Thursday, July 28, 2005

Everybody's workin' for the weekend...

Today is already Thursday. I'm majorly excited that soon it will be Friday. And then Friday, 4:29 and that's when i leave work.

Saturday I'm volunteering at The Animal Place and i'm excited about that. I just wish I could bring Kody...but he'd eat the chickens and would hump the sheep. (even though he's not a humper) Peng is coming but riding his bike for the 4 hours i'm in orientation...fine by me! it'll be hot and i don't like to move too much in the heat.

I still haven't found a home for Blue which sucks. This dog is so frickin' clingy, you just would not believe me if i told you. when i was cutting up veggies in my kitchen, at the counter, i had to move two steps to the right and then to the left; back to the right and then left...he moved every time i did...plus he urine dribbled in my office. poor baby...he needs a big farm to run on.

here's to hoping i find a good home for blue, have fun at the animal place and hear good weekend stories on monday...

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

lunch

i had lunch at a little family-owned mexican restaurant where they had all their little rugrats running around. literally. one was even on a scooter! in the restaurant! they were screaming, laughing, slamming the table; completely oblivious to people who were patronizing this restaurant for just a simple relaxing lunch.

Probably why i never wanted children - i'm highly intolerant of kid noise.

so lunch was unnerving, too fattening and now i'm gassy...

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Shoes...

I got Kody's shoes yesterday...holy shit that was SO funny! I waited for Peng to bring his camcorder over so we could have a chance of winning 5,000$ and i think we do have a chance.

i read a really good book over the weekend called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. i'm motivated now to become financially independent.

if i could win the lottery, it would be a lot easier...

Friday, July 22, 2005

Daily Schedule

Here's what my days look like Monday thru Friday:

5:00 run OR 6:00 roll out of bed
6:10 - 6:30 eat, shower, dress, kiss kody & turn on tv for him, run out door
6:45 - Starbucks
7:03 - get to work
11:30 - lunch
4:29 - run out door
5:00 - 6:00 Judge Judy
6:00 - 7:00 King of Queens
7:00 - 7:30 Variety TV
7:30 - 8:00 Everybody Loves Raymond
8:00 - 9:00 clean up, brush teeth, go to bed and read
9:15 - 5:00 sleep

Every frickin' day. 280 days a year. year after year until retirement where i'll probably die one day in to it...is this life?

i need to start drinking again...

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Oprah...

I was reading my Oprah magazine last night and she threw a party for all the popular women of today and the ones that carved the way for them. I can't help but be disgusted (and a bit jealous)...her estate is enormous, the layout was incredible, even the reporters and photographers were famous. cripes!~

But the clincher was she got all her guests DIAMOND EARRINGS!! And not just ones from Zales, but BIG FAT HOOP ones and BIG FAT TEARDROP ones. i mean, come on!!! you're buying major expensive gifts for super rich women. and they had pictures of some of the guests doing the 'diamond dance' because they were so excited. how acted up is that... anyway, here are her guests gifts...

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

bummer...

i have to take kody to the vet. i don't think he's pee'd once since he's been home. i love him and all but that is one 10,000$ dog.

Here he is with his home-made "casts", by his food dish that i begged him to walk over to and he did and just plopped down. yes, my grass dies in the summer...


Here he is with my professional wrap job

Monday, July 18, 2005

sunday hike

me and my friends went hiking yesterday in tahoe. it was even super-hot up there! Kody tore up his pads so bad he wouldn't even come get his breakfast!! But on the way back from the hike, he limped and gimped and laid down any chance he could. i was near tears thinking about the long way back and the pain he had to endure. And he's a hundred pounds so it's not like i can carry him because i most certainly would have.

Aww...i HATE THIS WEATHER!

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Life...

Since I've been on my diet, i've gained 3 pounds. Hmmm...

It's going to be in the hundreds today in Sacramento. I ran in it this morning and at 8:00 am it's already like 85. disGUSTing. I'm not sure why i don't live in alaska. Probably becuase i know i'd have to eat whale and i just dont' think i can do that.

I always dream of where I would live if I won like 30 million dollars. Every day i'm different so how does one choose where to reside? Okay, let's say you only won 5 million, for those of you who will say buy a house every where!

Here are my choices:

Italy/Ireland/Britain or somewhere Europey
Coast of Maine
Lake Tahoe
Portland
Mediterranean

You pick.

and then tell me ONE place you, for sure, would be a home...

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Pit Bull ban

This breed scares me. They always have. Anytime I'm walking Kody and I see a pit bull, my heart beats a little faster and i say a quick prayer.

I, unfortunately, am for a pit bull ban. I am an avid animal lover and an animal rights activist so this seems contradictory. However, this breed is suffering immensley, because of its propensity towards its unique fighting traits and reputation.

Too many morons own pit bulls. And if you think I'm lying, check out your local pound. It's usually occupied by over 50% pits. Isn't that sad? What does that say? It's says morons own pit bulls and can't take care of them. It says low-lifes think they're cool and bad-ass so they get a pit bull only to not give a shit about caring for them and loving them and taking care of them like they deserve. and what a crying shame.

Pit bulls are lovely animals. They are gentle, loyal, smart, agile and pretty incredible. It's a shame this breed should be outlawed becuase of the majority of pit bull owners.

And before you tell me that there are more dog bites reported by chihuahuas and cockers, may i remind you that probably 99.9999999% of those aren't fatal. Not so with the pit bull.

And, also, before you tell me what a great pit bull owner you are and fuck me, may I say that i have a wolf-hybrid whom i ADORE; however, I would like to see THIS breed obsolete as well.

It takes an incredibly patient and loving person to care for these types of high-maintenance animals and I don't see that trait among most dog owners, sorry to say. (well pits not really, they respond to just the slightest of attention)

So again, before you attack me, i come from a place of concern for the breed. I'd rather phase out this breed then see them suffer by the thousands in the pound or shot by police officers.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Belly Dancers

Peng and I went to a Moroccan restaurant Friday after work. Despite the fact that the food stays with you for a few days and makes you look even more pregnant than you already do, it was pretty tasty.

They have a belly dancer on Friday and Saturday night which is a nice touch but it's just so awkward. She comes over to our table, shaking her thang, and I'm not quite sure where to look. When I look at her face she smiles this weird, concentrated smile so I look at her belly and feel even odder that I'm staring at her naked belly so I look back at her face and I'm back to that smile...

FINALLY, she walks to another table and now I can watch without feeling obligated to smile and nod back...

Unfortunately, she came over again; but, I couldn't stand it anymore so I blurted out "Where do I look?!?" And unfortunately, her answer was "where ever you'd like"...

eww...Maybe that's what made us gassy...

Friday, July 08, 2005

i ain't got shit to say..

...so i'll just talk shit.

I found a magic 8 ball on a desk that i was working at today and i asked it 4 questions. i imagined each question in my head so it would give me the right answer:

Will Kevin and I get married? It is decidedly so
Will Kody live to be an old dog? Yes (phew!!)
Will I ever be truly happy? Signs point to yes
Will i ever be happy at any job? Concentrate and ask again

I decided not to push my luck and put it down...i mean, how many yes'es can it give me?
____________________

I have another wedding to go tomorrow evening. yes it's an evening wedding which means "party". but i can't drink so i'll have to be one of those queer sober partiers. I'm WAY funnier with a buzz-on but these aren't my friends so it doesn't matter if i'm funny or not.
____________________

I woke up this morning to a harrassing Kody. "feed me!" "Move over!" "i gotta pee!" "Rub my belly." "Let me scratch your torso..." Gosh! It's always about him. I don't know where he gets it but he is such a spoiled ass. (awww...i love him sooo much!) Anyway, my kind kind Kevin offered to get up at 5am and feed him since he was awake anyway. I laid there and fell back to sleep in about 53 seconds and was actually dreaming when i heard Kody scream a God awful 4 second scream. This is the 3rd time he has done this but it doesn't get any less scary. I shot out of bed, heart pounding, body shaking and ran to the back door - kevin is already out there...Kody comes running in with his ears back and favoring his front left paw. Again, i look him over and find nothing. Twice he's done this and now 3 times I find nothing. All I can do is love him and hold him for about 15 minutes..which make kevin jealous. I think he's considering trying the same trick as kody for tomorrow morning...Sorry hun...but he IS my son, you know?
____________________

Yesterday I wore my faded black gap jeans and folded up the hem like mid-calf. I know it's not the style but i thought it was cute and i'm way too fat to wear shorts to work! Plus my legs are still baring (bearing?) the bruises from last weekends rafting trip - aka=not pretty. Sheila asked me if that was the style and I said "no" but my other girlfriend always says i'm so way hip you'd almost think i was behind the times when really I'm super advanced. So today? My co-worker, who took the job i wanted and the promotion i wanted, was wearing the same exact look i had on yesterday...huh? That's right...who's cryin now babe?

Okay...everyone have a lovely weekend. I know I will because any day off is a good day...

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Tab's Questions

tanya:
1. who is your favorite harry potter character and why?
My my...this is most difficult becuase i love them all for their various reasons. Harry, becuase he's so cute and humble, Hermiani becuase she's a wizard and young and those are two things i want, Ron becuase he's a red head, Hagrid...awww...he's just so sweet!!!, Dumbledore (now this one is hard becuase they switched the characters but the new one is preeeetty good!) hes a sweet gentle protective man...it's making me crave November!! so glad the release date is back in the winter - damn lord of the rings...

2. first of all, as an aquarius, did you know that your complimentary opposite sign is leo and THAT IS WHAT I AM? but, really my question is, does this description that i found on a zodiac website fit your personality:
General personality traits of a typical Aquarian:
Positive: Inventive, highly intrigued by others, caring, thoughtful, logical, scientific, a good communicator and loyal.
Negative: Self absorbed, rude and without tact, prone to eccentricity, unwilling to share ideas or fight for beliefs, voyeuristic curiosity about others and rude.
Well, again, rude was mentioned twice so let me think about that one. I am definitely logical, intrigued by others, thoughtful and inventive. I'm sometimes loyal, a good communicator and caring...but relationships are hard for me; hence, the hesitancy on the latter part.
I am very self-absorbed but i am not eccentric, rude or without tact, unwilling to share ideas and i most CERTAINLY fight for my beliefs. I am voyeuristic but that's becuase i'm highly intrigued by others...

3. what does the word "freedom" mean to you?
Freedom: Funny, becuase i never think about it. I've had it my whole life and i can't imagine it any different. Americans should live in other less-free countries for one month and maybe we'd have a more clear and true meaning of freedom.

4. kody is being held hostage. in order to release him you must sign the papers that will close down the elephant sanctuary that you speak so highly of. if you do not sign these papers, kody will die. what do you do and why?
Why must you torture me so?? I'm very selfish and self-centered and i love my boy so i would have to say the sanctuary would have to close down becuase i can always re-open it somewhere else or dedicate the rest of my life raising money to bring it back to operation. but if kody were killed, there's no turning that back. and i'd house all the elephants in my yard.

5. tell us your "first kiss" story.
It was my neighborhood friend. His name was Timmy and he was a fat little red-headed kid. We put our own hands over our own mouths and pretended to make out. (hey...that's more exciting than the actual real kiss - trust me!)

well thank you my lovely Tabitha, for taking the time to write me such thoughtful questions! I emailed "I am so mad" about the blogger picnic because Peng and i might make a road trip around that...(if it's in august, that is....)

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Winner of a Weekend

This trip was different than the last two years as we did the scary bus ride on the first day instead of the second. Which is good becuase there's nothing like a terrifying, near death-defying bus ride when you're hung-over and tired.

So we all (that's 10 of us) arrived at the gear drop off point at 9:30 am sharp, as indicated in the brochure, and proceeded to wait another 45 minutes until we were shuttled out. Grr...But we hung around the busses and chatted it up, sipping our cocktails (yes, at 9:30 am) laughing and scaring the newbies of the upcoming terror ride.

I am now getting anxious which means my mind spins at such a rate, you couldn't see it move with a normal eye. Then the heart goes. Not good. Can't have a heart rate of 200 when you're preparing to tackle white water. Oh...Now it goes faster becuase we're filing on to the bus. In 10 more minutes, I'll be near tears.

It's hot today too. Hot and dusty.
On the Bus Ride from Hell (crappy pix, crappy ride)

The first part of the ride is on a nice paved road but it's when you hit the dirt that you start shitting your board shorts. I drink more vodka. The "road" that leads to our drop off point is narrow. Only one vehicle can fit and it should be the size of a car, not the partridge bus. Part of the ride has cliffs on BOTH sides of the bus and the other part has just one cliff on either side...But there's' always a cliff involved. Now the downhill part is what scares you the most becuase if the brakes went out on these 1952 busses, you're fucked. No easy way to put that - YOU ARE FUCKED! It didn't help that the brakes were moaning like an old man dying or that it smelled like old brakes ready to give out...Man...But finally we can see the hundreds of rafts waiting for our butts which means we're almost there.

Filing off the bus and kissing the ground, we then have to stand in the hot sun for our 15 minute "You will die if you do this" or "You will die if you don't do this" speech. It's HOT...My heart is beating, I've got to get out of here!!! It doesn't help that the team leader loves attention so he'll talk longer just for that reason. Shut up.

Finally, we run to our rafts, pick out 5 in a row and wait for the others to bring the paddles. The rafts are like professional blow-up kayaks. (The first day, we were all on blue rafts and the second day pink) One sits in the front and one sits in the back. Yes, there are no guides. It's just you and nature and hopefully one of the "you's" is a good steerer. (which I am, thank you very much) oh man...I can't wait. We get on the water and head down to our campsite. It's about a 3.5 hour raft ride. The river runs through a beautiful volcanic canyon that is only viewable by rafting since most places are inaccessible by hiking. So the views are spectacular and quite serene, especially when you have a little alcohol running through your veins...Some how it makes beauty even MORE beauty-ish, as you can see...

(L to R: Me, Jeannie and Jeffrie)


The river consists of mostly Class I's and II's. And Most of us did pretty well navigating through the white water with little to no problems. Unfortunately, Dena and Sheila weren't so lucky. I was worried about them with the up and coming III but surprisingly, Dena and Sheila made it through it okay (tomorrow? Another story). However, it was Jeannie and her lovely sister Jeffrie that weren't so lucky. After Kevin and I counted 3 rafts, we began to wonder where the 4th was (the 5th, occupied by denas 20 year old son and friend were WAY off on their own)...The answer became clear when we saw Jeannie's mini ice chest floating alone in the river. They didn't make it. Their raft literally wrapped around a huge rock and ripped out all their stuff that had been previously tied down. Jeffrie had to jump out of the front, get in the back with Jeannie so the "rescuer" could push their raft off...Then Jeffrie had to fly back to the front to get out of the rest of the rapids. Not bad, chicks...Not bad. Kevin and I hung out and collected all their stuff while we waited for them to appear around the corner. As scary as getting dumped in to this river can be, it is pretty safe. Even if you do get dumped, calm waters await you soon.

So we continue our trip until we reach the final point for the first day. Here's where the work begins. You have to search amongst hundreds of tents, ice chests, chairs, sleeping bags, etc., to find YOUR stuff. Then you run as fast as you can to find a good area to set up camp. We were a bit later than we normally are so we had to set up camp in a sunnyish area. No big; it fit our two tents and Jeannies 'condo' quite comfortably. A few of us put on some makeup and I put on my housecoat. But I was too mortified to keep it on and if I got one more "you look pregnant!" someone would have gotten hurt. But Kevin put it on and looked cuter anyway. This is my fav pix becuase Sheila is walking up in the background cracking up. That disposable camera took shitty pix but you get the idea...


Here's our campsite: It's hard to see but if you look reeeal close you can see my cool camouflage tent...
and of course I'm doing something totally stupid. heh..heh...

Half our group in leis and hawaiian shirts that Jeannie bought everyone for "Hawaiian Night":


Here's a lovely glamour shot of me and me baby...Awwww.....


We hung out and played Catch Phrase which if you haven't played - you must. It's a great game for lots of people. After a few more cocktails, I always suggest the numbers game which was a total drinking game I used to play in my teens (yes, I've been an alcoholic for a loooooooooooong time). There are 10 people and everyone gets assigned a number. um...1 through 10. #1 starts and they have to say their number twice and someone else's number twice

"1, 1, 3, 3"
"3, 3, 9, 9"
Sheila is now super buzzed so she's so easy to pick on. She's #8 and I'm #9. Right by me.
"9, 9, 8, 8"
Sheila: "8, 8, no, no"..."NO! 8, 8, 9, 9!" Too late..She has to drink.

"8, 8, 10, 10"
"10, 10, 9, 9"
"9, 9, 8, 8"
Sheila: "9, 9, 8, 8" Drink again Sheila...drink again.

Chapter 2
Now this company that we go rafting through has a beautiful set up. They have appetizers about 1.5 hours before dinner so you get plenty of time to eat, party, eat, party, party, sleep. Very well done. Before our game playing we had appetizers and margaritas. Yes, they give away free margaritas for one hour. After our numbers game it was soon time for dinner so we headed down where they had a beautiful set up of steaks, chicken, baked potatoes the size of your head, corn on the cob and beverages. For us veggies we had earth burgers which were delicious! After dinner you have time to party some more which is when we played the "Me and my aunt Sally went on a trip and we brought an..." and you pick words from A all the way to Z. I remember most of the words...apple, bbq chicken, c, d,elephant, fan, giraffe, hepatitis C virus, igloo, javelin, kayak, lemons, money, n, ocelot, pamprin, queens, rooster, s, t, underwear, viceroy cigarettes, wet ones, xylophone, yams, zebra. I couldn't have been THAT drunk then...

more drinks, and now it's DISCO TIME!! They come around all the camp sites and pass out glowy necklaces. Down in the common area they play disco music and shine their flashlights on everyone on top of the already-hooked up colored lights. We danced for about an hour until it's near bed time. Some people party all night, but I took a tylenol PM so I went out shortly after that. But not after getting trapped in the stinky urinal for about a panicky 30 seconds until I kicked the damn thing open!

I slept GREAT! But, as usual, no one else did. shoulda taken a PM! (After the first year I won't go without it...) They have breakfast ready of eggs, avocado, sour cream, orange juice, cereal, milk, pastries...Then it's time to get back on the bus but only for an 8 minute ride now.

This day is, unfortunately, much shorter and we get to our boats and head out in less than 15 minutes. And not even 15 seconds in to the ride we're met with some class II rapids. Seems a bit early to be expeditioning through these but what choice do we have? Dena and Sheila, of course, flipped shortly in to the day, even though they just started off SO good!

Here they are accepting their fate with such graciousness!


We only pulled over for a little bit and had a beer and a smoke before we were guided in to "The Mother" The Mother is the last Class III of the day. (see? I'm always happy on the river!)


We all made it through The Mother okay accept...YOU GUESSED IT!...Dena and Sheila. But it wasn't their fault. A raft that had gone before them was stuck on the rock. When Shedena came around the corner, the nose of their raft went under the stuck raft and they were thrown. From their story it was quite terrifying. They couldn't catch their breath, they were worried about being slammed in to rocks and they couldn't catch their breath (that would be very freaky). Thankfully, staff wait on the rocks for this sort of thing and one jumped in and grabbed BOTH of them by their life jackets and brought them in. He then ran and caught their raft! What a hero!!

We needed to pull over and let them gain their bearings, eat, mellow out, talk it out and have some lunch. There were tears and anger which was not the way you'd want to wrap up such a great weekend but being near death probably does that to you...

So that pretty much tells the tale of our white water rafting weekend...A few of us had a 100% blast, and a few of us didn't. Some people were scared, some people were angry, some people were frustrated, some people were sad...yeah...This just might be our last year of the infamous weekend we have every year.

Or maybe next year it'll just be the two of us...and that's not so bad.