Scrumptiolicious

I must begin by recounting a horrible dream that I had about a week and a half ago. You know the kind that you wake up all panicked unclear about whether you were just dreaming or if something horrible had happened and you were just remembering it? It was of that caliber. I had one of those back in the day when i was a donut girl at a local coffee shop. JW was in town and for some reason I had a dream that there was a wicked bad car crash at the intersection that was visible from the shop. Even worse, JW was part of the crash. The next AM I went to work my shift and not an hour later there was a crash in the same location as my dream. Luckily, JW was not involved as he had been in the dream. Ever since then, i've kinda paid closer attention to my dreams when people I know are involved in them. Well a few weeks ago, I had this dream that AW's pal Kevin was in a motorcycle crash. I had a hard time putting the details together but when I woke up I told AW to inform Kevin that he was banned from riding his bike for a few weeks. Last night I went out with AW, Kevin, his lady friend Chris (first meeting, good peeps) and Kyle. I was to meet up at AW's house with kevin and alex and then we were gonna take a peek at the new house that Kevin and Chris just bought. Imagine my shock and horror as I pull into the driveway and see kevin's bike! WHA! NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Bad, very bad. Even in my dream the bike was definitely his, same color, same helment. I get in the house and I scolded Kevin for tempting fate. Apparently, AW had forgotten to relay the message until he saw kevin on his bike. I tried to piece together more of my dream for him. I vaguely recall being in my house when it happened but I couldn't remember what went wrong. I made sure to follow Kevin when we left and as I saw him brake to slow down on a curve it hit me. HIS BRAKES CUT OUT IN MY DREAM. So I called my big bro and told him to tell Kevin to get those brakes checked out. Hopefully, he listened....otherwise Kevin GET YOUR BRAKES CHECKED OUT

I'd say I'm fairly easy going person. Actually, its kina weird. I'm easygoing when it comes to what other people think are big deals. Oh, you hit me, blech that's cool....oh you say that you ran over my uber expensive items, whatev. You get the point. however, the weirdness ensues because its the little stupid things that get me revved up. When i was in school, i'd get pissed when people borrowed my pencils and didn't return them. Not a huge deal, but i'd get bent all out of shape. The wash can mock and mock and mock me without mercy and I chalk it up to him and his ideas of brotherly love, but he mock shoves me on the stairs and I flip out. Very strange, and I think it may all come down to my huge distaste for rudeness. I HATE rudeness in all levels and I think that's way it gets my goat. this is why i think i may be developing a huge case of road rage. During my commute, I don't mind delays (don't get me wrong I don't like them but they don't really piss me off) but what makes me Hulk like angry is when i get cut off or when some ass doesn't understand stop sign etiquette....like the frakking landscaper today. Its not bad enough that i was approaching the dreaded crossing guard zone but the dumbass landscapers didn't even look towards me before cutting me off, he kept looking (longingly if you ask me) towards the initial crossing guard and went, without noting if it was 1)his turn 2)safe or 3) that wasn't revving up the engine to ram him with my sturdy automobile. Driving in MA you'd think i'd be accustomed to masshole drivers but you'd be wrong. Just a little courtesy. Actually I'll end with a final thought presented by my favorite Rabbi. His sermon was about rudeness and this driver who had some disease meaning that he had a specially rigged vehicle for him to drive with his one functioning arm. Apparently he was also prone to spasms that would force him to drive extremely slowly so as to not cause an accident. Well when this man would drive slowly, people would honk their horns at him and extend certain fingers in his direction and shout things at him as they passed him in the left lane. The sheer amount of anger caught him off guard. One day, he felt a spasm coming on and proceeded to get in the right lane and this time he put on his hazard lights. Hazard lights. No one got angry, no one swore, no one sped by in a huff of frustration. Instead, these little blinking lights signaled to everyone that he was having a problem. he was okay but he was in distress and needed to drive a certain way. By making people aware that he had to drive a certain way, he eliminated the rage of others. Why? Because no one thought he was being "that guy". People are much more forgiving if they dont' feel that they are being disrespected.

Of course this doesn't mean that the landscaping dude deserves any respect. In fact, I think everyone should look at for him and show him the true meaning of masshole drivers.

:)

Happy New Year

To my fellow "tribal" members, a happy new year to you and to all of the goy out there, happy free days off from school. I dig the whole concept of the Jewish New Year. It's actually pretty cool if you think about it. I mean you open a book and forgive those that have wronged you and everyone that you've wronged has to forgive you and ten days later you close the book and poof you are cleansed for the year and get to start all over again. Some may quickly ruin their clean slate while others try to hold out a little longer but its a cool concept. This year was a bit sad, its the last year that I'll get to see the only Rabbi I've ever known. I tried going to services once while I was at school and it just wasn't the same. Reform folk in DC are wacky and there was guitar playing and folk song singing and I felt like perhaps I was in the wrong place or that someone confused the "High Holidays" with a Huge Ho Down.

the other cool thing about the holidays is that we get together with Mo and his fambino. This year was especially fun because Jen's parents and her brother came too. All kinds of education going on about the food for us and what they do on Christmas. Very educational but not in a cheesey or forced way just folks sharing their traditions. Plus, it was fun to watch Ryan try to avoid some of the more potent holiday food items (yeah I'm talking to you Herring, Chopped Liver, Gefiltile Fish and hot pink horseradish). Jewish holiday feasts are not for the faint of stomach. Kellay, you missed another chance to have some soup nuts. My dad thought we should send you some and I told them how you'll probably show up at Seder regardless if I'm around.

Anywho, the only downer to the whole holiday were some of the other attendees at dinner. Last year there was an extremely awkward incident whereby one of these people loudly berated her elderly mother in front of everyone. not only was this embarrassing for her mom but also for all of the other guests in their house. i'm not saying you have to get along with your mom all the time, but there are some conversations that are better had in the privacy of your own home. No one else wants to hear it and it just makes everything after wicked awkward. This elderly mom didn't not attend this year but instead there was knitting before dinner. Kinda rude if you ask me, particularly when the knitter repeatedly asks (rhetorically i presume) "should I stop knitting and being rude"? Course my instinct was to retort "why should this night be different". [for those of you tribal members think of phrasing this retort as one of the four questions at Seder]. Sadly, my good upbringing and lack of desire to create more awkwardness prevented me from forming these words. instead I thought them really hard and hoped that other people would pick up on it. Think my dad did, cause he shares my feelings about this particular woman and he also knew better than to make verbal comments. Ah well, didn't ruin the night. Plus my desserts came out pretty good even though they were new recipes and no one seemed to mind being my guinea pig. Sweet!

Until next time...

Its the most wonderful time of the year

Now that JW has posted two more times since writing about fall, i feel that I have waited long enough to write about my favorite season and not be accused of "biting" anyone's style. I always loved fall. I'm not a big fan of the showy clothes of summer cause I'm just not into showing the skin (for which I'm sure many are grateful), so when the wind picks up and the morning chill starts, I get happy. Cause i LOVE fall. Think about it. You got nice weather, people who like shorts can still get away with it, but people who like pants can wear those too and be comfy. You got foliage! I'm guessing not everyone knows what that's like, because apparently fall is the largest tourist season of the entire year up here in New England. I don't get travelling when you got it in your own yard, so I'm left with nothing but to believe that not everyone gets to see the wonder of seasonal change that I've grown accustomed to.

There's something pretty and calming about the green leaves turning into reds, oranges and yellows. maybe part of the reason i love it is because those are some of my favorite colors. you know foliage is getting close when you can see your own breath when you leave for work in the morning. So refreshing!

Other great things about fall:

1) the local hooligans on my street are back in school and only terrorizing the neighborhood after school and homework is done
2)people are back from vacations and will contact me about jobs
3)did I mention leaves?
4) Ummmm, are you ready for some football????
5)got some familial birthdays to celebrate as well as a new family anniversary
6)time to break out my favorite pieces of wardrobe: the turtlenecks and sweaters!
7)no more slutty clothes on hoochie girls

PS: bringing animals in stores is not cool. I've been flabbergasted several times over the last few months. I was in line at a grocery store and had to do a double take because there was a lady behind me, with a parakeet on her shoulder. That just doesn't seem sanitary to me. Then i was in Sephora and again tweeked my neck because there were these two bulbous eyes of a Chiuahaha sticking out of a carrying bag on a women's shoulder in front of me. And just a couple of weeks ago, I saw a couple taking their small dog on a walk through the mall. Not only did they have a pet in the mall but it was roaming around and not contained. Same thing happened in another store. Don't get me wrong, I love animals, esp dogs, but give me a break. There's an appropriate place to have them, and unless they're working dogs...stores ain't the place. If you can't be that far away from your pet then stay home cause there are too many people with allergies and waaaaay too much potential for disaster when you bring animals where they don't belong.

Speaking of animals, Samson was given high praise the last time we went in. He was extremely calm...they thought I had brought a new dog. Unfortunately, this mentality backfired against him. He was so calm that his blood pressure fell, meaning they had to stick him four times before they could draw enough blood to run tests. Pobre muchacho

Off to win some gold...

Do you get a degree for that?

Been awhile since I posted. Shockingly, I was actually given tasks at work for the last few days that prevented me from having the time to blog. Add that to the fact, that the trusty home laptop seems to be on the downside and that leaves little time to blog on about my thoughts. Right now I have to do this quickly because I managed to get roped into helping out with the sculpture event going on at the College today. Two of the three people in the office realize that I am intelligent and suggested that I be included despite my temp status. Pretty sweet, even somewhat intrigued by the meaning of the sculpture because it looks like an oil rig and I don't get how that conveys the "message across the ocean" theme that they got going.

Talked to GW about a job. I know they like me but I have a feeling that they won't be willing to meet my salary requirements because given the job, methinks it might be asking too much. But any less and I wouldn't really be able to live in DC, I'd be inhabiting a fancy box on the street. No good for me. Did find a potential opportunity with Lockheed Martin involving my degree, and as long as the "some travel" they mention does not include the Mideast, I'm game for it. We shall see.

Spent the weekend trying to finalize my look for the wedding. Got some ideas, we'll see how it works out. heard from my good buddy Chad who fell off the planet for about a year while he got settled in Trinidad. Got a nice invite to see the island and a reprimand for not making it to Jamaica. But I look at this way. Tons of people get to say that they went to Jamaica, but how many people do you know that have gone to Trinidad??? Exactly.

I was gonna write about the Fall, but I can't stand to be accused of biting JW's style again, so I'll have to wait until the leaves actually change colors before I write about my favorite season. The Pats won again. I feel like every year they have this brain fart for one quarter where they forget to play. And this quarter seems to shift around. Well unfortunately, it seems that the 4th quarter may be that special time this season which is going to cause heart palpitations across new england as we wait to see if they can hold on. Luckily, my boy Tedy made yet another comeback and made his presence known to Mr. pennington. on the sidenote of football, how crazy is it that a college backup kicker stabbed the started in the leg so he could get some playing time? I mean really, did he think the starter wouldn't recognize the face of his teammate as he shivved him? Yowza!

My commute everyday shouldn't be awful. I'm only crossing two towns. For the most part, it's an enjoyable ride. surely there are days that are worse than others. My main issue is the elementary school i have to drive by that for some reason requires not one, but two crossing guards who seem to think that they are traffic cops. Now the dude isn't so bad, he's pretty fair about judging the distance of walking folk so as to not hold up the traffic pattern too long. Fine, i can be cool with that. But then, within 50 feet is THE woman who drives me bonkers on a regular basis. If people are within her eye sight, she holds up traffice until they reach the sidewalk to cross. Evern worse, she has some bizarro method of directing traffic that results in her letting the side street traffic move quicker than the main road. you gotta be fair and there should be some kind of training for this kind of work. Clearly, common sense does not prevail, because on top of all of her issues, she also has this inane belief that the world is revolving around her and people don't have to go to work. I was held up for 5 minutes one day because she stopped traffic so she could chat with one of the cars on the road! Say wha!? Sometimes I wonder if maybe heckling her or throwing something at her from my car would help the situation. I can't toot my horn because I don't want to frighten the children, but this stupidity must end! My parents say throwing things isn't the way to solve the issue but they haven't been subjected to her traffic cop skills so what do they know?

There's no "I" in T$AM

I may have mentioned once or twice that I enjoy football. I like watching it, I like managing it (hello! back to back fantasy football championships), and I like playing it (2005 Flag Football Co-Rec Champions at GW). But here's what I don't like...these money grubbing players. I mean lets show a lil something something I like to call team loyalty. Course these days i feel like that term is at the very least old school and at the very most a myth.

Example 1) Johnny Damon aka the caveman idiot. now i'm not saying that the sox didn't mishandle him cause i don't know. I don't really care either, what i do know is that if you have any sense of loyalty to the fans that believed in you when everyone else said not to then the least you can do is choose to go to any team other than the Yankees. come on caveman! That's like a slap in the face (see Adam Vinateri) to go to the arch rival in the same conference. just a cruel thing to do to fans

Example 2) Mr. Clutch kicker, not sure what your beef was. Kickers don't get respect and don't get the big money. In the scheme of things, kickers can only get you 3 points a shot and while Mr. V was certainly clutch and invaluable in the minds of fans, you gotta be realistic when there's a salary cap involved. Kickers are not where teams want to spend the money. Especially in the rare market where a kicker can actually get himself some pretty nifty endorsement deals and the undying affection of the public. How many kickers do you know that can go on Leno in leather pants and not be made fun of? I don't care how many clutch kicks you make, that's a rarity. But instead of setting a realistic money goal (and claiming to be insulted by Patriot offers) he calls the Colts and asks them to make him an offer and poof! our boy is now our arch enemy with the evil peyton. Dude seems to forget that no one would've given him anything if hadn't been given his chance with New England, cause lets face it....if you can kick in the Razor you can pretty much kick anywhere. No way he gets that big of a contract if he spent the last 5 years in say...Arizona

Example 3) My name is Deion Branch and I am a big crybaby. I was a rookie and I think I should've gotten more money even though I had yet to prove myself. New England was kind enough to not only give me a shot, but pair me with a prolific QB who was able to make me look better than I may actually be. I also have yet to prove I can stay healthy for a whole season or that I can be a high quality #1 without a sturdy #2 (ahem David Givens ahem) by my side. In fact, maybe I became such a cry baby this summer because I had a feeling I wouldn't perform as well without other serious threats to draw the double teams away from me. I say good riddance to the latest Seahawk, because you certainly alienated this fan with your childish offseason behavior. Way to abandon not only your teammates and coaches who dedicated the time into making you a credible threat but also the fans who invested their time in watching you develop into an MVP (though I frequently debate whether this award belonged to him or my boy Teddy "a stroke can't stop me" bruschi) caliber player. At least you got a big contract, so you won't mind paying all those fines you accrued while you pouted in the media about the lack of respect you were getting from the front office. Hope the 2006-2007 season for you in Seattle sees you fail in your quest to show that you deserve Ward or Wayne type money.

Am I bitter? A tad, I mean what's the point in being a sports fan and supporting your team if they are so quick to abandon you because they want some money. Have they forgotten that they are being paid to play...dare I say it?...a GAME. There are people out there working to save lives, protect the country, and teach the country who make a small fraction of what these guys make and you don't see them hightailing it out of the country to our rival for $$$ or the spotlight do you?

That's my rant for today.

Crikey!

This weekend brought about the milemark birthday for my papa. In order to properly celebrate my mother went about and sneaked her away into planning a surprise dinner for my dad. Unbeknownst to me, I aided her in her endeavor by innocently asking him where he would like to dine for his special day. Then I got the eyes of death when I nearly spoiled the surprise. So what it comes down to is this, not only do I like to know what's going on, but I NEED to know what's going on or I somehow managed to ruin surprises. It's a gift. So my mom eventually brought me into her scheme and I took control of the sibling reminders (as is so often my duty cause boys are just no good at remembering dates). All I can say about the enjoyable dinner is that my parents and their friends can HANG. They're all near 60 and they each had 2 strong drinks and were going until 10pm, much later than the perceived bed time I imagine they each have. All three sets ofmy folks were there which posed a problem because I probably should've DD'd for all three, but as I reminded everyone at dinner, I can only drive one car at a time so I chose to drive my blood related parents home since papa was the birthday boy. So my first crikey award goes to the old timers showing that they are still young at heart.

The second crikey goes out to me for making into the realm of kickassery. Many thanks to JK for including me in this exclusive club.

The third crikey is a RIP to the Crocodile Man. While it is very sad that he passed away. Perhaps even more so when you consider he may have been able to survive if he hadn't freed the sting ray from his heart. (since the barb pierced his heart, removing it is probably what ultimately killed him since there was nothing plugging the hole until the doctors could get to him). But I think its fitting that the man died doing what he loved. i mean we're all gonna die someday and I think its better to go out doing something that you love rather than being killed by some dumb ass drunk driver or dying at an age where you are no longer able to enjoy life. The only other way I could see The Croc Man go is if one of his crocodile "friends" decided that they no longer enjoyed being man handled and attempted to show him what it was like. RIP Steve Irwin.

Job Update: Friday was quite slow at work, I applied to five jobs during the course of the day and had sent a hard copy resume to another company. Due to the holiday weekend, i don't expect to hear from any of these places until at least next week. But maybe one of them will grab me. Also, thanks to the Rickster, I was well informed that someone I knew from GW had been promoted within her department so I emailed her to see if there were any job openings. She had sent me an email a week after I left DC telling me that she'd always have a job for me (she was mad I left). Well, she does have a job and basically told me that all I need to do is apply and I would be employed. Just got to see what the job entails and what it pays before I make a commitment

Gotta take sammy for his billion dollar testing today. he misses his regular visits with his doc (he gets a treat from everyone there as long as he doesn't hide from them when they say 'hi') and so he has managed to develop a bleeding spot on a fatty growth thing. The growth was given the okay by the docs as being allowed to stay since they don't like to put old timers under the gas unless necessary, but the bleeding has got to stop so we're going in today and getting his blood tested to make sure all his meds are okay. Should be good times.

I'll take Potpurri for $200

Remember Jeopardy? I like that show, especially during College or Teen Tournaments cause it always makes me feel smart. There are inevitably catagories that have me stumped and other subjects that I totally rock out and make everyone wonder "how the holy heck did she know that one?" kinda reminds me of the thanksgiving where my sis in law and wash bought me the 20th anniversarry edition of trivial pursuit and I soundly kicked everyone's arse. Naturally, the accusations of cheating on a game that still had plastic wrap came out. Cause who wants to lose to baby sis? What can i say? I'm filled with lots of random knowledge. I shall share some of that randomness today (hence my favorite catagory name: Potpurri, a lil bit o this a lil bit o that)

1) did you know that the aussies of compulsory suffrage? Though before we get to that, why do they call it suffrage? I mean you should enjoy your right to vote cause as we know it clearly has not always been a given for all citizens, yet the term seems to say SUFFER, should we really associate voting with pain? I guess a lot of people feel that way when the results are revealed, but I think referring to voting as suffrage gives it a bad omen. Now as for the compulsory factor. Do you think the US would be different if everyone was forced to vote and not simply given the option? It seems to me that Americans are an apathetic bunch, until something pisses them off then they get all hot and bothered and protesty. But, my feelings are if you dont vote than you need to keep your picket signs in the house cause you gots no one to blame but your own apathetic self. it's like when my mom was heart broken about the voting on Dancing with the Stars and American Idol....you can't be outraged if you don't participate in the process. that's why I keep my mouth shut about bush. Granted the GWU mail service took away my ability to vote in the last election by losing my absentee ballot, but I had a good feeling of which way my state was leaning anyway so i did not fret. The point is, I didn't vote so i really don't have the right to bitch and moan this time around.

2. Mt. Ida is an interesting place. My Office is in the design school building and it's been a bit odd to watch the clothing of the student body. The words OVER THE TOP come to mind but perhaps its just trendy, never was good at that kind of thing. But why do a majority of the artsy people dress in a goth style?

3. i think i should marry Gostowski aka the new kicker with the leg of steel for the pats. He's the man, he's in my age bracket and really I'm okay with the Polish last name, its even an upgrade in the alphabet. Dude kicked a 54 yarder last night....I repeat 54 yards. yeah its not snow and there was no inclement weather, but accuracy at that distance regardless of conditions makes me very happy to watch him this season. Hope he's able to handle the Boston media attention.

4. i'm more curious why my old boss, the rickster thinks i'm moving back to DC....both people who "knew" this information are people I haven't spoken to in over a year. one is in israel so i checked to make sure she was safe but i don't recall talking about job prospects. nor do i think i would've cause that girl developed some kind of beef with me the last semester i was there. No biggie, i asked what the deal was, she claimed nothing so the problem is hers, not mine.

5. Last but not least, Kiss 108's Matty show definitely has me giggling on the way to work. i was going to originally write about that today, but i forgot what they said, I can only remember that it made me laugh.