The Movies

That picture? The one that I have used here before, and also use as my netbook wallpaper from time to time (I have a shuffle feature that changes between about a dozen pictures that I like) showed up in a movie that we watched this evening, "Couples Retreat". And that gave me a way to look it up, googling where that movie was filmed. Turns out its the St. Regis resort in Bora Bora. And since I don't believe in coincidences, its obvious that the universe is conspiring to get me to go there....sending all of these not so subtle messages to me like that. LOL. I get it. I hear ya. Now just conspire to send me the cash, and the time off of work and I swear I will go there without complaint. I promise.

And other movie stuff...We went to see Iron Man 2 this afternoon. I know, I know....super hero action movie. But its actually better than that. First of all Robert Downey Jr. is both HOT and hilariously excellent in his role as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. But its just a fun movie. We rented the first Iron Man last night. We saw it when it first came out, but thats been a while ago. I'm kind of glad that we did re-watch it, because Part 2 picks up right where the first one left off. It wouldn't be a very cohesive story if you didn't see them both, and in order. It was a good time though, and hot buttered popcorn was also part of the deal. It was so weird because there were only 8 people in the whole theatre. And it was stadium seating...LOL. That is the benefit of going on a weekday afternoon as opposed to weekends.

Also? Bruce wants an Iron Man suit for Christmas. If anybody can help me figure out how to make that happen, then please let me know.....Haha.

Bad Dreams

I had this awful dream last night. Bruce had a pet rattlesnake and you KNOW how phobic I am about snakes. This was a little one, but still...it was a snake, and a poisonous one at that. He was really insistent on keeping it, and all I could worry about was the cats, and how they might try to play with it and get bitten. So, I kept my eye on this awful little thing, round the clock, ALL the time. I had to know where it was and what it was up to every single minute of the day and night. But it was making me exhausted, so Bruce agreed to put it in an aquarium, so it wouldn't be slithering around the house. We apparently had an aquarium, but we had to find it, and in those brief couple of minutes while we were searching, this damned snake disappeared.

Anyway, a house-wide search was on. I remember that creepy, awful feeling of kneeling down to peek under beds and under furniture, not knowing if the snake was going to be right there at face level ready to strike at me. We couldn't find it. Bruce finally decided to check this heat vent that was weirdly placed in our study, in the wall...about knee high. He used a screwdriver to open the vent, and to my absolute horror dozens and dozens of these rattlesnakes just started falling out onto the floor. They were slithering away in all directions, under furniture, over my feet....I was screaming and desperately trying to see where the cats were. I am surprised I didn't wake Bruce up by screaming out loud in my sleep. LOL.

And all of this nightmarish trauma probably came from the snake we saw on Sunday. We took a walk on the path that runs around the 17 acres of trees that we have in back of our house. At one point, Bruce stopped me and pointed to a spot about 8 feet away and said, "Look, its a snake". I saw this little thing but it wasn't moving, so I said, "No its not. Its just a twig." But Bruce stomped his foot and the thing disappeared in a flash. It was probably no bigger than a pencil. I don't know for sure, because all we could see is its head sticking out of some tall grass. But it was definitely small. And Bruce swears it wasn't poisonous. He said he could see by the shape of its head. And even though it was tiny, I had to fight the urge to run back to the house (probably about 1/4 mile away at that point). I didn't, and I did finish our walk, but I had the most awful uneasy feeling after that. We were walking side by side....but then I made him walk in front, so he could stomp away all the snakes. Ugh. I am not sure that he believes me, but any kind of a snake-sighting, even the ones on television usually make me have bad dreams afterwards. I feel so violated.

Time for a Quick Rant....

Things that get all over my nerves:

- Skin care commercials using 18 year old models with flawless skin to convince me that this expensive cream, or soap, or lotion will make me look younger. Seriously, if it really worked, and the model looked any younger, she would be in diapers. BIG, HUGE advertising FAIL as far as I am concerned. Show me a mature woman with great skin and then I might consider trying your product.

-Insurance agents. We made the monumental mistake of showing a smidgen of interest in taking out another life insurance policy when we discovered that in a few years (I can't remember just when it is) our policy that we have with our jobs will start to increase in cost. By retirement it will be outrageous. So yeah, it makes good sense to look into these things, but Oh My God....these people will NOT leave us alone.
They call, they leave messages continually. Even on weekends. Do these people ever take a weekend off?

-Strangers in public who act a little too chatty and overly friendly. Maybe I am too reserved, but I just don't want to engage in long, drawn-out, intimate conversations with someone that I do NOT know. I don't want to know your life's history, and I sure as hell do NOT want to share the details of mine. I mean, I realize that some people are genuinely open and outgoing. And that is probably not a bad thing. But I am not and it makes me really uneasy when you force me into a discussion that is any more involved than maybe a quick comment on the weather.

-Shopping online at stores that do not keep their website updated. I don't know how or why, but some places (like Coldwater Creek) will know the minute that you try to add something to your cart that is no longer in stock, unavailable, on back order...etc. And it shows up so you can know whether or not you can make the purchase. Other sites...not so much. If some stores can do it then there has to be a way. Its frustrating to check out, submit a payment, and then receive an email a day or so later saying that part of my order can't be had. Ugh.

-And speaking of online shopping, it also gets on my nerves when certain sites (like Best Buy) won't disclose the price until you add it to your cart. I know there is a reason for that. I actually read the reason for it, and it made a certain amount of sense. But I can't remember why they do that, and even if there is a good reason, it still annoys me.

And the rant is over for now. LOL. Oh except I forgot: Mondays get all over my nerves too. It seems like there are at least 2 or 3 of them every single week. Whats up with that? I just wish I was here:

To All the Mothers

To anyone who has a child, or anyone who has a mother (that should about cover it without leaving anyone out...right?), I hope you have a nice Mother's Day this weekend.

It's not one of my favorite holidays, as it kind of feels like the world rubs it in my face that my own Mother is no longer alive and with me. But, you know, life goes on and there are other things to celebrate. We have Barb, and I also feel very lucky to have my children. I enjoyed being a Mom. I just wish it wasn't such an overly commercial holiday. It starts just after Valentines....the advertisements for diamond necklaces, and so forth and so on. I never really thought of Moms requiring diamonds in compensation for their never-ending duties. I'm sure it doesn't hurt, but still...

Anyway its supposed to be nice weather, and Stephen and Hannia are grilling out for me at their house on Sunday. Yay! A day to not have to cook is always a wonderful thing for me. I just wish Erica could be home. But, she is working on a presentation that she has to give in San Diego in a couple of weeks, so it just can't happen. We are hoping to get up there to visit her and do a river tubing trip sometime in the early part of summer, so I can see her then. That tubing was a blast last year. I have been dying to get a chance to do it again.

And now for something entirely random....Vixen, our black cat, steals things. LOL.
Seriously. I have never known a cat to do that. But she is always on the look out for small items and trinkets that she can pick up in her mouth, and then she carries them off and hides them someplace. Usually under rugs. She LOVES to poke things up underneath a rug. I have no idea why. She takes jewelry (I am going to have to be more careful that she doesn't have access to anything important), and keys, and hair clips. She also loves rubber bands, bread bag ties, and drinking straws. I have no idea what Ana thinks when she is cleaning. Probably that we are crazy people who store jewelry and trash underneath our rugs??? Doesn't everybody do that? She has cats, too, so she probably gets it. I can't even get frustrated with this cat, because its just so darned cute when she does these things. Now if my wedding rings go missing, I might have to rethink that.....

Summer....here it comes

It was HOT this weekend. It felt more like August than the second day of May. I hope this isn't indicative of things to come, because really, I am NOT ready for the eastern NC swelter-fest. I was counting on at least another month of reprieve. Maybe it was just a heat wave that will burn itself out soon...? Please? We had to do some yard work yesterday, so I really got the feel of the temp. Plus, its really dry around here right now. After this long wet winter, I wasn't sure our yard would ever dry out again, but it has....and we need some rain now. I think we have some in the forecast for the next couple of afternoons, so maybe it won't turn into a total drought.

After a morning of cutting grass (yesterday), I took a break and went out to lunch with Stephen and Hannia. We tried this Thai place. And by "we tried", I mean me, because they had been there before. I tried the beef/mango curry on Stephen's advice, and OMG, it was delicious. Hot and spicy, but soooo good. All of their dishes come with a hotness number. Like you can order from a 1 all the way to 20. I am so wimpy that I asked for a 1. Stephen and Hannia asked for 3. And still...mine was really hot to me. I went through a whole lot of iced tea with it, but I enjoyed it. It was cooked in coconut milk, and the sauce was so rich and creamy, and the mango flavor was perfect with it. I can't even begin to imagine what a 20 would be like? I wonder if anybody actually orders that? But I cooled my taste buds down with some of their homemade coconut ice cream for dessert. It was a nice change from yard work for sure.

And now the new work week begins all over again. I hope its a good one for everybody!

I can't believe it

I didn't know it was possible, but I think that I am actually getting tired of strawberries. We've had plain strawberries, strawberry shortcake, strawberries in whipped cream, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry smoothies, and strawberries in a white chocolate pudding. I have finally come to the end of the ones that we had, and I might take a little strawberry break for a while. I know they only come around once a year, but isn't there too much of a good thing? We haven't even gone out to pick them yet, and don't know if I will. My favorite grocery store keeps having these really nice ones in huge containers that are buy one get one free. Or sometimes, buy one get 2 free. Seriously. It must have been a bumper crop of strawberries this year.

I am looking forward to other summer vegetables though. Really good tomatoes, and cucumbers. And melons. I LOVE melons of all kinds. Its a shame that I don't have a garden. I am completely enthralled with the idea of a garden, but seriously? With the work that I do the very last thing that I want/need is to have to be outside in the heat doing more work. Just cutting this enormous yard is enough to keep me and my husband overwhelmed. I guess I will just have to make trips to the Farmer's market. And making my customers happy.....several of my customers have promised me veggie's from their gardens...LOL.

I have planted a half dozen little pots of herbs that are growing in my kitchen window. They are looking good so far. I especially want my basil and cilantro to make it. Cilantro is one of those things that I love, especially in guacamole, but you can only buy it in these big bunches and I never need that much. If I could just go pick off a few pieces of it whenever I need it, that would be fabulous. Send some happy thoughts to my little window herb garden. I really want it to thrive.

Wishing

I really wish there was something new and exciting to report, but there's just not. I have been working, and then trying to recuperate and recover from working, so there isn't a whole lot of free time for fun or excitement. But let's see....maybe I can live vicariously through my kids...LOL. They seem to have a lot more going on than I do.

Erica just got back from a trip to Nashville, where she ran a half marathon with her friend Tara. They just got back last night, and I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet. Oh yeah...I did have a little bit of fun, because I had my Girl's Night Out dinner last night. That always cheers me up, but it also meant I missed the "I made it home safely" call. She called her Dad instead, but he let me know that she was back. Anyway, I know she is tired and still has a trip to San Diego coming up soon. Yikes. She really spent most of April traveling. And that can be exhausting even when you are having fun. Maybe even MORE tiring when you are having fun. Haha

Stephen just passed his CAD this past Monday. He had to defend his paper to a committee, and answer all kinds of questions, etc. etc. I knew he was going to be fine, but somehow I got nervous for him and couldn't relax until he gave me that call Monday around lunchtime. I just wanted it to be official....and now it is. I am very proud of him. And for those of you asking where he is going to be next school year??? We don't know, he doesn't know....Nobody knows. Schools have cut a lot of their funding due to the bad economy. If he doesn't get funding (meaning a paid position teaching or in research) while he works on that PhD....then...? I mean you are talking about moving to a place where neither of them have any kind of jobs yet.
Not even job ideas.....so....? They are waiting on Purdue's answer as to whether they can offer funding. And if the answer is yes....I am relatively certain they will be in Indiana by the end of summer. If the answer is no.....who knows. They may end up wherever job offers take them. Or they may seek other sources of funding.
There are just way too many options to even make an educated guess as to where they will go. So....? I promise I will pass news along just as soon as I hear anything.
Stephen and I talk pretty frequently and he keeps me updated on the progress or lack thereof. LOL.

Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful spring weather we are having. I know I am. I just can't wait for the weekend to get here.