Ginger Bread Men

Cooking is a tried a proven from of expressing love. I have been obsessing about Gingerbread men for a while now...- because I absolutely LOVE ginger, (men are OK)- ... and Alan finally agreed that since he loved me he would make them for me.
YAY!
So, last night, around midnight we set off to Safeway and Albertsons to get all of the necessary ingredients. We were disappointed at the lack of molasses and cookie cutters, but we persevered. The dough is now chilling in the refrigerator... but the anticipation of biting little men's heads off is making me giddy already.

Why is it that Gingerbread men are associated with Christmas anyway??

Things That I Have Enjoyed This Past Week

Chocolate in its various forms
Knitting a special someone a Xmas present
Finding a nice ophthalmologist
Sleeping until noon
Getting a free lunch
Driving in the rain
Reading trashy magazines as I wait in line at the grocery store

Time for Bad Poetry

I wish I were a fish
Swimming in the sea
In a pea
And not doing homework for my lame class

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Christmas Is Almost Here!!! Although I hate the fact that I feel obligated to buy people gifts in order to demonstrate that I care about them, that I despise how stores take advantage of my vulnerability to the word "Discount", and that I enjoy Christmas foods TOO much to be healthy (like EggNog; I could drink a liter a day) I still manage to enjoy Christmas and I always get a little extra giddy inside when this time of year approaches.

Also, I must brag about my boyfriend, who is taking me on a super secret and romantic getaway for the New Year. I don't know where he is taking me, except for the following facts:

- It is not located in the Continental US, or Canada.
- There will be a fabulous New Year's Party, for which I am going to get to wear a pretty dress.

I am actually pretty impressed that he has been able to keep the location secret from me for more than a month now, despite my constant prying. Can YOU guess where we will be?

MUST POST SOMETHING

Everything that has come after my first bought of artistic inspiration has been aweful compaired to my first masterpiece (below displayed). I am in an artistic rut and in need of inspiration.
If fact, since I have self-declaired myself as an Ar-tist, I have had more frequent and erratic moodswings. I wonder if there is a connection??!?

Also, I have a cold. A very bad cold. So don't come near me!

Painting

Dear World, I have made a painting. I am so proud. Behold: (this is actually a pretty bad picture of it taken with a camera phone)

You Cannot See

But at this moment I am break-dancing in a very white and nerdy way over the outcome of the elections. I hope you voted. Groove on.

The Best Party Ever

Yesterday, Saturday, I went to THE BEST HALLOWEEN PARTY EVER!!!!
At this party I saw some of the coolest costumes (like the first dog who went to outer space), and there was plenty of alcohol, and music and sooo much fun. As soon as I get some pictures I will post them. I went as Queen Guinevere, and Alan was Lancelot. I had a horrific ball-of-a-time!

Today is Sunday, Alan and I have plans to go to a pumpkin-carving party, so we need to buy pumpkins. I am so excited. I really wanted to make Alan a pumpkin pie, but there has been no time for that. Did I mention that this is the weekend of Alan's birthday?? Well, it is. :) I like to tease him by saying that I am dating "an older man". - He is only turning 25. -

I have done a mini-survey: apparently people who turn 25 start freaking out about getting old. This is totally ridiculous, especially because most of my friends today will probably live to be over 100. 25 seems like nothing compared to 90 and 100. Technology and medicine are making it so people can live forever! In any case, worring is stressfull and stress makes you age faster. Worrying about getting old just makes you wrinkle and get older sooner, which would be a kind of self fulfilling prophecy.

Anyway, I need to get ready to carve pumpkins. I haven't carved one in years. I wonder if I need a special knife or something.

I Could Not Resist

Jacqueline did it and I could not resist. Apparently I look like a lot of not-famous people, people I have never heard of, and then there is crack-head Kate Moss. ?!?!
Actually, Jean Harlow is pretty cool. In fact, she is awesome.

Fuits and Vegitables

Nothing much happening here… I’m in Monterey this week, again. I have discovered that tomatoes are not the most horrible fruit in the world, and I have eaten lots of them today. I especially like them covered in EVOO and paired with mozzarella cheese with Basil.

Before this discovery, the only tolerable form of tomatoes for me was salsa. I would eat any kind of salsa, but pick tomatoes out of my salad. I do not know when this aversion for tomatoes began, or why I was so particular about it. Everybody has their culinary quirks. I am working on my tomatoes… but I still HATE avocadoes for no good reason. I will not eat avocadoes under any circumstance, and I am sticking to my guns about this.

Note: For those of you who do not watch Rachel Ray, EVOO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil = it makes everything taste ten times better.

Note to self: buy more EVOO.

Life

First of all: I did not know Lady Bugs could bite. When I yelped in the middle of the street, and slapped a Lady Bug off of my arm, Alan thought I was going crazy. But it is true, and the bite left a mark.

My postings have not been as frequent as before because I have no internet access at home, and at work most of the fun sites I go to are blocked off.

Life is good. The HOLIDAYS are coming, like Holloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even though they seem far away, time has been passing so quickly for me that I fear by the next time I blink I’ll be 42. Unfortunately I have NO vacation time, so a January trip to Italy will in all likelihood not be repeated.

I still like my job and my bosses; they treat me very well. My responsibilities have been increasing almost daily at the workplace… and I am not complaining. I love what I do and I am learning a ton. I especially enjoy overtime (the pay is much better).
But not all is work: A couple of weeks ago, on a Wednesday, we closed all the offices in the area and all of us workers went to the Golden Gate Race Track. In this splendid location we had a wonderful buffet at the Turf Club, and gambled away company money. There was an open bar… I even won a race! It was a lot of fun.

I’m in Monterey at the moment, at Alan’s house. Saturday we attended a friend’s very informal wedding. I believe I fussed more about what I was going to wear than the actual bride did! There were only about 12 people (including the bride and groom). It was very sweet. With small intimate weddings you can almost see the love in the air. An old couple, that has been marring couples for years, wed my friends on Garrapata beach. The ceremony master wore a gigantic robe, which had once belonged to the Jesus of the Jesus Christ Super Star play. On this singular robe there were patches and embroidered trinkets that every couple he had ever wed had stitched on as a symbol of their relationship. Our couple stitched on Blinky, from the Simpsons. Alan was a witness and the ring bearer. Except, there were no rings, just engraved Superman-dog tags that they lovingly tied around each other’s necks.
…The only thing that did not go according to plan was that the bride was sick. Very sick, with a horrible cold. In fact, half the people at the wedding were sick (because they are all coworkers) and now I am paranoid that I might be getting sick. I made Chicken soup last night.

Over and Out.

NEW CAR

Yes, I purchased a car. Yes, I am debt for the rest of my 20’s. The following is a contrastive list of the benefits and the not so beneficial aspects of my recent consumer downfall:

Benefits

- I HAVE A BRAND NEW CAR. Toyota Corolla 2007. This means that for the rest of this year, I have the car of the "future"… and for all of next year I will have the car of the year. Yay!
- The car will last a long, long time. It is Silver and Pretty.
-I bought the car in my town, which means all the taxes from my purchase will go to the schools of my area.
- Alan was able to negotiate a really good price for me.

Not so beneficial

- I have car payments. Ohh Lord. Car payments. And I am poor, so poor for the next couple of months. Not to mention that my insurance has more than tripled.
- I am paranoid that some stupid-freak accident will happen and total my car again. (Like with the Nissan).
- It was really sad how I got treated at the car dealership (Not sad for me, but for the misogynists jerks who work there). Nobody even spoke with me; they all spoke with Alan. I did not exist. Alan kept pointing out that I was the person buying the car… I had never felt discriminated against, due to my gender, until I bought this car.

All in all, I am happy with my purchase. I will post a picture of it shortly.

Quick Update:

-May car got totaled this Monday. It was hit in a parking lot, when it was parked, and I was in the Office working. Needless to say, this event has provided me with many, many headaches. However, my little Nissan has been a blessing from the start until the very end: The insurance is going to pay me more money that what I paid for the car. (I bought the car over a year ago!)

-I need to buy a new car. AHHHH!!!! I don’t have the money for this Cr**. And, I don’t have the time to sit down and find the perfect used car in good conditions. Therefore, because of the circumstances, I will probably be forced to buy a new Honda Civic.

-I am going to San Antonio, Texas, for Labor Day Weekend. This could not come at a better time. I need a vacation. Alan and I plan to eat plentiful amounts of southern charm.
- My little bro is leaving town this Sunday, for Venezuela. I hardly got to spend any time with him at all. I’ve been working so much, and he has been out and about the country visiting family. So, I’m a little sad that I didn’t get to enjoy summer with him.