Me Time

Hey,

So I kind of got into a funk where I just couldn't think of things to write about. And when I did think of things, I was too lazy to actually post anything. I am kind of an all or nothing person.
I tend to do things in cycles. Like, I will do something for a month and then I am tired of it and won't do it again for a few months. I think this is most evident in my eating habits. I will crave a certain food and eat it a lot, and I do mean a lot, until I am sick of it. Then in a few weeks or months I will crave it again and do the same thing. Lately it has been steak. I think I have eaten steak for dinner 3 out of 5 nights for the past three weeks. Seriously. And I still want it for dinner tonight...

Mostly though I think I just get busy and tend to forget to take time for myself. I swear it is like I forget that I like doing something. Maybe I like too many things? Or I think maybe it is just the lazy thing...

I do like to read, and paint, and make crafts, and go shopping, and do other things. But lately I have kind of been a recluse. I come home from work during the week and I do not want to do anything. I just want to eat and veg out and watch TV or play on the computer. Sometimes I even forget to get on the computer at home. I know I am just hungry and tired and want to relax and that is fine. I mean I know I can go out and do things and missing some TV is not going to kill me. But I think since I made my TV work again at the beginning of this new fall lineup, I have been kind of addicted. Sure I had gotten used to the series on Netflix, but I missed the new shows. I know I could pay more for cable rather than trying to use the converter box for free stations, but I could also live in an apartment that had better reception too, or one that did not require I go through only one company for Internet and phone (who of course are more expensive than other companies and are all complicated and offer bundles but only give you discounts if you buy more than one premium package, when I think I should get a discount on multiple packages no matter that they are the most basic ones, so I refuse to pay more for cable TV, bastards, who thankfully are going out of business later this month and I can now get whoever I want to be my provider so this whole rant is probably useless since I am thinking I will order cable TV from the new company I get to choose). I could do a lot of things, but all I really want is to be able to come home and watch NCIS and Criminal Minds and The Good Wife and The Mentalist and How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory (can you tell that one of the only stations I catch clearly is CBS, but really NCIS and Criminal Minds and CSI were favorites before I had only one channel to watch, though it would be nice to be able to watch Law and Order and House again).

So, Yes, I am a slacker who wants to come home, eat a quick dinner, and watch TV. And I kind of forget to do other things while I am doing that. I am guessing when the current season is over and reruns start playing I will be going out and shopping more and doing other things again. Oh and when Football season is over I will have my weekends back, which will be wonderful. I do love me some football but rearranging your whole fall weekend schedule around games gets kind of old after a while, mostly because though I might be willing to watch the game of the team(s) I like, other people feel compelled to wake up on Saturday and turn the TV on (where yes, he has cable and multiple channels available) and watch College all day Saturday and then NFL all day Sunday and then Monday Night Football too. Some weekends that is fine, but really I just want to watch my two fave teams and hear abouts scores and highlights from all the others, and I definitely do not want to listen to games or commentary in the car on the radio (I pretty much hate, loathe, despise, want to murder talk radio). It will be nice when the Football/Holiday season is over and we can go out for dinner or make plans for Saturday nights again.

So I am pretty much just rambling here. But basically I tend to go all out on things and get really involved in one thing and forget about doing others for a while. I think that I need to keep writing though. If nothing more than just to have a place to come and get some emotions out. I need to remember that I like this community and that as much fun as I have reading other people's blogs, they might like to read about me too, rather than just getting my comments. I will come back, and I will update on my life and things that have happened, and I will answer questions that I said I would answer. And I will still keep this blog a secret from my friends and family for now (though the Penguin did ask me about blogging this past weekend and I told him I had one but hadn't posted in almost a year, though I did not tell him how to find it, so in a way we can thank him for making me think about my blog and making me want to post again).

Things are going...and I want to talk about them, well write about them, here. See you again soon!

Making a List...

Christmas is almost here! It feels like it is the day after tomorrow, though I know I still have 2 weeks to get ready. I have shifted into full gear Holiday Mode and can think of nothing but the prep work for the holiday and making sure we have all the presents and food and schedules ready. I am quite enjoying myself though. I tend to be one to make gifts that are useful rather than just buying random knickknacks, you know those ones no one wants and opens the gift already thinking about how long they will have to wait before they can re-gift it. So I am in the process of painting a picture for my future in-laws new home. I will post photos of it when I am done. I think it will be quite nice and I think they will appreciate it. I also usually make candles for presents. But this year I just don't feel as enthused about it as I normally do. I suppose that is because I have been doing it for a few years now and it seems like I should give something different this year. Plus I just feel like I won't have the time I want to be able and make them all. I might make a few, but not enough for everyone. I have decided instead to go with another home-made gift like mixes in a jar. I remembered something my mom used to make called Fireside Coffee. It is a hot chocolate and coffee blend which is absolutely yummy. I think I am going to get jars and make a few batches of the Fireside Coffee to give out this year. I tend to also have a few generic gifts waiting like some home-made cookies or ChexMix or something simple I can give out just in case we forget anyone.

So I have made my list and checked it more than twice. I am getting together all my supplies and starting to make all the gifts. It is times like this when I know I chose gift-friendly hobbies. Not to say that things like knitting are not good gift giving hobbies, on the contrary knitting is great for gift-giving, but you can tell by reading hokgardner, barb and madmad that you have to start way earlier than I have to be able to finish everyone's present in time for Christmas. My mother is an avid knitter and fiber enthusiast and every year I think maybe I should make a few scarves for Christmas presents this year, and then I don't. I love reading the knitting posts and quite admire the women who find the time and energy to make so many wonderful and individual presents. Maybe one day I will succumb to the forces that have so obviously claimed my mother, but for now I am happy with having her reteach me every time I want to make something.

I hope you are not too frazzled right now and your gift giving agenda is pretty simple.
I am off to make more presents!

Getting All Dolled Up

Last night I went out and bought earrings and lipstick and stockings. I also bought some of those nifty new Dr. Scholls inserts for heels. I am getting ready for the Great Big Christmas Party at work, can't you tell? I already have a dress, and the sweater to go over it, and the pearls that make the dress look fancy enough to wear to this, and two pair of shoes to choose from. I also have all the necessary hair products to make me look sophisticated rather than like I stuck my finger in a light socket. Oh and I bought a new perfume which I absolutely adore. I think I am pretty much set unless I decide I need a slip or one of those shaper things to go under the dress.

I also have all of the Penguin's stuff with me. All except the belt. I just need to drop his pants off at the cleaners tonight. I was not allowing him to forget to bring anything like his shoes or dress socks or even the whole jacket. I also wanted a say in what matched and what was appropriate. I want this weekend to go smoothly. I want us to have fun and not worry about anything.

This is the first Great Big Christmas Party I have ever attended. Sure I have gone to Christmas parties before but they were always small and at someone's home. This is my first year working with a big enough company to actually be able to attend a Great Big Christmas Party. I am looking forward to it. Even if it is not something the penguin or I would normally do. We are simple people you see. We do not dress up often, if ever. I had to buy a dress for the party and he had to buy a jacket. We do not wear these things, we do not go to events which might require us to wear such things. We are creatures of habit, we like to be comfortable. It probably takes us less than 10 minutes to get ready and walk out the door any other time. I so rarely wear makeup that I just remembered it is not at my house and I hope the Penguin remembers to pack it or I will have to go buy more. I am okay with the dress, I need one for such times where dressing up is important. And the Penguin is okay with the jacket. We opted for a jacket instead of a tie since I knew he would be more comfortable, it had nothing to do with the fact that last time we tried to tie a tie on him we were horribly unsuccessful, but after remembering that fact I am so very glad we decided on a jacket and no tie. And the jacket is a non-traditional suede which suits his personality so well, we love it.

I have no idea how well we will match as a couple, but honestly I do not care that much. I would rather us both be comfortable and like what we are wearing rather than worry about matching. My dress is black and the sweater red, I have red and black strappy shoes to choose from. His jacket is a tan suede which he is wearing with a black shirt and shoes and a pair of green/khaki pants. I cannot say this actually coordinates but I can't say it will look hideous either. I think it will be fine. I know we will be fine at least, other people may disagree but I do not so much care for their opinions. I do however care for yours. Do you think the combo screams ewww mismatched, or will it be fine?

I do so hope we have a good time. I hope we are not so uncomfortable playing dress up that we do not enjoy ourselves. I also hope the food is good. I know it will be good, but really I just hope we are willing to eat it. We are not so much picky eaters as we just have simple tastes. I hope the fancy seasonings and garnishes do not bother us. I am thinking we will be fine as long as we are open minded and I know we can do that. Well I can at least.

Wish us luck!

P.S. The Great Big Christmas Party is Saturday night and I promise to tell you all about it.

The Cheesiest!

Remember rolling your eyes at your grandparents or your parents when they would tell you how different things used to be? I am not talking about the cliche where they say they walked 5 miles to school, in the snow, uphill both ways. I am talking about when people say they just don't make things like they used to. I have to say that I am able to say that about a few things nowadays. I mean crayons for one thing. Crayons were better when I was younger. Now they are too waxy and you cannot color smoothly. I laughed when I thought about how crotchety I sounded saying that when I was younger they made things better.

But honestly things change over time. Things change due to laws like McDonald's french fries being done in different oil now. Things change due to trying to cut costs. Things change to try and accommodate more people.

Has anyone else noticed a change in this?

You can ignore the Spiderman, I just chose a good picture from google images and wound up with him on my cheese box. But seriously, Velveeta has changed. In the past few years they did something to it so that it no longer needs to be refrigerated. I swear it is a darker yellow now, like almost orange. It used to be a bright yellow. But you knew it was fake processed cheese and you never cared that it was bright ass yellow. Now it is orangey, like you already left it out to harden, except you didn't. And it just doesn't taste the same. I am not sure what makes it taste funny now, it just does. I really noticed it last Thanksgiving when we made the traditional spaghetti and cheese. It tasted strange. I thought it might just have been because my Velveeta was pretty old so I brushed it off. But then the next time I bought Velveeta my casserole came out funny again. I thought it might have been the off brand frozen broccoli until I remembered the Thanksgiving snafu. I gave Velveeta another shot though because the processed cheese just melts better. And it still tastes funny. This makes me really sad. I love spaghetti and cheese and it just won't be the holidays without it. So I have a new mission to find alternative cheeses with which to make our traditional casserole. I will be going to the grocery and looking for other cheeses and/or other ways to make the cheese melt smoothly. I am determined to make a decent spaghetti and cheese without Velveeta. I would rather have it taste too cheesy because I used real cheddar than taste sort of metallic like the Velveeta. If I am successful I will post the recipe here. It is pretty simple, and yummy to boot!

Is there something that has changed in your lifetime that makes you want to scream at the manufacturer to start making it the old way again?

Do Bee Do Bee Dooo

I was sitting in my cube at work this afternoon and I looked over to see this,

(Well okay, not specifically this stuffed penguin, but this one was as close as I could find to the one I have without taking my own picture and I am lazy like that.)

And I bet you might be wondering why exactly I have a stuffed penguin in my cube. The answer to that is simple. We had this really fun class at work a few weeks ago and we all got to take a stuffed animal home with us. All the stuffed animals were marine life, to support the theme of the class, and I picked the penguin. He was by far the cutest one there. He is also really soft and cuddly. I have yet to take him home with me so he currently resides in a raised file tray in the corner of my cube. And honestly I think he might stay here. He makes me smile when I see him.

He makes me smile for a few reasons actually. The first is obviously that he is so cute and cuddly. The way the orange is sewn onto his beak makes him look like he is smiling. The second reason is a little more personal. I smile because the penguin also reminds me of my boyfriend. Odd you say? Not really. And no he does not resemble a penguin, thank goodness. (Though I am not so sure resembling a penguin would actually be bad. I have no intention of offending anyone who's significant other actually looks like a penguin, I am sure they are quite handsome.) The penguin reminds me of him because lately he has taken up the habit of saying Do Bee Do Bee Dooo, you know like that Bud Ice Penguin.

Oh come on you remember him, I know you do. He was in some super bowl commercials a few years back. You remember the Bud Ice Penguin right? If not, watch that video the link brings you to. (Yes, I suck and could not get the embed thing to work, deal with it, follow the link.)

Actually now I am starting to make myself feel old, which should not be possible. Apparently the Bud Ice Penguin was in super bowl commercials in 1996! I would have never guessed it was over 10 years ago. But I guess the good part is that since I feel old, you don't have to. So no one else gets to feel old because these commercials are from over a decade ago, everyone just gets to laugh at me for being so silly. Ha ha ha ha. All better right!?! I thought so. Also I thought I remembered the Bud Ice Penguin being cuter. I did not remember that in those commercials the penguin was scary and evil and plotting to steal the Bud Ice. The commercials kind of give me the heeby-jeebies. Okay so maybe I shouldn't have looked up those commercials and just kept my flawed but oh-so-much-better memory in my head. Sorry for planting evil Bud Ice Penguin memories in your head too.

Rainbows and butterflies and kittens and puppies and chocolate and shopping and money.....

There all better.

Okay so the cute, cuddly, soft, stuffed penguin in my cube reminds me of my wonderful, handsome, adorable boyfriend. Yes, that is much better. The penguin reminds me of him because he has taken to saying Do Bee Do Bee Dooo. He says it quite randomly, almost like a filler. He says it when our phone conversations stall. He says it while we are watching TV and a commercial comes on. He says it when we are riding in the car and not talking. Basically anywhere there is a lull he might unexpectedly burst out in Do Bee Do Bee Dooos. And it is quite silly and adorable. And it makes me laugh. And it makes me smile. I love the randomness of it. And it makes me love him more.

So today the penguin makes me smile because it reminds me of my boyfriend being silly and trying to make me happy. Happy Love Thursday everyone! I hope you all find something to make you smile today.

P.S. I am also happy because I have the day off tomorrow.

P.P.S. I think I figured out R's new name! From now on he will be referred to as the Penguin. Now if only I could settle on one for myself...

Not so wordless Wednesday

I would love to just post a picture. But then you wouldn't understand my meaning for posting it. So it can't be a completely wordless Wednesday.

There is this slight anomaly in my life right now where R and I live in different states. So during the week I am all by myself. Which sometimes I absolutely love. But sometimes being alone here makes me miss him more than I know what to do with. Lately I have been really missing him. So here is a picture from a recent vacation. Gosh, I want to be with him right now...

Call Me Ishmael

I have decided that I like this blogging thing. I like it and I like the outlet it gives me. I like it and I don't want to share it.

To this point my blog has been pretty anonymous. I have decidedly not put my real name on this blog. I have also decidedly not put anyone else's real name on my blog. This is not to avoid stalkers or anything like that. I have not told anyone in my real life about this blog. I do not want to share it.

Though to be fair I have been using real initials for people, including myself. And today I decided that should stop. Today I decided that I want to make darn sure no one in my real life could look at this blog and recognize the initials and go oh hey this is her blog. I don't want a friend or family member or coworker to walk up to me and go are you K? I want to keep my anonymity. I want to keep my blog separate from people I know.

I suppose you could say that I am hiding. And in a way I am. But I just do not want to have to deal with all the drama I think would come from people in my life reading my blog. I do not want to feel like I have to censor myself or tiptoe around subjects being afraid of backlash. I want to be me, all me, all the time. I do not want to have to worry about my mother reading this and being disapproving of anything I post here. I do not want my boyfriend reading this and getting upset with me for sharing personal things. (Though to be fair I do not think he would mind one bit. If I told anyone that I blog, I would tell him.) I do not want friends or family or coworkers approaching me upset because they felt like I depicted them wrongly, or hurt that I spoke my mind. Currently I do not really post anything negative that people could get upset with me about. But I do not want to have to hold myself back later on just because I know they read my blog and might get upset.

I know that I should not care what other people think and I should post exactly what I want to post. But, I just can't do it. If I knew that people in my real life read my blog I would always be wondering what they thought about me and if I hurt their feelings. Plus sometimes you need to vent and get things out of your system. It is not necessarily gossip, but it is something you would not normally say to a person's face. It is something that once you have talked about, you get over and it doesn't matter anymore. It is something I would not post if I knew they might read it or hear about it. Theoretically it is something I should just not post at all. And I can't do that to myself. I can't censor this blog. I just don't want to.

You can fuss at me for hiding my real self from the people I know. But I don't see this blog as hiding my real self. I think I am usually my real self, just my real self who knows there is such a thing as tact. And if I am ever not my total, complete, true self well then those are my issues to deal with. And maybe I am not ready to deal with them yet. Maybe I am still discovering who I really am and posting on this blog is my testing ground. I want to be free to post everything I want to post. I want to be able to write things I normally might not say. I want to be able to express myself and not worry about what other people think of me. Maybe one day I will get to the point where I tell people about this blog and will be able to not worry about what they think. But I am so not even close to that yet.

So the whole entire point of this was to say that I think I need a new name. I need a name that has nothing to do with my real name. I need a name that no one in my real life would recognize. But I still need to be willing to answer to it in the blogosphere. I need a new persona. I need to find something that just feels right. A name that I can embrace and make real and make my own.

I am having a hard time coming up with something. I had a hard time naming this blog in the first place. I know I will come up with something soon. And if you have suggestions I would be happy to hear them. I might not even settle on a new name right away. I hope I don't go through too many. I do not want to confuse those few people who might actually read me too much. I think whatever I choose for my own name will probably stick the first time I use it. The new name for R might be more difficult for me to settle on. So if in the future you see funny names you don't recognize I hope they still make sense to you. And just know that I should sort all this out soon. I hope.

Express Yourself!

Presentation is everything. So are first impressions. Therefore it seems like a good idea to present yourself in the best way you can. It shocks me sometimes that there is so much ignorance about the fact that what you say or do reflects upon you. How can you not see that certain things will reflect negatively upon you and other's perception of you?

Today I encountered a really good example of this. It is performance appraisal time at work and we are all having to write up our goals and accomplishments. Our bosses see our written explanations of what we have accomplished this year and use that to evaluate us. Therefore you would think that everyone would try to make themselves look good right? You would want to come across as polished and professional. You would use this as an opportunity to convey the fact that you are a valuable asset to the company. You want to keep your job and get a big bonus. Yet, I noticed that some people did not take this seriously. There were a few people who just threw some words onto the form and expected it to be enough. Our immediate supervisor has been nice enough to give us advice on how to do this, in other words do this and this and this to make it look good. Then in turn we make her look good too. I find it amazing that people just do not listen and choose to ignore her advice. I know of one person that the boss has told at least 3 times to make their goals better and proofread it properly. Today when the boss told them yet again to proofread their goals they came to me and asked me to make corrections for them. I was expecting to help make the sentences sound better and was amazed to see the amount of grammatical errors in such a small amount of writing. Did this person not even realize how this made them look? Are their grammatical skills that bad that they cannot put words in the correct tense? Do they not understand what "use complete sentences" means? Do the honestly think words are spelled that way? Did they honestly think this was acceptable? I was in shock. This was a person who is very good at their job and for the most part puts off a professional aire (I so do not know if that is the proper way to spell that). I could not believe that their writing skills could be so poor. How can you ever expect to get far in a job when your writing and speaking skills reflect negatively on your education? I am not saying that you need to have attended an Ivy League school, shoot you don't even need to have finished high school to know how to present yourself. Somewhere along the way you will learn how to act properly. You will figure out how to make yourself presentable and make yourself look good to others. Sure you can talk in slang with friends and you can write improperly in certain mediums. But there is a time and place for that, and there is a time and place to present yourself well. If you never learn that fact then you will never get very far in life because there will always be people looking down upon your for your inappropriate actions. Even if you can talk and write well, if you choose to be lazy and your work shows errors, no one else knows if it you being lazy or if you actually thought things were okay. Either way you gave a bad impression and people lose respect for you. It has become so simple to make yourself look good in writing. We have spell-check and grammar-check and you should use them. Even if your English is not perfect you should be able to form a complete sentence with prepositions and all. You have to be able to get your point across. Throwing words on the page will not do that.

It always takes me by surprise when I realize some people do not even realize that they are presenting themselves poorly. And while I do not say that there is anything wrong with the person they are, what their culture is, or how they choose to act, they should know that certain actions are not always appropriate. That they are ignorant to how they might be perceived by others just baffles me.

I am very grateful to my parents for teaching me the proper way to act. I am grateful they saw fit to educate me well. For the record one parent has a high school diploma and the other does not even have that much. But you never would have known it. They knew how to present themselves, and they always made sure I did too. When I was friends with a few people from our small town and began talking with an accent my parents let me know how ignorant I sounded when I talked that way. And I learned from it, to this day no one can tell where I am from because I do not have an accent and speak properly.

To me there was just no question that you should be educated. I worked my way through college and grad school and did what I needed to, because that was just the right thing to do. It has paid off for me. I feel that while I am still young I have the foundation and this allows me to present myself accordingly. I have been approached by elders and supervisors for help with preparing presentations. I have been asked to help edit and proofread documents. I feel quite honored that a superior would ask this of me and trust that I will make us both look good. My goals and accomplishments were never returned to me for any corrections and I was actually complimented on them. Yet, I do not see anything extraordinary about this. everyone should be able to present themselves well and have others trust in them.

So on Love Thursday I want to thank my parents for helping to make me the person I am and for helping me realize that there is a time and a place for everything. I would have never made it this far without their guidance.

NaBloPoMo

This is not another post about funny foreign names. I am going to attempt NaBloPoMo. Which stands for National Blog Posting Month and means that I should post at least once a day for this entire month. I have to say I think this will be difficult for me, but I also feel the need to try it. I started this blog with the best of intentions and I am slacking. I began by posting a few times a week and I was happy with that amount. Then I got kind of down on myself and started posting less and less. Recently I have been logging into my blog just to have the links to read other blogs (yeah I haven't even set up a google reader yet either) and never even posting anything. I mean the blog world is give and take. I know I look forward to new posts from my fave bloggers almost daily and I suppose I should be willing to return the same. So here I go...I am going to try and post daily for the rest of November. I know I am late and all and should have started at the beginning of the month but oh well, get over it, I already have. This will not be easy for me, especially with holidays and travel and locating a computer but I pledge to try my best. If nothing else posting once a day for this month will almost triple the current numbers of blogs I have ever posted here and I think that would be awesome. So wish me luck!



See you tomorrow!

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Do you think it is cheating if the first post is a post only about the fact that I will be posting all month? Really? I tend to agree with you.



But all I have is this:

Back to Nature

I like pretty pictures.

You like pretty pictures too right?

I thought so. Everyone likes pretty pictures.

I wanted to talk about how soothing nature is and how much I love it. I wanted to talk about my recent camping trips and how much I have enjoyed them. I wanted to say something special about how it feels to be out in nature and how relaxing it can be. Things about how beautiful it all is and how your troubles seem to not be quite so important anymore. But for some reason my words today are not working well enough to be able to describe my feelings to you like I want them to.

So, maybe I should just show you instead. Here are some pictures from some of my most recent camping trips. We went to North Toledo Bend State Park and Hodges Gardens State Park. Those links are to the Reserve America website because they had pictures but the Louisiana State Parks website has good information too. If you live within a reasonable distance I recommend you making a visit to Hodges Gardens. It was created by A.J. Hodges and he did some really neat things. He made his own botanical gardens with numerous waterfalls and built his house on an island in the lake. R agrees that this has been his favorite place we have been camping together thus far. We visited the gift shop before touring the gardens and noticed someone who had signed in said they got engaged there that weekend. While we were walking in the gardens we noticed a rock with a heart and some familiar initials and a really recent date and guessed that it was the same couple who got engaged. While I do not necessarily condone the defacing of property, it was kind of nice to think of getting engaged in such a wonderful place. So I want to to just enjoy some pretty pictures. Relax and imagine yourself there or wherever your favorite places to be in nature are.

I am Alive

Yes, I am here. I made it through the whole Gustav Debacle okay. I ended up home in Baton Rouge for the storm. We were able to take back roads to avoid contraflow traffic and bring R's mother home to Alexandria and make it back to BR safely. While the family weekend was cut short we all still had a good time. I cooked some good rice and gravy and everyone was happy. R's family decided to evacuate north but my family all stayed in Breaux Bridge. Everyone ended up okay with no damage to homes. Fallen trees and branches were everywhere and tons of people lost power. But everyone we know came out of it okay. Our families were only out of power for a day and a half which was good. The power came back on to our house in BR after about 6 days. We were extremely lucky to have such great neighbors. Our generator of course refused to work but our neighbors were great about letting us stay with them. They plugged up our refrigerator to their generator and we put our window unit in their house. Everything went as well as could have been expected and we got to know our neighbors a lot better in the process. They are great. I know the house may not be perfect but I am so glad R bought that one because the neighbors are so wonderful.

We went ahead and packed some stuff and left for northwest Louisiana on the Wednesday night. R had a meeting scheduled up in Alexandria on the Thursday and then we had decided to go camping from there. Since we had made these reservations weeks before the storm and we knew the campgrounds had power while we still didn't, we hightailed it out of BR. We had quite a good time. We went to North Toledo Bend State Park as well as Hodges Gardens. Both parks were great. The cabins were awesome and well furnished, the weather was quite nice, and we had a great time on the lakes. We rented a boat at both parks and managed to get only a little sunburned. I will have to bring fishing poles next time we go! North Toledo Bend is a nice park and what you would expect from a campground. Hodges Gardens is really neat because it was built by A.J. Hodges. He built the lake and his home on an island and these wonderful botanical gardens with amazing waterfalls. We really enjoyed our time there and loved waking up to a lake view.

So I made it through Hurricane Gustav, had a good camping trip, and made it back to work this week. Now all I have to worry about is Hurricane Ike possibly making landfall near Houston where I live. Hopefully it stays far enough away from me. I want to be able to make it home to BR this weekend before it hits. Keep you fingers crossed for me and everyone else along the Texas coast that Ike is not a bad storm.

I will get back to more regular postings and hopefully will get some pictures of our camping trip up here too!

More About Me

I know I have been away for too long now. I must make myself post more regularly. But the thing is nothing so exciting has been happening lately. Well actually that's not true. A lot has been happening lately but its a lot of speculation and what-ifs and none of it is ironed out in the least. So I have been lost in my own head trying to make plans for things that may or may not happen. I am really bad about that. My mind is constantly racing and trying to gather new information and fine tune what I already know. I am quite sure I am getting annoying to some of my family by asking the same questions over and over just to see if the answer has changed yet. I know they will tell me the instant it changes but I can't help asking. It's just a lot right now. And when I can't make plans or have a general outline of the way things are supposed to happen then I get ancy. So I am frustrated and since I don't know definites it is kind of hard to talk about them. And I like to talk! I like to talk my way through things. By talking about things I figure out how I feel about things and what is going on. But speculating over and over without getting any new answers gets kind of old. Oh well, I am stuck until some new answers come along.

So instead of just staying stuck with nothing definite to talk about, I thought I could tell you a little more about me. I know some people don't like memes but I figure I will give one a shot. Don't worry I don't know enough people in the blogosphere yet to tag anyone so just enjoy learning a little about me and know that there is no pressure to respond. Here goes...

1) Last movie you saw in a theater? I honestly cannot remember what it was. I am pretty confident it was some sort of action movie. I can remember the theatre we went to, just not the movie. We(R and I) do not go to the theatre that often. I have netflix now and we usually just wait until something comes out on DVD. I do really want to go to the theatre and see The Dark Knight though. I hope we make it before it stops showing.

2) What book are you reading? Cutter by Thomas Laird. I already told you how I like murder mysteries and this is a decent one. It is my interim book that I pulled off the shelf while I was waiting on some library holds. I am in the middle of the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly which is about a cop in California and I am really enjoying it.

3) Favorite board game? We don't really do board games, I like card games more. If I had to pick a board game I would go with something involving trivia in the game, but not as hard as trivial pursuit. I like the card games SkipBo and Phase 10 and Uno.

4) Favorite magazine? I do not get any magazines delivered to me. I will browse them at other people's homes or at the store. I generally look at the guy magazines because they actually do have interesting articles. I look at Cosmo, Cooking Light, Esquire, Maxim, PB, and the car magazines R gets. I know guys look at some magazines for more than just the articles but the articles are actually good. I like the snippets on new gadgets!

5) Favorite smells? Fresh cut grass, a baby's head, anything baking, anything grilling, clean clothes fresh out of the dryer, R just after a shower.

6) Favorite sounds? Running water, giggles, the words I Love You, nature sounds, nothing at all.

7) Worst feeling in the world? Rejection, Helplessness

8) What is the first thing you think of when you wake? Urgh, I don't want to get out of bed but I need to get to the bathroom.

9) Favorite fast food place?I do not eat fast food that much anymore because it just doesn't sit well with my tummy. But I have recently discovered Taco Cabana which is like Taco Bell but better and its open 24 hours.

10) Future child's name? Oh I love the name Aiden for a boy but it has become super popular lately and I don't want my child to have the same name as 5 of his classmates. R likes Sierra for a girl but I don't think I like that so much. We might name a boy after our fathers who are both named Steven. R made a joke one day that if we named the boy after our fathers and then the middle name was Ulysses then the kid's initials would be SUV I think I would prefer something like Aiden Tyler more and the initials would be ATV. Its mostly a joke but it would be kind of neat.

11) Finish this statement - "If I had a lot of money I'd..." Build a nice house, get a nice car or 2, make sure all my bills were paid, make sure all the family bills were paid, and just live comfortably without worrying about how I would pay for a house our kids or college tuition. Oh and I would travel. I really want to see the world.

12) Do you drive fast? Does the phrase "Drive it like you stole it" mean anything to you. Just kidding. Yeah I do drive pretty fast but only when I am comfortable doing so, I am not reckless.

13) Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? Yeah I sleep with 2. R got me a bear for our first Valentine's day and this past one I got a really big Leopard with a heart in it's mouth. This thing is so big its like a body pillow. R got it for me because it was so big and would take up some space in my king size bed that I sleep in alone during the week.

14) Storms - cool or scary? If I am home or do not have to go out in them then they are cool. though I do not mind playing in the rain sometimes. If they are big bad storms that do lots of damage then scary.

15) What was your first car? A 1985 GMC Jimmy, Navy Blue. It is like the Chevy Blazer. I liked it a lot and was pretty sad when I totalled it.

16) Favorite drink? It's a tie between water and milk. If you were talking alcoholic then I like white russians.

17) Finish this statement - if I had the time, I would......do something fun.

18) Do you eat the stems on broccoli? Usually. Cooked most always, Raw depending on how big it is, and Always depending on how hard and fibrous it is.

19) If you could dye your hair any other color, what would be your choice? If I could do it and not worry about getting fired, probably blue. In reality probably red, like a deep purple-red.

20) Name all of the different cities/towns you've lived. Breaux Bridge, Baton Rouge, Houston.

21) Favorite sports to watch. Football and that's pretty much the only one I really get into. I mean Living in Baton Rouge and going to LSU and winning the National Championship last year kind of gets you in the mood for football.

22) One nice thing about the person who sent this to you? Well no one technically sent this to me. I snatched it off of Velvet Lava. But I would have to say that Ann looks like an amazing cook and I really want some chocolate cake now.

23) What's under your bed? Some rogue socks, some chapstick, a pot holder, a small bottle of lotion, fluff bunnies from the box springs. Technically none of that should be under my bed but the mattress slides around due to the bed skirt and things fall off of the headboard and my arm just doesn't fit where they fall in and I have been too lazy to go get a broom and retrieve them. I guess I can add that to my to do list.

24) Would you like to be born as yourself again? I do like me and I do not think I would turn out any differently if I were to be me again so I have no aversions to being born as myself again. I do think that I would like to try something different though. My main question about this is would we remember being ourselves and our experiences or would we not know anything. If we remember then I want to be someone new, if not then it makes no difference because I wouldn't know I was different anyways.

25) Morning person or night owl?I am a night owl, though I can't stay up as late as I used to. If I sleep in too late int eh mornings I get a headache which is just sucky.

26) Over easy or sunny side up? Over easy. But they don't have to be turned over if you cook them in the same pan as you just cooked bacon. My daddy just pushes the grease up over the top of the egg with the spatula until he is sure all the white is cooked and the yolk stays runny. This is my favorite way if I am doing eggs like this. I also love scrambled with cheese though.

27) Favorite place to relax? Camping, preferably near woods and a body of water. When you wake up to the sounds of nature or sit by a campfire it is just really calming. Smores help. I do just like to lay in bed though.

28) Favorite pie?APPLE! I love apple pie. I also love it as apple cobbler/crumble though. Pecan Pie holds a close second. Oh and Lemon Meringue too!

29) Favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate! I love chocolate. And if I get to mix things in then peanut butter, or brownie bites, or crushed oreos and fresh strawberries. I think the oreo and strawberry combination ties with peanut butter.

30) Of all the people you have tagged, who is the most likely to respond first? Well since I didn't actually tag anyone I have no idea. But whoever you are feel free to play along and tag yourself.

And if anyone else does this meme leave me a comment and let me know. I would love to know more about you too.

I promise I will try to get back to blogging more often, as soon as I figure some things out...

Rainy Monday

I don't know about you but I began the day just feeling kind of blah. Nothing out of the ordinary to feel happy or sad about, yet here I am still feeling somewhat down. Then it has been rainy all day long. So when I might look out the window to see the sunshine and green trees, all I see is a gray haze. The grayness does not help to promote the good moods. And I should be in a pretty good mood considering I had quite a lovely weekend. Yet somehow the weather is creating an adverse effect. And the blahness leaves me kind of empty for writing inspiration. There are plenty of good things I have done recently that warrant a good blog post but I just don't feel up to talking about them right now. I just don't feel like talking about anything. And when I don't feel like talking I can get slightly irritated at people who ask questions of me. Even when those questions are well meaning and simple like, how are you? Even that amount of conversation pulls me out from inside myself where I would rather stay. I even made sure to eat lunch all by myself today to just get a little bit of me time.

So I believe I will just go home tonight and try to relax. I think a night like this warrants going home and changing into some really comfy clothes. It also requires some yummy comfort food. I am thinking of eggs and grits or maybe even french toast because breakfast food sounds warm and good right now. Then I just need to vege out in front of the TV or curl up with my current read and relax some. No emails, No phone calls, No other people around. Just me and the rain outside. And though I feel kind of down, I do not feel depressed. I think we all need to take days to just be by ourselves and comfort ourselves. I am going to do that tonight, and I am going to enjoy it.

Happy Cows or Laughing Cows?

Do you remember those commercials about how great cheese comes from Happy Cows? You know the Happy Cows from California? Well I always thought they were kind of silly, but fun to watch. So anyway the real reason I am asking is that I recently tried some cheese that made me think of this slogan. I mean this cheese is soooo good it has to come from Happy Cows, right? I think so. And I think you will too. Or maybe you already do...

Have you tried these?

They are absolutely yummy! AND they come in their own nifty little travel pouches! But the best thing about them other than portability is the taste. Some serious yum was infused into these little cheeses. And aren't they just the cutest! They fit right in the palm of your hand! But the taste! It is one of those things that makes your mouth water when you think about the taste. They are these little white cheese rounds with a slight tang. But they are really creamy too. So you take a bite and salivate due to the tanginess and then moan because of the melt-in-your-mouthness of them. And if you didn't eat the whole thing in one bite (which is entirely possible since they are tiny like that and some people just might pop in the whole thing all at once, not me, but some people, you know those other people) then you just want to take another bite! As yummy as I imagine a whole little cheese wheel would be I much prefer to take as many little nibbles as I can to be able to really enjoy the flavors. What? I do have some self control! Well, okay, the first bite may not be as tiny as the rest but jeez the expectation is just too much sometimes. And honestly up till this point I really have not popped the whole thing in my mouth at one time, but that's not to say that I won't do it in the future now that I have thought about it. But it would not be a tragedy, because they are tiny. So tiny that they have very few calories, something like 70 for one of the regular wheels and 50 for the light. So not a whole lot of guilt can come from the urge to eat more than one. And did I mention that they are baby cheese and really tiny? Well they are and they have this red wax protective shell on them so they are super portable. And the shell is really easy to peel off due to the pull strip which breaks the shell right in half. Well except for a little part where the halves are still connected and it then looks like a red Pacman. Think about how cool your kids would be if you packed Pacman cheese in their lunch! I wish this cheese had been around for my school lunches. This is my kind of cheese! And I am really not sure if it comes from the Happy Cows in California but I do know it comes from the Laughing Cow people. Oh, drat, I got curious and turns out that the Babybel people are actually a french company based out of Paris. But their main USA address is in Illinois. Maybe they import some Happy Cows from California though. Or maybe the Happy Cows and Laughing Cows are really twins. Who knows? All I really know is that I am glad I found these wonderful little cheese rounds. They make my mouth happy! Go, go, go, go, go to your store and get some to try today! I promise if you like cheese you will not regret this!

Hands and Feet and Body Parts

I like mysteries. Most specifically crime mysteries. And crime mysteries seem to be pretty synonymous with murder mysteries. I like to read about them and I like to watch them. Now murder usually means some blood and guts but not a lot of gore. I do not like horror movies because they use the gore as a simple shock factor and it is gross. But I do like crime shows and movies because the crime is integral to the plot and is usually more tactfully described and displayed. I like trying to figure things out and the dark nature of the subject really does not bother me that much. I suppose it is because I am separated from the subject and can only imagine what happens. If I had to experience it I know I would not like it. But reading about something or watching a show where it happens to other people I am not involved with is pretty darn interesting to me. I guess you could look at it as creepy. But I think I just like the crime stories because it engages my intellect. I mean when you think about it, a criminal has to be pretty smart to get away with something. Sure luck plays a part, but there is some skill and intelligence involved. I relate well to the smart criminals in the plots. I love that some authors are skilled enough to have me completely in the dark as to the identity of the killer right until the end. I also like when I can figure it out early though, as long as it was not too obvious. So I guess my whole point is that I like crime dramas and I like the criminals to be smart in the stories. Therefore it is really easy for me to see why I like this so much

I really like the Showtime Series, Dexter. It is all about a serial killer with a twist. He is a good killer if that can really be true. He only kills other killers. He was raised by a cop who taught him that if he had to kill he needed to be really careful not to get caught and also that he should only kill those people who deserved it. He grew up to be a forensic blood specialist and uses his connections with the ops to get to the serial killers before they can be arrested. It is pretty interesting because he is not really this madman, he just doesn't feel anything and wishes he could be more normal. He wants to be able to blend in so he can continue to kill. I suppose you could get all technical and say that he should not be killing people even though they are bad. Because if you really think about it when you kill a person you kill everything about them, not just the bad parts, you kill everything they will ever become. That is why Dexter only kills those he is sure deserve to die and have evaded justice. In a way he protects more people from getting hurt. So it is easy to justify why you can root for the killer, because he is actually a good guy in a way. Regardless, I find this series very interesting. I watched the whole first season on my netflix in just 1 week. It may help that the plot is awesome and somehow you feel for Dexter and don't want him to get caught. I think it also really helps that he is pretty hot. It is a little strange because the actor, Michael C. Hall, has such a versatile face. One minute you look at him and you can see that he is empty inside with cold eyes and no emotion and then the next he is playful and quite sexy. Of course I much prefer to watch him smirk and be sexy. But I have to admit that his yumminess factor is a big reason I think a lot of women watch this show. The actress who plays Dexter's sister, Jennifer Carpenter, provides some eye candy for the guys too, even though she can be quite annoying. Overall I really liked this show and felt the need to share. I believe the show is in its third season and I plan to watch all I can get my hands on. SO if you are looking for a crime show with a twist and a pretty hot main character I think you should check out Dexter.

Happy viewing!

Morning has Broken

Are you a Morning Person?

Well, for the record, I am not so much a morning person. I do not wake up all bright eyed and bushy tailed as the saying goes. Now, I am not usually grumpy either, unless I have gotten too little sleep. But there is no sunshine shooting forth from my derriere either like some people I know. I am just kind of quiet until I really wake up. And really waking up could very well take an hour or two. There are some mornings I am happy and some mornings where I am just comfortable with everything and feeling pretty good. Some mornings I hit snooze as many times as I can and others I get up with or even before the first alarm and feel really rested. Just depends on the day.

Well today did not start off the best. I did not get enough sleep really and wanted more. I decided maybe, just maybe I could try to at least close my eyes on the bus if not actually doze off for a few. But was that really a possibility? Not so much. There was only one strip of lights on and they just happened to be the ones right above my seat. Ehh, bright light is okay cause it will go away when the driver takes off right. Yeah well she didn't turn them off while we were driving in to downtown so there was really no chance of me getting any rest. Drat! Okay well I read my book some and I suppose that's okay too. And the buses were running relatively fast which was good. There was no line at my favorite breakfast taco place so I had time to grab one and still make it to my building on time, hooray! I needed a yummy breakfast today. So I am sitting at my desk as the other people in my office trickle in. The girl who sits in the cube next to me obviously was in a better mood than I and loudly professed a good morning to everyone. When the 3 people here did not make enough of a noise to really be heard when responding she told us we all needed to wake up. Needless to say, that annoyed me some. I had not realized how much until I heard the tone of the words coming out of my mouth. I told her I had said good morning back to her and frankly it sounded quite snippish. But darn it I had told her good morning and was annoyed that she was fussing at us for not saying it back when in reality she had just not heard us because she was the one talking so loudly. Sorry for not having sunshine shooting out of my you-know-where but I do not need to be as freaking perky as you are right now. I was polite enough in responding when I really didn't even feel like talking. So she got annoyed with me for sounding so snippy but you know what I really don't care. I do not need to be told how freaking happy I should or should not be in the morning. I am glad she was happy but I did not have to be. There are mornings when she walks in and mumbles sometimes instead of saying good morning and I don't go all sunshine commando on her arse like I could. Whatever.

So I was pretty awake by the time I had a meeting at 9. We did this video-teleconference thingy with some people in our other office. Well we found out one of the presenters was flying into our town for some stuff today and would be joining us as soon as he got in. So we started the meeting and got through one slide before he showed up. Since he was supposed to start the presentation he took over, and promptly elevated the decibel level in the room. He is normally a loud person, military background and all. But this morning he was actually trying to be loud and get our attention. Well is sure as heck worked. And once again I was like wha? Howcome the supreme chipperness? Especially when considering he had to be up at o'dark thirty to catch his flight and make it in for when he did. But we all made it through and the presenter left the meeting when he was done with his part. Even funnier was when a colleague who was sitting closer to the presenter later told me that he said he needed to go find a Starbucks as he left the room. I mean it already seemed like he had 5 espressos this morning how many more could he want. And if that is what he considers to be a tired morning for him I would hate to see what is normal. Jeez just sunshine all around...

Now I am all for morning people. And I like how I feel when I wake up early and get lots of stuff done. Those mornings when you wake up early and just feel really rested and ready to get out and do things are great. You can get so much done and then still have the whole day ahead of you. It is just so satisfying and it makes the whole day better. I love that content feeling you get on those kind of mornings. But really when it comes down to it I would rather sleep until I am ready to wake up. And when I am allowed to be the night owl like I like to be, I will sleep in. Other days if I wake up at 7 and feel like getting up I will, even on a Saturday. I swear its true! But no matter how good I feel I just do not see the need to act like sunshine commando barbie or something and attack everyone I meet with a shrill Good Morning! I much prefer to savour the morning and the peaceful quiet that comes with it.

So while morning may have broken, if you know me please refrain from breaking morning greetings over my head. Corny, yeah I know, but true. Thanks!

The Beginning

Hi,

Welcome to my place of Internet residence. I suppose we should begin with some introductions. I will go first, that being only proper. (And there is no need to worry that I will hold it against you when you fail to reciprocate, considering I really am not sure who you are yet. Shoot, you probably don't know who you are yet either! And since I don't know you, and you don't know you, I am sure you can be trusted to keep the secret that I really don't know who I am yet either. Shhh...I won't tell if you won't.)

My name is Karen, this is my blog. I have curly hair, hence the name of the blog, which I figure defines me pretty well, or at least well enough to use as my title. I have no really specific plans for this place just yet and it is kind of empty and drafty to tell you the truth. Perhaps once you have identified yourself you would be willing to help me make some decorating decisions. I would like that. But until you figure out who you are I suppose I can tell you a little more about me. So I like books and I like to read, a lot, a whole lot. Mostly I stick to mysteries but I like anything really that reads well and I can just get wrapped up in. And while I like to read a lot, you may notice that my own grammar and writing style leaves something to be desired. But you will just have to get over that, because I plan to write like this is more of a conversation, and conversations may not look to pretty when you get down to the technical mumbojumbo but it sure reads a whole lot better. Plus its my place and I am simply going to be me here. If you do not like me, I find that sad for you but trust that you can find other friends to occupy your time with. So if you can get over the inappropriate use of prepositions and commas and whatnot and you are still with me, great! and glad to have you. So since I like to read so much I thought it might be fitting to have a few posts about the books I read. I will probably do some reviews and maybe just some lists. But I do tend to go through books kind of fast so I might just post about the ones that really move me.

In addition to books I like food. I like food a lot and I am from the South where you fall asleep planning breakfast and wake up planning dinner. So I am sure that I will be posting about food, perhaps about yummy things I find at restaurants, or more than likely about fun adventures I have in my own kitchen. And I am kind of picky and don't like too many raw veggies or strange things so anything I find to be really good will more than likely also be really simple too.

When I am not reading or cooking or eating I very well may be painting. I have just begun to really explore some fun new techniques and I am having a lot of fun. So I am sure I will be posting some pictures too.

Other than that I am a pretty simple person. I really just like to have a good time and enjoy the company of friends and family. I do look forward to finding new friends and family here on the Internet. I don't have a lot of specific plans for this place yet, but I want it to be comfortable and inviting. I know it will be random since that is just my nature. I am the person who will start laughing in the middle of complete silence at something that happened days ago. So there will definitely be some random musings here, it just wouldn't be home without them.

I guess there is not much else to say but sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!

I know I will!