Happy Halloween.

Meal at the Manor: The Sick Edition.

Appetizer ~
When was the last time you were sick enough to stay home?

Soup ~
What do you eat, if anything, when you are sick?

Salad ~
Do you use those tissues that have the lotion added?

Entrée ~
Do you drink soda while sick? If so do you drink clear sodas only? Bubbles or no bubbles?

Dessert ~
Have you gotten a flu shot? regular, swine or both? Will you get either/both?

Digestif ~
I feel like ______!

Thursday Thirteen.

13 Symptoms.
{alphabetically ordered.}

1. body aches
2. chills
3. cramping
4. exhaustion
5. fever
6. headache
7. listless
8. loss of appetite
9. nausea
10. sleepy
11. sneezing
12. snotty
13. sweaty

Words.

1. awake ~
2. late ~
3. games ~
4. clean ~
5. headache ~
6. sweep ~
7. dark ~
8. surf ~
9. read ~
10. asleep ~

Monday Mop-Up.

• Rudy's Vikings lost their first game of the season yesterday. Sad day for the Vikings. I blame Burt Faver. I am sure Rudy does also. At least his Chargers won their game. His Badgers had a BYE so they did not play this weekend.
  
• I am finally without head and neck pain. I could not figure out if my neck pain was giving me a headache or my headache was giving me neck pain. Either way it sucked. For 2 days, it sucked. I am sick of chronic pain.
• It is 59 days until Christmas. 31 days until Thanksgiving. 5 days until Halloween. Just thought you should know.
  
• Barring some miraculous playing by the Eagles defense I am going to win my match-up against the #1 player in our Fantasy Football league tonight. His claim to fame will be that he has lost only twice. Beaten once by a kid and once by a girl. Bwahahahaha!
• Do you ever go back to the previous postings? I make it a habit to comment once it appears that everyone has left their mark. Check back. I may have said something back to you.
• Big Bang Theory is a repeat tonight. As is every other CBS prime-time show. What is up with THAT, CBS??
• I have been secretly added into Rudy's family Christmas present name drawing. There is one sister who will not find this amusing. The drawing was rigged and I have that sister's name. I will send her a very sweet gift and she will have no reason to bitch that I should not have been in the drawing because I am not a part of the family. tee hee!
• Cowboys won this weekend. It was a fun game to watch. Sun Devils did not. Not even close. :-(
• Rudy's son is home this week from Korea where he is stationed.I think they had some good father/son bonding time this weekend.
• I am sure you noticed the empty plate for the Meal on Friday. Rudy turned it into a smorgasbord. If you ever see the empty plate again that is your cue to put something on the table.
• I downloaded and installed a newer version of Trillian this weekend along with Patty. The jury is still out on this Trillian Astra. We are not sure we really like it that much. It is growing on me a bit though.
• It is Monday. The root of all evil. Tell me something good.

Halftime

is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time teams swap ends of the field of play, in order to reduce any advantage that may be gained from wind or a slope to the pitch, for example. While it exists mainly to allow competitors to rest briefly and recover from the play of the first half, half-time also serves a number of other purposes.

QOTD:
What do you do during halftime?

Happy Caturday!

Meal at the Manor.

Thursday Thirteen.

13 programs seen on my TV in the past week.

1. Americas Next Top Model
2. Big Bang Theory
3. Chris Matthews
4. College Football
5. Cougar Town
6. Countdown with Keith Olbermann
7. F·R·I·E·N·D·S
8. Grey's Anatomy
9. House Hunters International
10. Monday Night Football
11. Survivor
12. The Proposal
13. The Rachel Maddow Show

Wordless Wednesday.

Maybe.

Monday Mop-up.

• Rudy's Vikings won and are now 6-0. They are one of four teams in the NFL that are currently undefeated. This could change tonight if Denver loses to the Chargers. Oh. Sorry, honey. When Denver loses to the Chargers. The Chargers are Rudy's other team.
• The city I live in had a community clean up and recycling event on Saturday. The city sets out giant bins and people with junk can bring it and deposit in said bins. The event lasts until the bins are full. The kid and I got up at o' dark-thirty and loaded up the old 32 inch TV and 4 old closet doors and headed out. We were surprised to see that the line of cars went around, down and around. Even though the line was long we deposited our junk in a decent amount of time. While waiting I noticed that they also had a document shredding station. WooT! I haven't shredded in a very long time. The kid brought me back home and I collected up the shredding piles and headed back. Now I no longer have junk in my backyard and garage and my shredding is gone! Score!
• I won my fantasy football match-up and my dismal record is 2-4. At least I got a win.
• I just spoke with a police sargent who knocked on my door. Someone using the neighbors name and my address attempted some fraud at a local bank. That is interesting. Or odd. Or both. Said sargent asked if I was married. I said no. He asked if I had a boyfriend and I responded that I do have a fiance. {that's you, Rudy. ;-)} He then asked for Rudy's name. I told him and he responded quickly "nope, that's not the guy". umm. gee. Ya think? Kinda funny since he obviously has the guy in custody back at the big house. {Good to know you are not trying to commit fraud, darlin. Just Kidding, honey! *smooch*}
• I am drinking the last of the coffee in the coffee pot left over from yesterday morning. It is still pretty good. I think it would be a crime to waste it. {ha. Crime. Good thing I didn't waste it, eh? Since the copper was at my door this morning. tee hee!}
• The marrieds were here yesterday. Well, they showed up late Saturday afternoon and spent the night. I had invited them for bbq on Saturday and then never heard from them until way late Friday night. I just figured they were not coming. Silly me. We had a nice evening Saturday. Ran a couple errands and then dinner at our Favorite Mexican Restaurant.
• Mr. Married installed my new lappy keyboard. Can you tell? I am typing hella fast now that I don't have to go back and hit the *N*, *T* or space bar numerous times. YaY! {TY darlin for sending me the new keys.lappy is fixed and nowhere near the cost of a new one.}
• A few weekends ago the girl and I sewed a very cute strapless dress. She had/has two weddings to attend in October and this dress fit the bill. Except for the strapless part. She discovered at the first wedding two weekends ago that the top was too loose. We added a strap to it this weekend and now it is perfect. She can dance at the wedding this next weekend and not worry about it falling down. LOL!
• I woke up @ 0300 this morning and discovered that the kid was still up. WTF? Then he went to bed and I couldn't go back to sleep. I am not fond of insomnia. And there is nothing on TV @ 0300. Just so you know.
• Big Bang Theory is on tonight @ 2130. I love that show!
• I need more coffee.

Hi. My Name is Blondie

and I am a football addict.

My Cowboy's are on a BYE this week. {BYE means they have the day off}

Rudy's Vikings play the Baltimore Ravens today. Vikings are 5-0. {5-0 means they are currently undefeated} We want a win today against the Ravens.

2 Years.

ever thine
ever mine
ever ours

i love you.

Year 1 {<--click}

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
I added an after dinner drink to the meal. Thumbs up or Thumbs down?

Soup ~
What did you last download (music, movie, audiobook,...)?

Salad ~
What are you fed up with?

Entrée ~
What do you think the secret to life is?

Dessert ~
If you had to be trapped in a current TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

Digestif ~
What one thing are you craving today?

Thursday Thirteen.

13 Magazines/Catalogs
in our Magazine Cube.

1. Fantasy Football Index
2. USA Today Sports Weekly
3. Food Network Magazine
4. Taste of Home:Healthy Cooking
5. Cooks Illustrated
6. Vanity Fair
7. JEMS {Journal of Emergency Medicine}
8. Guns and Ammo Combat Tactics
9. Celtic Croft - Fall-Winter Catalog
10. King Arthur Flour - Late Fall 2009
11. B&H Photo/Video/Pro Audio - Summer 2009
12. Pottery Barn - Fall 2009
13. Lego - Summer 2009

Wordless Wednesday.

!

You’re Gonna Love My Nuts.*

It is so early to be up on a Saturday. Not only up but dressed, make-up’d and having ventured into the outside world and back already. Yes. I am one of *those* people. You know the ones. They get up early and are moving fluidly as soon as their feet touch the floor. The Morning Person. That would be me.

I just spent the last two days without hot water and waiting for the plumber to fix the ailing hot water heater. Because I was waiting for the guy and the fix I did not get my errands run as I normally do. The good news is that it is somehow still under warranty so the part cost me nothing more than overnight shipping. We won’t get into the service calls charge. I am trying to just be happy that they only charged me for two when the guy was actually here three times.

Ok. So what does all that have to do with nuts? Pretty much nothing other than I treated my morning person self to a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latté and a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin after I left the grocery. As you look at the picture of the pumpkiny cream cheesy goodness you may notice the little dark spots. Those are nuts. I noticed them too.


I popped the muffin into the micro after I had the groceries put away and settled down on the sofa to enjoy my latté and muffin. Which I totally did. Until I took a bite that had a nut in it. And quickly ejected said nut. That nut was not a walnut, which is what I had assumed it was. Upon closer examination I discovered that the nut was not a nut at all but rather a seed. A pumpkin seed. I don’t like pumpkin seeds. At all. Using my fork I removed the remainder of the seeds and continued to enjoy my pumpkin muffin. It was quite good once the offending seeds had been removed.

I probably won’t buy the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin again. I just don’t want to work before I can enjoy my muffin. Especially when it seems that Starbucks has raised its prices. Because I never spend over $5 when I go for coffee and a pastry and today I did. {Unless I am in Alaska, of course.} That is just adding insult to injury.

You're gonna love my nuts seeds? Yeah. Not so much.

* The phrase "You're Gonna Love My Nuts" is what the guy selling the Slapchop says quite loudly on his infomercial. My daughter loves the Slapchop infomercial and will make us watch it until someone removes the clicker from her hand. Any time there is a discussion about nuts in our house that same phrase is repeated in the Slapchop guy's style.

Meal at the Manor.

Appetizer ~
Everything is _________.

Soup ~
If you could choose another colour for your shadow, what color would you choose?

Salad ~
Are you funny? Do others think you’re funny?

Entrée ~
Did you ever run away from home?

Dessert ~
What is the most disgusting thing you have ever eaten?

Digestif ~ {<--- click}
{Besides Sex}What is one thing you can't say no to?

Thursday Thirteen: Randomosity Edition.

1. Thermocouple's are important. {Well, if you want hot water,anyways.}
   
2. Birds are noisiest just before dawn.{except for the youngest scrub jay. He is noisy ALL the time.}
   
3. I need more coffee. { I know, I know. Shocker.}
   
4. 7 AM is too early for an appointment. If the person even shows @ 7, which btw @ 7:22 not so much. The window is 7-9. I suppose he will show @ 9. *sigh*
   
5. Walking directions to Rudy's house according to maps.google: 3,364 mi – about 41 days 6 hours. {Someday my house will his house which will be our house and I won't have to map it. :-)}
   
6. A pan of baked Ziti doesn't last long in this house. Is it good breakfast food??
7. Cold showers are COLD. {refer to #1.}
   
8. Limes. I have limes. On my tree. I need lime recipes. Or more Tequila. {Tequila doesn't exactly make my clothes fall off.;-) Sidebar song reference.}
   
9. Fantasy Football this weekend is my team vs Rudy's. I hear that someone {besides me} told him to throw the game. { I think it will be a close game and his team will probably win out without special help.}
   
10. KO's {Keith Olberman} hour long Special Comment on Health Care yesterday was amazing. If you didn't see it, you should.
11. Delicious mischief is afoot involving my participation in Rudy's family holiday festivities. tee hee! {I like his sister. She is orchestrating my infiltration.}
    
12. I need to play geeky girl and get my new keyboard installed on my lappy.I could list the keys that don't work properly but it might take less time to list the ones that DO. *rolling eyes*
    
13. How does one know when a pomegranate is ripe and ready to pick? I need info, people. I have a tree FULL of pom's. {Once I know I can have all kinds of pomegranaty goodness. Plus I read that they will keep for up to 3 months in the fridge!}
    

and keep 'em coming.

Wordless Wednesday.

Dinner and Drinks.

When Rudy told me he would be in San D for a class and that I should come spend the night when his class was finished I was excited. San D is one of my favorite places to be. I loved the idea that I could share my favorite places with him   Then I found out that Seaport Village, which is one of my very favorite places, was located right behind his hotel and we could access it from there.  His hotel was also very close to the Gaslamp District, which is an area full of shops, restaurants and art galleries.  Score. 

I suggested that we go to the Gaslamp District for dinner.  To the Old Spaghetti Factory. I have been to The Old Spaghetti Factory many times.  When I was married to CS we never took a trip to San D that did not include a dinner there.  Back in the day it used to have an old Trolley car inside. I made sure that my kids got to eat in the Trolley a couple of times. It meant a wait time much longer than the norm but they loved having their spaghetti in the Trolley.  My sentiment about The Old Spaghetti Factory isn't the reason I wanted to have dinner there with Rudy. 

The real reason I wanted to show Rudy The Old Spaghetti Factory is because CS and his new wifey choose this place as the ideal spot for their wedding reception.  I guess he loves the Factory way more than I do because I would never want to have a wedding reception there.  

We returned to our room to freshen up after our walk out by the ocean. After a brief appetite-whetting interlude we headed down to speak with the Concierge.  Once we had rough directions we headed out for a nice walk to the Gaslamp District.   We found the correct street and after a stop at Chuck Jones gallery (from Looney Tunes fame) to take in visions of Dr.Seuss, DC Comics and the Roadrunner/Coyote we crossed over and were soon seated for dinner.  

The Old Spaghetti Factory is a nice but slightly noisy and busy restaurant and sadly our beloved Trolley is no longer there.  I laughed as I looked around, at the thought of CS having his reception there.  Even in a private area it is still a very busy and very noisy place. 

We ordered our dinner and were soon happily eating our salads and enjoying the loaf of fresh bread. My choice for entree was the Semolina Pasta topped with Sicilian Meatballs which consisted of Two large roasted beef meatballs delicately seasoned then covered with Marinara Sauce.  Very Yummy. And you should have seen the size of those meatballs. {That's what she said}.  Rudy chose the Spinach Tortellini with Alfredo Sauce, which consisted of Hat shaped pasta, stuff with a delicious blend of meat and cheese.  Both Entrees were very good.  mmmmm

After dinner we wandered upstairs to the bar to take a peek at the actual bar.  The atmosphere was nice up there. Rudy commented that it would be a great place to go and watch a game.  I enthusiastically agreed.  The bar itself was quite cool.  Literally.  The top portion of the dark wood was a river of ice where one could set their drink to keep it cool without watering it down by putting ice into the drink.  I loved it.

We left The Old Spaghetti Factory on a mission. We had decided to go for drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe.  I had actually never been to a Hard Rock Cafe so I was quite happy to go check one out.   We took the scenic route {which of course is code for the blonde got us lost. heh! Remember the first installment of my San D adventures?  Where I freely admit that I need someone to tell me where to go, but nicely. It is so true whether I am driving or walking.  I am directionally challenged. :-) }  For future reference the Hard Rock Cafe is nowhere near the Hard Rock Hotel. Go figure.

Rudy was surprised to find out that I had never been in a bar for the sole purpose of having a drink.  As shocking as that may be, it was indeed the truth. I can no longer make that statement.  We ordered the overpriced and watered down drinks in the Hard Rock shot glasses. I had the Cran-A-Kazi, which is Vodka, triple sec, lime juice and cranberry juice.  It was yummy but heavy on the lime and light on the Vodka.   Rudy had two B-52’s, which was Kahlua, Baileys and Grand Marnier.   My second drink was a lemon drop.  Oh dear lord that was yummy. It was so yummy that my mouth is watering as I type. mmmm. 

We saw many interesting pubs and restaurants as we strolled along. Even as full as we were, from our dinner, the sights and smells of the varied cuisines caused us to pause and savour the deliciousness of it all.   I look forward to a return visit so that we can go check some of them out.   I could smell the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop before we saw it. What wonderful chocolaty smells danced down the street to tempt those nearby. We even happened upon a shop that had windows covered with paper and a sign stating you must be 21 to enter.  Well, we all know what kind of shop THAT is.  I declined to go check that one out.  You know, since we didn't need to get a room.....because we already had one. ;-)

On My Mind.

Football. {No, seriously. ;-) }  That is what is on my mind right now.  My 'devil's tanked yesterday. Rudy's Badgers won their grudge match and retained possession of Paul Bunyan's Axe, so there is that at least.  I am hoping that my Fantasy Football team gets a win today but not holding my breath on that one.  {I did win my match-up last week though!} Later my Cowboy's play the Broncos.  {Dallas is supposed to win by 3 but we shall see about that.}   

So. That is what is on my mind. {I know. Shocker, huh?}                                         

My big question is:  
What is on YOUR mind today?  

I Could Not Ask for More.

Once my car was parked Rudy and I headed into the hotel to get a key-card for me.  Should I want to leave the room it would be nice to be able to get back in without having to txt Rudy and drag him out of his class to get his key-card.  Rudy took me up to the room, gave me the instructions for connecting to the hotel interwebs and he returned to his final hour of class.  
 

I freshened up a bit.  I unpacked my suitcase.  I opened and looked out the window.  The breeze was refreshing and the view was nice.  I booted up my lappy and then began to fight with the hotel interwebs.  It would NOT let me on.  WTF?  Come ON, people.  I am going into withdrawals.  Be a pal and let me on.  I finally did what every PC user eventually does.  Yes, you got it.  I rebooted.  And of course all was well when my lappy was fully back up.  I was finally free to roam about the interwebs.  
 

Roaming about the interwebs soon lost its appeal.  I started checking the time.  Was it time for his class to be finished yet?  I got up and gazed out the window again.   I went back to the interwebs. I checked the time again.  Have I ever mentioned that I am not a very patient blonde at times?    I decided that his class should be over and even if it wasn’t I was taking matters into my own hands.  I sent him a txt.   He returned a txt.  And then I sent him a txt that caused him to return to the room post haste.  *WEG* 

*
*
*
*
*
*
{We didn’t need to get a room.  We already had one.  Don’t you judge us.  Heh!}

I was starving for food since my lunch had consisted of a granola bar and gummy worms.  Since it was still early and we had already made plans for dinner we decided to go out to SeaPort Village and get a snack from my favorite cookie shop.  I was soon happily munching a delicious snickerdoodle cookie and sipping a wonderful caramel coffee.   I had Rudy by my side and the wonderful San D climate and sights to enjoy.  
 

At that moment I knew that I could not ask for more.

I Need Someone to Tell Me Where to Go.

Rudy was in San Diego two weeks ago for a super secret squirrel class. {Okay, not really super, secret or squirrel but a girl knows when not to ask too many questions. love you, darlin.}   Since San D is only a two hour drive {+-} and he scheduled vacation to begin after his class was finished we made plans which consisted of me driving to San D to pick him up. 

I google mapped my route. Twice. {cuz google didn't map it the way I wanted to go.} I packed my pink bag. The smaller version of the cute pink suitcase I packed in August when I went North to Alaska. It is perfect for an overnight. And I headed off down the road.

I haven't been to San D in a few years. I have never driven in downtown San D. I don't particularly care to take road trips by myself. Especially when I am unsure of the routes I am taking. I need a GPS. {The cute pink garmin @ BestBuy} I need a GPS because I am much calmer when someone is telling me where to go. {But nicely of course}

The first hour or so of my trip was uneventful. I know those roads. Once I was on the freeway the trip got interesting. As I headed down a long hill a sea of taillights greeted me. Now how is that good, I ask you? As I continued on my way we, and by we I mean the smart drivers, began to merge to the right. I can see down the hill and it appeared that a semi had jackknifed and was now in the #4 lane FACING me.

After inching my way down the hill {and allowing the idiots who thought they knew better and didn't bother to merge until the last minute into the lane} I eventually got close enough to see that the semi isn't a semi after all but rather a smallish pickup truck that is facing oncoming traffic while resting on only the two front wheels. Attached to the back of the truck {which was butt up in the air} is a toy-hauler camper laying on its side. Now THAT is some fancy unauthorized stunt driving. No one appeared to be hurt which was obviously good. As I passed I was able to pick up speed and continue my trip.

After the delay I made my way past the border patrol check stop and soon found myself wondering where the merge to my next freeway was. I was not having fun and am seriously wishing that I had that GPS to nicely tell me where to go. Turns out it wasn't as complicated as it appeared on the google maps and I made the transition without any problems.

Once I was heading in the proper direction I began to track the exit numbers. I am not sure how they, and by they I mean the people in charge of said numbers, think it is helpful to give no indication as to what exit one might be coming up to until one is right up on it but that is what I found to be the rule rather than the exception. I did manage to locate exit 1 which, I discovered rather quickly, dumped me right into traffic.

San D has more than it's fair share of one way streets to keep the excitement anxiety level at an all time high. I mean seriously, how helpful is it to be in the far right lane when you are going to need to turn left?? sheesh! I survived one-way-street land without any screaming or gnashing of teeth.

I phoned Rudy as I got close to the hotel. I thought the plan was that he would send out the bat signal or some sort of star trek tractor beam and guide me in. I soon found out that wasn't the case. I was right where my directions said I should be and I was on the blue tooth with Rudy and frantically looking left and right. Swallowing the slight panic down I exclaimed to Rudy "but I don't SEE the hotel!" and then...I looked up. and said...."oh. never mind." The hotel was right in front of me. Good thing it wasn't a snake, eh?

I survived my solo trip. Rudy was a sight for sore eyes as I spotted him coming out of the hotel as I pulled up. I graciously allowed him to do the driving for the rest of the week. I may not be the best co-pilot but I would rather be tech support than be the driver. 

When I travel I need someone or something to tell me where to go. But nicely, of course.