Idol (stop looking at me with the shameful eyes…) wOOt!!  The DVR will soon be F.U.L.L!!

Nay:  The husband and I finally got a gym membership….

Christmas Recap

** I know it’s late.. but lets pretend I posted this on 12/27/08… OK ?? **

Another Christmas.. come and gone. Is it just me or does time seem to slow down from about October 31st until December 15th and then all of a sudden.. WARP SPEED!!

So this was the first ‘married’ Christmas for me and the Engineer. My parents got first dibs at Christmas this year and they opted to come see us in Kville. It was the first time we’ve ever celebrated CHRISTMAS DAY in our house. Mom and I headed out to 6 pm Mass (instead of midnight Mass.. which is our usual mass of choice on Christmas Eve) and MAN OH MAN was it packed. We were late getting there (as usual.. this is my mother we’re talking about) and were hoping for a smaller crowd. We should have known better. Every Catholic church in Knoxville had a 6 pm mass scheduled. We ended up sitting in the unused choir loft (the choir for the 6 pm service was the “Smooth Jazz with Jesus” choir and they stood at the front of the church). Someday, I’ll write a post about the “Smooth Jazz with Jesus” Mass.. someday. Anyway… it was a good thing just Mom and I went to church and left the boys at home because we got the last two seats.

Christmas morning saw us opening gifts and relaxing around the house. Then Mom and I set to making Christmas dinner. We got to eat, for the first time, on our wedding china. FUN!

We all had a wonderful time and I was so sad to see them leave. With them living on the other side of the state.. we don’t get to spend as much time together as I’d like. (Read: I miss my mommy…waaaaaaaaa). Ok.. enough of that.

On the 26th, we packed it up and headed to see the Engineer’s family at the now infamous cabin. I’ve mentioned the cabin/compound before as we seem to spend an increasingly large amount of time there. The cabin is in the middle of nowhere, which thrills me to no end as it reminds me of the super small town I grew up in. The most noise you hear is usually from a tractor or a rowdy cow. HA! It was so quiet and peaceful and I got alot of reading done. Spending time with the In-Laws, Lux, and Tink was nice also.

We headed home on the 28th, arriving in the early evening. The cats were happy that we hadn’t left them for dead and I was happy that we only had one puking incident while we were away (both of our cats are over-groomers and tend to get pukie from hair balls often).

Now that the holidays are over…life is slowing returning to normal at Casa de Dos Gatos.

Now… for some of the loot I got. I know, I know.. I’m a twenty-mumble mumble-years old. Christmas should be about spending time with family and friends and not about gifts.. and well.. IT IS! But man.. this year I got some good stuff and I wanna brag share.

New Perfume

The William Sonoma Multi Chopper –which I used to make my apple pie.. it’s AWESOME!!

The first and second books by Jen Lancaster — I love her writing so much, I think might have a secret crush on her. Don’t tell my husband.

(picture from here)

A Coach scarf and matching gloves set (no hat though). It’s pink on pink and OMFG.. I LOVE IT!!! (still kicking myself that I didn’t get that pink trench coat last year… how PINKITY PERFECT I would be)– maybe I’ll check our Coach out here and see if I can get the matching hat.. I do have birthday coming up.

The Hungry Girl Cookbook- This will come in very handing later this week when I force the husband to begin dieting with me. …. muuwwwhahahahahahaa…

(photo from here)

A six-foot inflatable Penguin from the Dirt Diva — The husband is SOOO putting this in the yard next year!

A My Weigh Kitchen Scale – I’ve been lusting after this scale since I started doing the majority of my baking by weights. I can’t wait to make cookies… I may make some this weekend.

Dollywood Season Tickets (for the husband and I) — These were from Santa and all I can say is “WEEEEEEEEEE!!!” A whole summer of SPLASH COUNTRY!!!! (Hey.. you can take the girl out of redneck, but ….)

And finally………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Personalized Signed Copies of The Cake Bible and The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum – From the greatest, most awesomest, coolest Mom on the planet (Thanks MOM!!)!!

Really, I almost cried when I opened these.

What was your favorite gift?