Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, March 31, 2010....




Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past week:

Rave: Caught up with a friend this week and am amazed at how quickly things change in 1 month. [Note to self: get together more often]

Rant: Mockingbird outside my window. He's lonely and chirps. He's been there for days and sleep is just a 5 letter word to me.

Rave: The incredibly funny Facebook responses I got from people on how to solve my Mockingbird problem. The chain of discussion got very off track, but made me laugh.

Rant: Grocery store parking lots. Does driving at 50 mph down the lot really get you a space quicker? No. But, it does make quite interesting for the shopper with the cart going from the store to their car (I felt a little like I was a character on a video game and the win was that I was to stay alive)

Rant: Rain, rain and more rain. Ugh....

Rant: People who don't read emails. If I take the time to write an email with the answers, please read it.



Okay, that's it for me. I would love to read any Rants and Raves you want to share? Just click on the linky thing for anyone that wants to participate in Rant and Rave Wednesday -- or leave them in the comments section here. Please, please be respectful and do not use the linky thing if you are just promoting your blog (yes, this is another Rant of mine).

Match.com and eHarmony, Here I Come.....

Tuesday, March 30, 2010....


Do you think if I join these dating sites I can find a suitable match for the Northern Mockingbird living in my backyard?

He's lonely.

Because he's lonely, he chirps...ALL NIGHT LONG.

According to the articles I've found on the Internet, he chirps because he's looking for a mate and will continue until he has one.

My husband doesn't hear a thing. How could he? Between his Ambien and snoring, he wouldn't be able to hear a thing.

Why do I get the only bird that can't find a mate? I mean, he's not shy because he hasn't an issue chirping letting all the female Mockingbirds know he's available.

I have a feeling these dating sites couldn't help him even if they allowed birds. What female wants to date a whiny noisy male who is never able to shut up?

Ugh...

My only hope is a deaf bird who flies into him by mistake because I also learned Mockingbirds mate for life.

Respect the Scotch Bonnet

Monday, March 29, 2010.....

I'm talking about the pepper, not what may happen during an intimate moment between 2 people. That could be a Thursday TMI story for LiLu, but I'm keeping my story clean and discussing the hot killer pepper which I now officially hate!

Hate is not a strong enough emotion to describe my run-in with the stupid pepper on Saturday. In my quest to try out all the Cooking Light recipes in the Jan/Feb 2010 magazine, I worked with a Scotch Bonnet pepper for the first time.

It's small, I'm large, AND yet, it kicked my ass more than my trainer ever did.

Sure, I got pepper juice on my fingers and immediately touched my eye liked an idgit. I broke Rule #1:

While handling hot peppers never touch eye, mouth or any open scratch until hands have been thoroughly washed (wow, I sounded like a 1950's ad geared towards kitchen safety for housewives).

I own my stupidity on breaking Rule #1, but you would think that after washing your hands all the pepper juice would be gone. Nope. I had the hidden cut, the cut the size of a paper cut or from a small knife while chopping positioned under my nail. The one where pepper juice could make it's way in to, but soap couldn't.

All night, burning sensation. All night scrubbing hands. All night cursing the peppers -- not only because my hands burned, but because it was a component in probably the worst dish I've tasted in ions. A dish requiring so much mincing and chopping items into julienne strips that it pushed this dish on a scale of 1 to 5 to a negative 4 (-4).

Taste ranked the dish at "0", but the prep time pushed that sucky dish down 4 more points.

I went to bed, shaking my hand (like that would stop the burning sensation) and finally realized this damn pepper beat me.

I washed my hands one last time and took aspirin. It worked, and I learned my lesson: Scotch Bonnet peppers are NOT as cute as they appear.

Question of the Week....

Thursday, March 25, 2010....



I've decided to make Thursdays my "Question of the Week" day because I always have questions and am always interested in people's answers.


This Week's Question: Would you rather be the driver or passenger on a car trip?

99.9% of the time, I love being the passenger. I love to look out the window (we've established I'm a people watcher from Monday's post) and I love to nap on long trips.

No stress of knowing the difference between North, South, East and West (I'm directionally challenged),no stress of staying awake on long trips, AND I catch up on my magazine reading.

Sure, I may be a crappy passenger because I fall asleep, but heck most people choose to be the driver and I feel staying awake is their responsibility, not mine.

I wonder...if in my past life I had a limo driver because that is how much I love being a passenger and NOT the driver on car trips.

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, March 24, 2010....




Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past week:

Rave: Got to see my old roomie from college this past weekend. Hubby and I drove up to have dinner with her and fiance and see her new home and puppy. We had a great time and we should not wait 1 1/2 years in between visits.

Rant: Her house is great! I'm not jealous, but floored at the difference in pricing between the northern and southern part of the state. Her house was almost triple in size with a full acre (I have 1/3 acre) and if I were to buy down here, well, I just couldn't.

Rant: Hubby snoring.....no sleep last night. Ugh...


Rave: The recent Spring weather we've been having (except past 2 days) but I'm OVER WINTER so I'm psyched. This means time to start planning our gardens.

Rant: On a planning committee for my local park's annual plant sale and the local papers are not calling back with their rate cards for ad space. Ugh. Seriously? I thought newspapers were hurting and I'm trying to give you business. CALL. ME. BACK. EMAIL. ME.



Okay, that's it for me. It's a short week because my brain is a bit fuzzy, but I would love to read any Rants and Raves you want to share? Just click on the linky thing for anyone that wants to participate in Rant and Rave Wednesday -- or leave them in the comments section here. Please, please be respectful and do not use the linky thing if you are just promoting your blog (yes, this is another Rant of mine).

People Watching

Monday, March 22, 2010....


I LOVE IT!

There, I said it with my out loud voice. But observing people in public is one of my favorite things to do -- especially, when no one is watching.

Places that are great to people watch include bars, gyms, restaurants (when someone is waiting for other party to arrive) and church (actually, watching kids and how parents react to their child is the fun part).

For purposes of this entry, I'm talking about the gym because it's been a decade + since I stepped into a church when the service wasn't for a wedding, funeral or I was visiting Westminster Abbey in London.

I love people watching in bars, but the gym is FAB-U-LOUS! I mean bright lights and no alcohol to ruin your people watching observation skills. Here is what I observed today:

- Man who wants to look like Sam Elliott. He had the long hair and moustache, but points off for the hair. It was salt-n-pepper, but mostly salt. CUT YOUR HAIR so you can eliminate the appearance of being a child molester.

- The man who walked erect across the gym floor. Ya know the ones who walk with their head so high that their face is facing the ceiling. Lucky for him there were no low walkers in the gym (low walker is one that keeps their head down, avoids eye contact - yes, I am a low walker) otherwise collision city.

- The man who clearly hasn't a clue what he's doing on the equipment and puts the weight at some insane #. Hello? Why not man up and admit you can only pull 20 lbs, but you opt for the 80 lbs and make a face as though you're constipated. Who are you trying impress? No women is going to be impressed with a man who makes bowel movement faces (okay, maybe I'm being presumptuous, I know I wouldn't find this a turn on if single); but my favorite look at the gym is:

- The woman with the fresh coat of make-up on. I'm not talking about the woman who has make-up on because she's just come from work, or someone like me who is still wearing last night's make-up because I can (okay, I was too lazy to take off). I'm talking about the woman whose foundation and eyeliner is flawless and a fresh coat of lipstick was applied nanoseconds before entering the gym. These women are fun to watch because many have read some chick mag telling them the best place to meet a man is the gym.

Yup.

I love people watching.

Acceptance

Friday, March, 19, 2010.....


Acceptance, according to Merriam Webster is "favorable reception or approval".

I find it easy to accept others, but when it comes to me, I find this to be the hardest word in the dictionary to understand.

For the past 22 months, I've been forced into a period I'd like to call "limbo" or "purgatory for the unemployed". The market hasn't been kind, but it has forced me to really look at who I am and what I want.

Some things haven't changed since the day I lost my job. For instance, while working, cleaning was never a priority on my list of everyday tasks. In fact, I loathe it. Once unemployed, I thought the elimination of being too busy with work would give me the time to really clean and organize my home. No such luck.

I admit to ironing my sheets and that is about as Martha Stewart as I get. Yes, I love to cook, but she takes home care and organization to a level I've finally decided is just not me.

Instead, I watch Hoarder programs on t.v. and that scares me enough to keep some semblance in my home and purge things on a regular basis (my definition of regular is not to be compared to what I believe Martha would call regular).

Hating to clean is just an example of how I've been facing things about me and accepting I'm not perfect and letting go.

Yes, there are things I still want to change or modify about my life, but am I going to beat myself up because I'm not perfect or it takes me longer than most to make the change is something I'm working on. I'm finally learning to accept I march to a beat of a different drummer and beginning to embrace that this is okay.