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Zen
My dear friend Rachael gave me a mini Zen Garden for graduation. I planned on taking it to work so I could play with it when I was bored/on the phone. I finally got it up there last week. I unpacked it and carefully put the sand in the garden frame. Piled up the rocks and used the little rake to rake to my heart's content. But what if I was doing it wrong? Would I get any Zen-ness out of it???
So I read the instruction "manual" which was useless as far as manuals go. It was more of a description of the path of zen with a few tidbits of how Zen gardens worked. The most I got out of it was to make concentric circles around the rocks. Ok...
I tried to relax with my Zen garden, but it wasn't perfect! It was never perfect and was not relaxing me at all! Stupid Zen garden had to be perfect and it was not. The lines were crooked and the piles of rocks would fall over. Zen was stressing me out.
But then I brought doughnuts to work today. Tell me - what could be more Zen and relaxing than that? Take a look, which one inspires peace in you??? The pink one is my favorite!
Wrong???
So I was showing my mom, who is visiting me in Houston, the picture of what my blanket is supposed to look like. But there is a slight problem - mine looks nothing like the one in the picture. I have royally messed it up. After 64 rows I realize I have been doing it wrong since row 21. Oh no!
I moaned and groaned about it all night. I mean what am I supposed to do, undo it all? Do you know how many stitches that is? 5,544 stitches!!! But I finally realized I would never be happy with it wrong. I sat down when I got home and pulled out 44 rows. I was amazed that I didn't cry, but I was strong.
Here is what "Sadness in Yarn" looks like:
Scroll down to see what it looked like before...
Procrastination
I am supposed to be cleaning my apartment and I am finding any way possible to procrastinate, including shopping for (needed!) luggage, taking (not needed) naps, and playing on my website!
So I wanted to share with you my latest achievement! I finished off the two skeins of yarn last night on my baby blanket that I am thinking about keeping for my first born. Anyhow, there was a little bit of yarn left, but I wasn't sure it was enough for a full row and I wanted to stop on an esy to remember row number - 60! In case you are confused, there are two old skeins and two new skeins because you knit this with two strands at a time. This makes this blanket nice and thick and hopefully will last longer! Here is the quarter finished masterpiece:
Random Thoughts
I was driving home from work today, and the traffic was about typical for that hour. You can still easily go 60 (or more), but you have to pay attention when changing lanes because there are other cars around. Well I see this idiot in a white Explorer weaving in and out of traffic. He (or she) is jerking the wheel hard enough that the Explorer is showing signs of leaning and such. Now I am thinking something at this point, and I bet most of you would have thought the same thing if you saw it. Where is the police officer??? Not because I want him to get a ticket, but because there is no way someone would be driving like that if they weren't running from the cops. No one is that stupid! but then again there was no police officer chasing him. Of course I didn't look up for a helicopter...
I have had this laptop over 2 years now. But before that I have been using computers since I was around 6. That's almost 20 years of using computers. So why is it when my husband switches the A and the Q key on my keyboard I still manage to type the wrong one??? I am writing things like auestion or qmqtuer. Why am I fooled? And to all of you people out there that think I should simply switch them back, it's a lot more difficult than keys on a desktop computer. Eliza managed to knock them out originally by jumping on it (I guess, didn't actually see what happened). It took Matt a good 10 minutes to get them both back in. He was so proud of himself for switching them. At least I think of him when I type...
I was cleaning out my bathroom tonight because I have company staying over here next week. I decided to organize all my bathroom products under the sink so if someone wanted to use something, they could! Turns out I have a ton of bathroom products, I have little lines for: scrubby stuff, lotion, shampoo (shortest line, only 2!), conditioner, hair care products, then in boxes: extra make-up, little containers of things, and face wash. It's really quite impressive! I even decide with all this cool stuff I should treat myself to a spa night! I did a facial and dyed my hair! I feel so pretty! After about 15 minutes I couldn't move my face, but it was still fun!
(Matt said he didn't like the old face photo... it was a bit weird, so I took it down. I'm sorry!)
Defective Jen
I'm going to let you in on a secret that most people don't know. I am slightly defective. For almost as long as I can remember I have had a dent on the front of my leg. It's not huge and noticeable, but there is no doubt it is there. Mom declared that it was a separated muscle. It's not a big deal, it doesn't hurt or anything and most people don't notice it. I mean my close family and Matt know about it, so you should all feel super special! Just don't ask to see it...
I am driving home from work today. I took 290 because I wanted to buy bowling shoes at Academy (white and pink!) and that was the shorter, though not faster, route. Traffic is pretty bad, so i am doing my usual bored routine, looking around checking out my arms, etc. Well I notice a small scar on my arm - I'm pretty sure I already knew about this - looks like an Eliza wound. But I'm checking it out anyway - I mean it's fairly new and that makes it exciting. But then I notice something that is really new...
There is a dent in my arm! Maybe it's a trick of the light... but no! I check out the dent, poking and prodding it. It is another muscle separation! There is nothing under the skin - no muscle, nothing! I am obviously defective! I call Matt and inform him of this. I also tell him that he has no option of returning me, no matter how defective I get!
For the curious - yes you can feel the dent on my arm if you really must... it is pretty cool! :)
Mother's Day Out
Matt took my dog away. I mean I okayed the whole situation because it was the right thing to do. I'm going to be out of town for 4 days next week and I don't think it is nice to board her when she could go home and stay with her dad and sister for 2 weeks. I'm so nice, huh? But anyways, Matt came in to town Sunday after I got back from San Antonio. We didn't do much that night. We played more chess on our phones - we are huge nerds, bluetoothing chess - and Matt looked like he was going to win. But I am a sly and sneaky dog and he doesn't pay attention and I murdered his queen. Well then he decided to forfeit the game without telling me. I'm not sure how long I waited for his next move before I yelled at him - he is usually pretty slow anyhow. (Sorry hon!)
Monday he met me for lunch. Nothing exciting, we just walked over to the Schlotzsky's by my work. Yum! But we had big plans to go out to dinner. Matt saw a seafood restaurant called Red Fish that he wanted to try. We ended up going there and it's a neat little place - but it's mostly sushi. What the heck, I need to try it eventually! So we order a plate with several different types of fish. It was actually pretty good! I used way too much wasabi at first, but I fixed that with more soy sauce pretty easily. I braved through it all! The salmon was probably my favorite, although the little tuna rolls were pretty good too! Now I can go eat with Brittney and look like a total pro!
Tuesday Matt and I got up and ready - me for work, him for the drive home. I kissed all three of my babies good-bye and headed out to work (I refuse to kiss Pedro!). When I got home, I was really bummed that my doggie was gone, and it was so quiet without Pedro yelling at me constantly! I took a nap that I seriously needed. When I got up I decided to run some errands. I went to Half Price Books, but they didn't have my book I wanted. So then I went to Theresa's old apartment to check out how deceptive they were. They made her pay for the month of Sepember because they wouldn't be able to rent it out. But amazingly there were people living there! What a surprise! I even knocked on the door to find out when they moved in. Theresa has decided that I am the best maid of honor ever - of course I am!
So when I was walking up my stairs at home I realized that I could go to bed. I didn't need to walk the dog, feed the guinea, nope just worry about me! It was like Mother's Day Out - a day all for me. I'll miss them tomorrow I'm sure, but it was kinda nice not worrying about anyone else for a day!
San Antonio Trip
So I went to San Antonio this weekend because I am going to be the best maid of honor ever. Theresa wanted to go to the bridal show in SA with two of her bridesmaids - Jenny (her sister) and me! Yeah turns out she has 3 bridesmaids named Jennifer - that won't be confusing at all! The plan for the weekend was to go to the bridal shops and pick out bridesmaid dresses, go to the Army/A&M game, and then the bridal show the next day. It was also the first time for me to meet Josh - I think that boy was born laughing... and he needs to learn how to hug small people, I swear he cracked my rib! :)
First the bridal shop - Theresa pretty much had the skirts picked out already. With 10 (yes 10!) bridesmaids, we were going to be a bit difficult to all look good in one dress. Thus the plan was one black skirt for all and then we all get different tops. After trying on a few and with input from Josh we decided to go with tops that had some sort of flair. It would have been weird with some that were plain and some with flair. Theresa asked which one we liked, but everyone knows how much Theresa likes sparkly things, so we went with the easy choice. All the tops they had to try on were about size 12 and ugly green, but imagine this top fitting properly and in black:
On the way to the game we took a quick detour through Josh's uncle's gravel pit. Jenny loves rocks and I never pass a chance to see rocks. Well we drive around for a bit, then Jenny wants to look for fossils. We look but don't really find anything. So then we decide to break rocks. Well the other 3 suck at breaking rocks. Since I am the geologist, I decide to show them how it is done. We break a little piece off but it is boring. Josh and Theresa go back to the truck, but Jenny and I don't give. Well then the rock breaks and there are these super cool crystal filled cavities inside. Jenny and I were jumpin around like little kids. I ended up letting her keep them to show her schoolkids and because she was so excited!
Then the game - the game was so close and so fun if you weren't worried about the upcoming season! Well the Aggies have the most spirit of any people I know. The tradition is to scream AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA before the kick-off until they kick the ball. Well apparently with televised games there are commercial breaks... The whole stadium held in there and yelled for seriously 4 minutes straight! We were sitting 10 seats up from the endzone right next to the Aggie band, really good seats! I called Matt and he was watching the game on TV. I told him where we were sitting but said unfortunately we are all wearing maroon...! The game was so close throughout the whole thing - the Army team was down 4 points in the last part. They spent the last 1.5 minutes 2 yards from their endzone but the Aggies magically kept them from scoring. The only thing that would have made the game better was if I hadn't drank that margarita so fast and gotten a serious tummy ache. No fun at all! And apparently I sent my mom a text message not intended for her - good thing she is so understanding! ;)
The bridal show was also fun. My tummy still hurt so I didn't partake of too much free wedding food. But it was fun seeing all the neat ideas for weddings. I personally love looking at all the photographers best pictures - some people are so creative! We got some good ideas and we are even going to try to make a pineapple tree out of fruit - wish us luck!
Moths Are Tearing This Family Apart!
I blogged about my moth troubles last week. I even remembered to grab the
extra vacuum to clean up the mess of dead bodies in my apartment. Well I
was expecting a full on invasion when I returned because a co-worker had
said that the moths are notoriously hard to get rid of – they are the food
kind, the one that pop out of your food and eat you out of house and
cereal. Well my theory was murder them all and they won’t have time to
reproduce.
I get home Sunday night and there are only a few moths on the ceiling. That
is until I turn on the light and they come out of the wood-work
(figuratively, I doubt there is real wood in the apartment)! There are
probably another 20 moths I have to get rid off. My original method was
rolled up paper, but that tended to leave little ink smears, then I used a
bath towel. That was the worst, Eliza was convinced I was trying to hit her
and peed on the floor.
So I use a shirt and a chair to get as close to the ceiling as possible. I
try to be quiet too, I’m sure my neighbors are wondering what the heck I am
doing smacking their walls and floors. It takes a long while, but I manage
to get them all. Now I really need to vacuum.
The moths are mostly gone, but something has happened to my dog. It may be
the moth killing, it may be the leaving Natalie and Matt in Dallas, it may
be that she is bi-polar, but something is wrong. She hides from me, she
won’t come when I call and she just lays on the bed – or in the closet. I
figure she’ll be ok tomorrow.
Monday morning I get up at 5:30 to do yoga and have to get a few
stragglers, only 3 or so. Eliza is asleep, no big deal (she usually wants
to yoga with me, but she wasn’t interested). Well when I finish yoga, I go
pet on her and she is beside herself and follows me all around the
apartment. She lays outside the shower and sticks her head in when I turn
the water off. She is still hiding too, but at least she is showing some
interest in me.
But yesterday evening she was worse. She had no interest in me, food or
anything except leaving the apartment. I took her on a long walk - no moth
killing at all! When I gave her treats, she wouldn’t eat them – anyone who
knows my dog knows this is weird. So I tried to nice meaty treats Brittney
brought her, she picked them up then spat them out and walked away. I had
to go grocery shopping and when I walked in the door, arms full of
groceries, Eliza took off out the door. I called her and she looked at me
then ran down the stairs. I dropped everything and took off after her., but
she wouldn’t come. She finally stopped and acted like I was going to hit
her. I was so upset, I picked her up and carried her back upstairs. I just
sat down with her and held her, I think she knew I was upset she started
licking my face like she was sorry.
I took her on another walk, but she still has no interest in being in the
apartment, I have to drag her up the stairs. She only gets excited when she
thinks she is going outside. I even put down milk for her this morning –
dog manna – and she walked back to the bedroom and laid down. I am very
worried about her and am not really sure how to fix this. Matt’s taking her
back to Dallas with him on Monday so maybe that will help. Until then, my
best friend in Houston hates me and she can’t even tell me why. I’m blaming
the moths.
OG Edit: I tried dog park therapy. She had a blast and looked like she had fully recovered... until we got home. But I think she is doing a little better. *sigh* I took this picture at the park when she was actually smiling.
Weekend in Dallas
It has been difficult for me to leave early from work to come back to
Dallas this month, but I lucked out this past Friday. We had a luncheon to
raise money for charity and apparently the employees (not me personally)
did such a good job that the VP of our branch of the company told us to
take the afternoon off. Sweet! I didn’t have anyone to hang out with so I
decided to start another new knitting project utilizing a new technique. So
I went and bought new yarn in colors most people will not understand and
started the ribbed scarf. The process of ribbing actually goes faster than
I would think it would, but look how nice it looks:
Then Saturday Matt and I had errands to do. His friend Buff came over and
helped Matt finish wiring out the sliding gate – I watched over and ate my
Sausage Biscuit and fed the dogs the stale cinnamon roll from Mickey D’s.
After this was accomplished, we had to take the dogs to get their heartworm
tests and new set of pills. Turns out the dogs lucked out because this vet
only requires the blood test every two years, so we got their new meds
without and needle pricks.
Then Natalie’s luck ran out. She is up for her shots and the shot clinic
was at the feed store Saturday. She needs 3 shots and I keep telling Matt
she’s a baby, she’ll try to run away. I know he believed me, but I don’t
think he knew quite how bad she is, she was twisting, jerking, clawing and
making the most tortured noises ever – before the needle even touched her!
The lady told us to pat her (firmly) on the head, and that seemed to
distract her enough to get the shots done – though they didn’t even try to
do the shot down the nose for Bordatella. Matt told Natalie she was
embarrassing him which didn’t seem to phase her at all.
Then we drove around for awhile, looking at other houses for sale or rent.
We saw the house down the street had been run into again – making it the
6th time. We went off-roading in the CRV, me panicking pretty much every
time Matt tried to go down a ATV trail. I mean, yeah it’s an SUV, but…
Then that evening we met up with some friends at Cruisers in Frisco. There
was a live band there that was pretty good that made up for the horrible
performance of UT in the televised football game. But the best part by far
was when I got hungry and decided to order some chocolate cake. Not only
was it the hugest thing of chocolate cake ever, it was so good!
Waiting for matt to email the picture...
Saturday night I gave in to Matt wanting to sleep in the backyard. We set up the tent, drug out the air mattress and settled in. We let Natalie run around the backyard all night, but Eliza stayed in the tent with us all night. The girls had some issues with barking, but they are dogs after all.
Then at 6am the dogs start freaking out and we tell them to shut up. Then in the following silence I hear this weird whooshing noise. Maybe I am imagining things. Then I hear it again. I pry open my tired eyes and look for the source. It takes me awhile to locate it - a hot air balloon! I nudge Matt and show him the hot air balloon floating above the trees in the horizon.
Matt is convinced that the hot air balloon is crashing and later that day we had to go look for the downed balloon. (It was not crashing...) The girls in the tent:
Sunday we got up and went looking for yarn, but Hobby Lobby wasn’t open. I bought
some circular needles at Michaels, but their yarn selection is pathetic in
comparison, so I refrained. We met up with my parents for lunch at the
Black Eyed Pea and I got to eat my favorite appetizer ever – Fried Pickles!
After lunch, we went back to the house. Matt wasn’t feeling well, so he
napped with the dogs while I got everything packed up to go back to
Houston. He called me on the way back and apologized for sleeping “our last
hours together”, but I forgave him, he hadn’t really been feeling well all
weekend.
Moth Massacre
I have an apartment I share with a dog and guinea pig. Recently I have been discovering I share it with moths. I noticed a few flying around. I try to share what I can, so I let the three little guys do their thing. Until this morning, for some reason I got sick of them. I couldn’t get to sleep last night, but then I finally did. Then I wake up at 5am in the morning with a headache! For some reason I am convinced that this is the moth’s fault. Hey no sleep and headache - anything makes sense. Plus I am convinced they might decide to eat my clothes.
So this moth starts flying in my face this morning and I go roll up some newspapers and kill it. Then I stalk down moth #2 and kill him too. I mean, I feel kinda bad - Eliza happened to be near the moth and I had to reach around her to kill it. So now Eliza thinks she has been bad and I am swatting at her. She runs off to the bedroom. Well while she is gone I will get moth #3.
I can’t find him, so I turn on all the lights to hunt him down. Hmmm, I see two more moths. Get those and look up at the ceiling. There is 30 stinking moths chilling on my ceiling! WHAT???? So I prepare to get serious with these uppity moths. I know I can’t get them while they are on the ceiling, so I have to find a way to knock them down - a quiet way - it is 6:30 in the morning. I grab the Lysol cleaning spray out of the cupboard and start spraying them.
It works, the spray hits them and they magically spiral down to the ground. It doesn’t kill them, but it gets them down to killing level. This goes on for about 10 minutes before I realize I can kill the rest later and I really need to get ready for work. I figured them were coming out of the bag of guinea pig food and closed it.
I get home this afternoon and go to town again. I think I killed a few moths more than once - those suckers know how to play dead! Seriously?!?!
Now it’s the end of the day and there are dead little moth bodies all over the place. There are smears of moth guts and moth pieces stuck on the walls. Matt has my vacuum and I can’t clean the evidence of the massacre off of my floor. There is one little moth that is still flying around. I am letting him figure out that his little buddies are all dead and he is next. Of course Eliza has been hiding from me all day - she actually went and hid in the closet - I tried to explain, but she’s being weird, as usual.
League Night
I found out that work has a bowling league. I emailed the guy in charge forever ago to see if I could still get on a team. Unfortunately for me, the teams had already been made. He told me to go ahead and show up because there was one other person who wanted to bowl and if 2 more people showed up, we would have a team. Well Tuesday afternoon I get an email saying that our team has made! Sweet! League Bowling, here I come!
I don’t know anyone on my team, so when I show up I look for friendly people that are on the league. I found two ladies who talked to me, though neither actually worked for the same company - the were both wives of employees. They told me where to go to buy bowling supplies and told me they had no idea how much bowling balls cost these days because theirs were over 20 years old. So at least I know it will last.
I finally meet one team member, and apparently she is the only one coming tonight. She’s super nice though. She used to league bowl, but she hasn’t bowled in awhile. So I’m the worst on the team. Thank goodness for handicaps. Since neither of us have an official handicap, we are bowling to get our averages and our handicaps. League bowling is cool because you get to switch lanes every other bowl. We were sharing a center console with a team with pretty good bowlers. I did pretty bad, but accomplished my goal of getting over 100 each time. My team-mate and the other team would get all excited for me if I got a good bowl. I’m way younger than everyone, so I have the youth exuberance going for me. Yay!
Well at the end of it, we all had a good time. I’m a little nervous about meeting my other two team-mates - hopefully they don’t get mad at me because I suck. Everyone said that the point is to have fun… I hope so! But my handicap is awesome - 76! So if I can bowl a 124, it counts as a 200. Way to even the playing field, huh? I can so bowl that!
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