Thankful Thursday... a Day Late

Over at Heir to Blair, she does a little something called "Thankful Thursday". Although I'm a day late, what's a better day than Friday to say you're thankful?
Here's what I'm thankful for this week.

-It's FRIDAY! Although I do have to work tomorrow, it's not like it's a hard day on the job. It's an off-site event, which does stress me out, but it seems like it'll be a chill one.

-Last night I took about 2 hours and really learned how to use my camera. I learned about shutter speeds, ISO, metering, etc. Wow, there was so much I didn't know and really enjoyed figuring it out for myself (with the help of a few books and the trusty internet, of course).

-Jasmine Star's online, 5-day workshop on wedding photography. Look, I doubt I'm ever going to be a wedding photographer but if watching these online workshops help my everyday photography, I'm all for it! The whole thing is just incredible and you can check it out here.

-Only one more week in this job. HALLELUIA! I'm so frakin' excited to be moving to another division, I can hardly stand it. I don't want to make a big deal out of it at work but I'm so stoked. I hope the Hubs and I can celebrate with dinner out next Friday.

-My coworker has a tomato plant that has been going crazy lately and just about everyday I get a baggie with about 15 cherry tomatoes. SO good. I just cut them open, put a little salt on them and mmmmm. They don't even make it home.

-The projected forecast for today is only 95 degrees. That's 10 degrees less than yesterday. And this weekend will be in the 80's! YES!

-Thankful for the Hubs. Seriously, you guys... he's the best. And now that I'm becoming a happier person, he's becoming a goofier one. I absolutely love it and we have a lot of fun.

What are you thankful for?

Best Present Ever

My parents have a great sense of humor. Humor that's lost on children. Back in the 90's one of our family's favorite show was that acid-trip of a mess, Ren and Stimpy. My parents still walk around quoting "No sir, I don't like it". I see episodes now and wonder how we were ever allowed to watch it.

Side note: Here are the list of shows we weren't allowed to watch. And I didn't because I was scared of punishment.
1. Golden Girls
2. You Can't Do That On Television
3. Dawson's Creek
4. The Wonder Years
5. Rosanne
6. My So-Called Life
7. Beverly Hills 90210
8. Melrose Place
9. Party of 5
10. Doogie Howser (dude, Neil Patrick Harris, whaaaaat?)

I'm sure there are more, but I've blocked them out. And to this day, I don't think I've seen a full episode of any of these shows. I know. SHOCKING.

So anyway, back to the story. We loved Ren and Stimpy. One year for Valentine's Day, my parents bring out these big boxes for me and my brother (my other brother wasn't around yet). I think I was 11 and brother was 6. We open up the boxes and we both have these huge pieces of wood. Logs, if you will. We look up at my parents, blinking in confusion and my mom goes, "We got you both logs!"

See video for reference:


Yeah, I saw the humor in it immediately and found it hilarious. My brother, not so much. He was only 6! He started crying and saying, "What am I supposed to do with it?!" Which made my parents laugh even more. Finally, they cut him some slack and finally brought out our little Valentine's Day gifts. But honestly, I don't know what they were. I will always remember those logs though and I hope we can be as funny with our kids someday.

Were your parents pranksters? I can appreciate my parents' humor now but at the time it was infuriating.

I'm a cheap date

Wooooo boy, did we have fun this weekend! I'll blog about Flugtag and Taco Trucks later but for now, this little beauty. Some Monday morning fun for ya. I was in Danville about a month ago for work and stayed at a nice hotel. Ok, not NICE nice but nice for me. It worked and didn't smell like cigarette smoke, is all I'm saying. So I go to get a Diet Coke from the vending machine and here's what greeted me.



But wait, where's the soda? Open the door, of course!



Soda!



We're old school. Only coins.



P.S. This was my sweet ride. The car rental guy was like, "Um, are you sure you don't want another color?" Are you kidding me? This color is great!



So tell me guys, am I totally lame for loving this vending machine? Or am I just easily amused?

Love Song Sunday: I'll Still Be Loving You

I'm big on signs. I'll find signs in everything. I don't usually tell people about them but this song was a sign that the Hubs and I belonged together. I absolutely love this song and once I played it in the car when we were dating. He started singing the song along with me and I knew. I KNEW. Ok, there were other things that sealed the deal but this song was a part of it. This song takes me back to when we were dating and I would have used this song as our first dance if the other song we used didn't work (but it did).
So here is Restless Heart with "I'll Still Be Loving You"

Sweet Relief

Alright alright, I won't tease you any longer. The only reason I held out this long was because I was working out in Long Beach and JUST walked in the dang door. Longest day ever.

Anywho... I GOT A NEW JOB! That's my big fat crazy announcement. Nope, not pregnant. Nope, not moving. A new job. Yesssssss. I'm still working for the same school but a whole entirely different department. I'm so looking forward to new challenges, adventures, ideas, everything. I know this department is so different from the one I'm currently in and that is ok, because it's time for a change. I've been wanting to do this for about two years and I finally made it happen.

So yes, I'm stoked, nervous, excited, happy, anxious, etc. That's what happens when we break out of something we've known for awhile. And that's ok. Sometimes you have to make a huge change to find happiness. If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Well, unfortunately I couldn't change the way I thought about something. I thought I could, but turns out I couldn't. So I decided to change the situation. And it could only get better from here.

Drum roll please...

I've got something great to announce pretty soon but there are always those people that can rain on your good news parade. You know what I think about that?


From the artist's website

Like the Matrix, but not

Ok people, have you seen Inception? I know I know, we're so behind. We just saw it this Sunday and I loved it. There were slow parts yes, and parts that I totally zoned out at but for the most part it was great. It was kind of like the Matrix where I don't want to talk too much about it. But for those of you who saw it, thought you all might like to see some of the best scenes.... from a Lego perspective. Who doesn't love it in Legos? Click on the Amusing Planet link for more.



from Amusing Planet via Neatorama

Love Song Sunday: More Than Words

In a flash of brilliance, I'm stealing this Sunday special from my friend Andy over at Crazy with a side of Awesome Sauce. Every Sunday she shares a love song that has touched her during the week and this week, I heard a song on the radio that made me stay in the car long after I had parked. I mean come on, who doesn't love this song? Plus, their hair in this video makes it all worth it. Seriously though, this song almost always makes me cry. In a good good way.

From Extreme, here is More Than Words.

I'm not cut out for a great many things.

I was in Starbucks this afternoon picking up some drinks for me and the other women in my office. The barista was kind of taking his sweet time making them and the people around me were getting impatient. When I got my order, there was an extra frappuccino and I politely informed him that it wasn’t mine. The teeny tiny lady next to me was practically jumping up and down yelling “It’s mine it’s mine it’s mine it’s mine!” I gladly gave her her drink before she had an aneurysm and went on my way.

It all reminded me of when I worked at Starbucks. Yes friends, I worked at Starbucks for a total of 4 months. I started in June of 2003, got to be employee of the month for September then I quit while I was ahead. But this experience brought me right back to my very worst day on the job.

This was probably the most annoyed I had been at a job up until then (but not after. Oh no, I’ve been pretty mad at plenty of jobs since). It was probably my first or second week on the job and if you’ve ever worked at Starbucks, you’d know that in those first two weeks you’re walking around like a deer in the headlights. Coffee is life or death and if you’re TOO SLOW or you GET THE ORDER WRONG you are in BIG trouble.

Side note: what is up with that? This coffee thing has gotten out of control. I mean, I had people bring in laminated pieces of cups. The part of the cup with all the boxes on it. And the boxes were filled out. The man didn’t say a word, just pushed the laminated paper across the counter and gave me a “knowing” look. Like he couldn’t say, “Tall decaf latte. No foam” No. He had to cut out that part of a cup, fill it out and laminate it. LAMINATE IT. But I digress. Ahem.

SO! It was a Saturday morning and those are like death at Starbucks. The line was at least 10 people deep, we were filling out orders like crazy. This woman steps up to the counter and I can already see she’s going to be a problem. She’s got the huffy-face on.
“I’d like 4 iced mochas”, she whined.

This was a trap. If we got an order like this, it usually meant they wanted a frappuccino. So I confirmed with her.

“4 iced mochas. Now, an iced mocha is coffee, milk and chocolate over ice. It’s not blended. Is that what you want?” I asked nicely just in case she was a secret shopper they like to threaten us with.

“I know what an iced mocha is,” she growled with clenched teeth, “so make that for me”.

I couldn’t let this go. I KNEW that’s not what she wanted.

“Ok, just so I have this right. You want 4 mochas with whole pieces of ice?”

“YES!” she snarled.

Ooooookay. I can take a hint. So, in the middle of our busiest time, I pulled 8 shots, filled four cups with ice and chocolate and poured in the milk and shots. I put them up on the counter and yelled out “4 ICED MOCHAS!”

She headed up to the counter, looked at the drinks with disgust and said “This is not what I ordered.”

OH HELL NO. This wasn’t happened. I started to sweat because my manager is right there and she’s giving me this look like “You moron. Been here for one week and don't know the difference.”

“Yes ma’am, this is what you told me. 4 mochas over iced. Not blended.”

“BUT I WANTED THEM BLENDED. I WANT FOUR OF THOSE FRAPPUCCINO THINGS.”

Did I not ask her, TWICE, if that’s what she wanted? Oh I did. When we messed up at Starbucks, we usually offered the mistakes to other guests or told the original person to just take them on the house while we made them the right order. Nope. Not this time. I threw all four of those drinks in the trash right in front of that woman. (Surprised I didn’t get fired but again it was Saturday morning. What could they have done?) Then turned around and cussed her out while the blenders were running.

To make the four frappuccinos she wanted in the first place.

It was then I knew I wasn't cut out to be a barista.

Lit Up Like a Pinball Machine

I think you ladies know what I'm talking about. A guy with a baby? Please, no contest.

Ear Worm

The other day when the Hubs and I were picking up our anniversary cake, we heard this song playing over the intercom at the shopping center. We both knew all the words and were kind of bopping around and singing. We were laughing because it was such a 90's song and it was so engrained in our psyche.

After we picked up the cake, we were still trying to figure out what the song was. We were naming off bands and nothing sounded quite right. I searched on iTunes for weeks, checking out "One Hit Wonders" from the 90's and still nothing. Last night I tried a new playlist on iTunes and I gasped. There is was! I ran upstairs and played it for the Hubs and he said, "Yup, that's it!" WE FOUND IT! It only took us 2 and 1/2 weeks.

And just so you don't feel left out, here it is. Roll To Me by Del Amitri. We would have never guessed the band name, by the way. And the video? Totally remember that!

Don't Act Like You Don't Watch It.

I have a confession to make. It's dirty. It's filthy. It's mind numbing and killing brain cells as we speak.

Yes, I am addicted to the 16 and Pregnant/ Teen Mom series on MTV. What is it, you ask? You mean you haven't seen it? YOU ARE MISSING OUT. This series is the absolute end-all, be-all of train wrecks (other than Jersey Shore, I think). MTV found these 16-year-old girls... sometimes 15 and had camera crews follow them around during their pregnancy. And while there is a second season that finished in May (and a THIRD in the works... oh I can't wait), my heart belongs to the girls of Season One.

That's why I was so glad to find out that Teen Mom was only going to be the girls from Season One. Amber, Maci, Farrah and Caitlyn. The Season Two girls were ok, but I loves me some Season One drama.

Let's start with Maci. Can we all just agree that she's a great mom? I mean, that ding-dong, half-wit Ryan has got to be one of the most obnoxious, entitled, self-centered, butt-faced miscreant (name that show!) that has ever lived. Calling Maci lazy for dropping out of school when his unemployed butt couldn't watch Bentley while she went to class? You've got to be kidding me. I'm so excited that she reconnected with this new guy but I can't wait for Ryan to find out. I would have been mad too if my ex-boyfriend brought his new girlfriend by and didn't even introduce me to her so I knew my kid was ok when he was with his dad. SHAME Ryan. SHAME.

Then there's Farrah. Ok. So, first Season of Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant, Farrah really got on my nerves. In a good "I can't look away" kind of way. She was always off with the guys, leaving Sophia at home with her mom. Her mom is LOONEY TUNES, by the way. So when this season opened up with the 911 call Farrah made after her mom hit her, I was like, "OMG, this got so much better!". Because I was waiting for Deborah to snap. Really snap. And this last episode where it was Sophia's birthday and her parents are ignoring her at the restaurant? So sad. I really did feel for Farrah because she's stuck in this family and she can't do anything about that because she is only 18. I forget sometimes that these girls are so young.

I really feel for Caitlyn too. After all the mess with Carly and her parents and then moving in with Tyler, the poor girl doesn't know which way is up. But I really think she and Tyler are showing their age this season. They were so mature and brave to give their daughter up for adoption but I think it's really starting to hit Tyler this season. Caitlyn has had time to process it and she had more opportunities for healing than Tyler. Plus, she is always around him. It's good that she was forced to move out of his house but I really wish she didn't have to live with her drug-addict mom and Butch. OMG, don't get me started on Butch.

I definitely saved the best for last. Amber. Amber and Gary and poor baby Leah. In the first season, whenever Amber had an outburst I thought, "Ok, she's only 17, she has a baby and that doofy Gary is in the picture. Poor her." But the way she's acting this season? Girl has a chemical imbalance. Seriously. This last episode where Gary was trying to calmly talk to her and she kept screaming at him, make up trailing down her face? She needs to get some help, and she needs to get it now. I can't imagine what it's like for a baby to be in that environment 24/7. Because neither of them have a job, so they just sit around and fight all day. OH and if neither of them have a job, how in the hell can they afford to go out to dinner all the time? I work full time and we go out to dinner maybe once a month. And it's usually to Red Robin. When we have a coupon. Or gift certificate. So someone please explain to me how they can cry and yell at each other about money then turn around and say, "Let's go get dinner." NO.

So yeah... I know I'm way too invested and the Hubs calls it "trash" and it totally is. But I don't care. Because this show is a train wreck in the craziest possible way.

Do you have any guilty pleasure shows? Do you get teased for watching them? Are you secretly pleased when you find other people who are so invested in these shows too? Tell me I'm not alone!

Summer Shine

Anything better than strawberries in the summer?



I think not.

Things that Irrationally Freak Me Out

1. Crickets. Holy moly, I hate those things. When we first moved into our place last year, they would swarm our house like a hostile takeover. They crawled under our front door and would ambush anyone and anything. At any given time, you’d have 3 crawling towards you. AND THEY JUMP. Crickets jump and get in between your flip flop and your foot and then you step on it…. Ahhhhhh, I’m freaking out just typing this. Ahhhhhhh!!! My husband got very good at keeping a cup and folder around so I could trap them and release them outside. And then it would start all over again.

2. Space shuttles. They have just been in space (see #5). They have space dust on them. They look like flying killer whales. Seriously, how scary would a flying killer whale be? When we were at Sea World, they showed this whale montage at the Shamu show and they had whales doing normal people things, but whale-like. So, they were “swimming” through a field, “swimming” around tall buildings, “swimming” on the freeway. Oh my god, it was my worst nightmare come true. Flying killer whales.

3. Getting my blood drawn. Yesterday I went and had blood drawn at the doctor’s office and I got clammy when the lab technician made me sit down. I told her that I would pass out so just be ready. She told me I was crazy and that she would give me a lollypop if I was good. I held her to it and got my lollypop, damn it. But seriously, every other time I’ve had blood drawn, I’ve woken up on the floor. So, I was just warning her for her own good.

4. Open Water. Um. No thanks. Just floating there in water where you don’t know what is swimming around you? When my husband and I were dating, he taught me how to water ski out in front of his parent’s house. That sounds funny until you realize they lived ON Puget Sound. So anyway, I’m waterskiing, I’m waterskiing… then I’m done. Floating in Puget Sound. And silently freaking out because there are a whole host of things that are swimming around me. I acted all cool but I was freaking out inside. Same thing happened when he taught me how to sail. The next day. That whole vacation was a lesson in hyperventilation.

5. Deep space. Have you ever just taken a moment to really think about how small and insignificant we are? I start thinking about space and my mind does that backwards-zoom thing they always show in planetary videos where they show a person and back the camera out through space to the VERY BEGINNING OF CREATION. Like through all the stars and space dust, planets, solar systems. Holy crap, it’s terrifying to think about being in the middle of all that nothing.

6. Things like this guy .No. No no no no no no. You are just swimming along (which I wouldn’t be doing anyway, see #4) and all of a sudden this guy comes out of NO WHERE and is all big-mouthed and freaky. No thanks.

I’m sure there are plenty more but I just haven’t come across them yet. Do you have any irrational fears?

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Celebrated one year of marriage

Hubby played in a Civil War Band

I was in a show

Partied hard

Watched a lot of this

Got a haircut!

Went to Sea World

What did you do on your summer vacation?

Must. Get. It.

People, have you seen this? By the Mexican artist Salvador Ramirez Madriz, baby Chewbacca is nomming down on his bottle. Love!





via Neatorama and DeviantArt

Things That Bug the Ever-Loving Snot Out of Me

*When people cut in line. We were at Sea World the other day, waiting to wash our hands when this mom barges up holding her child and starts washing her son's hands. Helloooo! We were standing big too. And why would we just be standing by the sinks if we weren't washing our hands? When I'm a mom, I'll be pushing people out of the way too.

*No acknowledgment of a nice deed. When I slow down to let you merge into my lane, when I hold open the door for you, when I stand up to let you pass when you want the middle seats in the theater and I get nothing? Yeesh. It's simple and it's two words. "Thank You". Even more simple, a wave or a nod.

*The fact that our garbage disposal still isn't fixed and we told our landlady about it 4 months ago. 4 months. I think she'd be pretty upset if we didn't pay rent, so when we still don't have it fixed after reminding her over and over... I get pretty upset too. *Update* some one is coming in the next couple of days to check it out! Yippee!

*When I pick the wrong check-out line. Which is every time.

*Bad hair days.

*When I'm all cranky and I take it out on the hubs. It's not his fault that I'm cranky most of the time. Good thing he likes me a lot. A LOT. It bugs me when I can't snap out of it either. Like, I know I'm completely irrational and my head keeps yelling "Stop it, crazy woman! You're driving him crazy!" but I. just. can't. That really needs to stop.

*The cattle-call that is the Southwest Airlines seat line-up. I understand everyone is assigned a letter and a number but it's like that number is sacred and you canNOT be one above or below where you're supposed to me. I like to hide my ticket and make people ask me what my number is. It gives me great pleasure to see them get silently riled up trying to see it. I wait for them to ask. Heh heh heh.

*And it bugs me when people complain all the time. Sooooo, I'm going to stop now.

Well, hello Gorgeous!

It's amazing what you can find in your own backyard!

You Don't Age Very Well

Have you seen this? Makes my heart melt!

Raw Photos Contest Submission

DSC_0401, originally uploaded by SweetSalz21.

This is my submission to the Raw Photos Contest run by Andy and The Suniverse. The theme this week is "Last Days of Summer". Because, seriously, what else describes the last days of summer than school supplies?

Enter now!

Live Every Week Like...

People, do you know what week it is?!
Now... if only we had cable.