Saturday, June 28, 2008

Ugh

I forgot how much it sucks trying to find somewhere to live. We've been here for 2 years now and that is the longest I've lived anywhere in the last 8 years. It quickly came back to me what a stressful situation it is not knowing where you're going to live. We've looked at a few places but they are just too expensive. It is crazy what people are charging for rent, especially here in Orange. I mean seriously, $2300 for a crappy two bedroom that looks like it hasn't been re carpeted or painted since the '80s? I can't stomach that. I'm trying to stay positive since we have until the end of August but I know how quickly time flies. I feel like I know every ad on Craigslist.

Oh well, gotta...

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Blast From the Past

This past Saturday night we went to Hubby's 10 year high school reunion. What an old man!


It was such a blast hearing all these stories about him. Apparently, he spent most of his time joking around and picking on other kids. Not much of a suprise to me. Thankfully he had enough charm that people still liked him. I laughed my arse off at some great photos and videos. He rocked the bleached hair and bright colored Oakleys.


This got me thinking, mine's only 2 years away. Since I'm much lighter than I was in high school, I'm looking forward to giving a few people who teased me one of these:

I am scheduled to attempt to get knocked up in 2 years, but it's going to have to work around my reunion. Yes I'm a shallow biotch :)

Friday, June 20, 2008

Shooooooot Part 2

Just...got...60...days...notice...

Shooooooot

Well the time has come we have been dreading. Our landlords are selling our house. I am sure some of you are aware of the situation but I'll the rest of you in. Back in February our landlord passed away. He was diagnosed with cancer in December 2006 and after a few months was in remission. In December 2007 it came back with a vengeance and he passed away. He left his house to his sisters who have taken over the job of landlord (from their homes in Oregon). He had only owned the house for a few years so he still owed a lot of money. I'm not sure all the legalities of it but his sisters make it sound like they are financially responsible for the home. It doesn't make sense to me how you can leave someone your financial burdens but you never know. Anyways, they've been wishy-washy on the whole thing, going back and forth about renting it out vs. selling it. They are always very vague when they give us any information and rarely call us back. They prefer to write letters. Not even emails but handwritten, put a stamp on it, letters. It must run in the family because rather than coming to talk to us, our landlord would leave post-it note on the door. I would often notice something on the bottom of my shoe after coming in the house and realize it was a note about the gardener.
After he passed away, they threw a few things away and then locked up the house and haven't been back since. Yesterday, Hubby came home and saw them moving stuff out. Apparently, they listed all his earthly possessions on craigslist (anyone need a couch? fridge? juicer? ) and are going to put the house on the market. They aren't evicting us or anything but we've decided we should probably find another place to live now. Besides the stress of possibly having to move once it sells, there is also the issue of them showing the house. I remember what a pain in the butt it was when my parents sold there last few houses to keep a house show ready and deal with realtors calling wanting to come by. I don't want to have to deal with a house to sell that isn't even mine. Legally they can show the house during business hours as long as they give us reasonable notice. So that means whenever they have people coming over we'll have to figure out what to do with the doggies. Buying a house is on the horizon but not close enough that we could do it right now. So we've started looking around for another rental. I'm hoping this will mean we will finally get a 2 bedroom but I'm not holding my breath.
I understand that selling the house may be what's best for them but it makes me so mad that they've been so inconsiderate to us. They haven't kept us in the loop on anything and then drop a bomb like this. Boo on them.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Margaritas and a Sweaty Bum

Yesterday, after work, I headed to El Torito with some awesome gals. It was hotter than a mofo but as always we had fun.


Ugh, bad choices were made...but today I'm back on the train.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Another bag

Even though I am pretty sure my mom doesn't even know what a blog is, I didn't want to post this until I had given it to her. We didn't get to celebrate Mother's day with my mom until this past weekend so I had some extra time to get her a gift. I sent her pictures of the dogs' overnight bag and she asked me if I would make her one some time. It was perfect timing since I only had half of her gift. This conversation took place on Wednesday so I knew I had time. My mom is like me and loves all things pink, plus her dog is a girl so I knew it had to be pink and girly. I went to Joann's and was really discouraged since all of the dog stuff was boyish and all of the girly fabric had cats on them. I finally found a fabric that would do but I wasn't super happy about it. It was cute but not as girly as I had hope. The next day, I went back hoping to find a good ribbon or something to make it cuter. I always browse through the sale fabric and lucky for me, I found the same fabric that I had used but pink and black. Even better, it was on sale for $3 a yard. I had only started cutting the other fabric so I hadn't put too much time into it. I figure use it to make her a quilt or something for her birthday.

Since both dog fabrics were really cheap I had bought all that was left so now I have enough to make a girl quilt and a boy quilt for the future. I figure I have at least 2 years :)

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Dirty Thirty

I retested myself on Wii Fit last night and I'm down to age 30. Wheee!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Suzy Sewer

This weekend I was in a sewing mood and during my last trip to Joann's I had picked out some fabric to make the doggies an overnight bag. I thought, they shouldn't have to settle for using whatever I can find (which was usually a cloth grocery bag), they deserve their own bag. I found this great tutorial online that was pretty easy to follow. The only thing was it says you need 1 yard of each fabric which is about 36x45 inches but for the straps you need to cut a strip that's 50 inches long. Not sure how you're expected to do that so my straps are much shorter than theirs. Even then, the inner side of my straps have a seam in the middle because I cut my straps last and had to make due with the remnants.
I also worked on my Valentine's day quilt and it's almost done. I know what you are thinking, I'm either 4 months late or 8 months early. Well both are true. After working hard on a quilt at Christmas time that wasn't done until around mid-January and seeing the fabric I paid a pretty penny for going for 70% off, I decided I'll make holiday quilts after the holiday so I can take my time and get the fabric at a bargain price. You don't even have to rush to the fabric store the day after the holiday, it usually stays for awhile. In fact, I didn't have fabric for the backing of the quilt and I figured I would just get some red gingham or something but last night while cruising the clearance rack at Joann's I found a Valentine's print for $2 a yard. I'm hoping it will be finished in the next few days. I'm sure you are all waiting anxiously (right?right?) so I'll post pictures as soon as I'm done.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Wii Fit

Thanks to MIL's connections, I got a Wii Fit yesterday. I am so excited. I've been so bitter when I've heard people talking about it. As soon as I got home last night I set it up and got started. The first thing you do is your body test. As silly as it sounds I was nervous about the weight part. If you can't tell I have a lot of psychological issues with my weight and one of them is the time and circumstances that I weigh myself. I only weigh myself in the mornings, nekked and with no food in my belly. Most normal people can step on the scale at other times or with clothes on and attribute an extra pound or two to clothes or just the time of day. Even though I know all the reasons your weight can be different, it still can really mess with my head to see a higher number on the scale. I can quickly start to convince myself that it's not those reasons and I'm a screw up and must have done something. Which then turns into, the "I'm a big fat failure" mentality and the next thing you know... So anyways, because of this I was a little leery of the body test. Luckily, it asks you what you think your clothes weigh so I used that to account offset my clothes as well as that extra "late in the day" pound. My BMI was in the normal range but the computer then tells me that "those with a BMI of 22 are less likely to be sick" so since mine is 22.39, I should work on getting it down to 22. Listen here Wii Fit, I get sick like ever 2 years and have had friends who are barely over 100 pounds that are sick every other week. I don't buy that one.

The next step was the Center of Balance test. You stand there and it tells you how evenly you balance your weight. Mine wasn't bad but they told me I could improve on it. Then came the Balance test.







You shift your weight so that you are in the blue zones and you hold it there for 3 seconds. Your goal is to get through 5 levels in 30 seconds. With each level the blue zones get smaller, making it harder for you to hold. I thought I did pretty well, making it through 4 of the 5 levels. I was wrong. It told me my balance was not good and then it asked me, "Do you trip a lot when you walk?" Really? Really? I've come to terms with the fact that I'm a klutz and I have the occasional stumble but I can make it through a day without falling down, TYVM!

After all that, with my Mii waiting anxiously, it calculated my Wii age. I was hoping Wii would consider me as fit and nimble as an 18 year old but realistically I thought I would at least be my own age. Nope, 38! Seriously, WTF? Not that there is anything wrong with 38 but being 26 this makes Mii 12 years older.

I picked myself up off the floor, wiped my tears and moved on with the setup. From there it has you set goals. So I told it I want to lose 10 pounds by August. Then I moved onto the activities. So far I've tried Soccer (heading balls), Ski slalom and jump, hula hoop, basic run, step, push ups and warrior pose. My favorite is probably the hula hoop since it got my heart rate up. Hubby says I look like a weirdo but since I'm not very coordinated I can't seem to twirl my hips in a real circle.

Overall I'm pretty happy with it. My only complaint is that there is a lot of standing around. Most of the activities are maybe 1 minute long and even if you keep doing the same activity, there is still a waiting time after each try where it gives you your score and shows your ranking. Hopefully, they'll come out with some activities that are more like work out videos where you are moving for a long period of time. This won't be replacing my regular workout routine but I know it will be a fun way to get some extra exercise and improve my balance. I'm determined to be a Wii teenager.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Netflix

My boss gave me 4 one month free trial offers. You can pick any plan up to the 3 out at a time plan. I used one so I have 3 up for grabs. Leave me a comment if you want one and I'll email you the code.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Oh the pain...

I tried a new class at the gym last night, Camp24. I thought, "Hey it's only 30 minutes it can't be that hard." Holy effin' crap it was intense. The first 10 minutes were lunges and the rest was a mix of squats and arm exercises with weights. Oh my gosh I can't even describe how much my thighs were burning 5 minutes in. By the end of the class my legs were shaking. Today my toosh and my thighs are so sore. I can't even walk normally. As much as I'm hurting, it was a great class and I plan to make it part of my routine.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Sallie Mae

You suck, I hate you.

The Weekend of Pink

Thursday was Hubby's birthday and we spent it at the tattoo parlor. Not how I'd want to spend my own birthday but that's what he enjoys. I made cupcakes for all of Hubby's tattoo friends. By the time he was finished all that was really open for dinner was the fast food Chinese restaurant.

Friday, I got my replacement phone. When we were at Disneyland, the sunscreen had leaked in my purse all over my phone rendering the keyboard inoperable. Luckily, I have insurance so they sent me a new one. My old phone had been a hand-me-down and I never got the CD for my computer so all I could get was the download which didn't have the program to put music or pictures on your phone. The new one came with the CD so I'm so stoked I can put that stuff on there.

Since we couldn't go out to dinner the night before we went on Friday. Hubby's new favorite place is Benjies. We both drive by it every day on the way to work but never thought to try it until we were out with his parents and his mom remembered going there like 40 years ago. As much as I wanted one of their yummy sandwiches I opted for grilled chicken, a baked potato and veggies (cue Debbie Downer music). We were trying to decide what to do after and we were both tired so we got some movies at Blockbuster. We watched America 101 which I found really amusing.

The next day I realized it was the last day of the month and I hadn't weighed in at Weight Watchers in May. When you are lifetime you have to weigh in once a month or you have to pay the weekly fee the next time you go in. My hope is to never have to start paying again but I definitely don't want to have to pay because I couldn't get my butt in there. So as soon as I got up I went and weighed in. I was up a pound but I don't really care because I just count that as normal fluctuation. Saturday we went to the ILs for dinner to celebrate Hubby's and SIL's birthdays. When we got home that evening I decided I needed to clean my kitchen. The next thing I knew it was 1 am.

Sunday we woke up and headed to the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA. I was shocked that Hubby had never been there. They have an exhibit called La Vida Lowrider that Hubby was dying to see and it was ending next weekend. He loves most all old cars but he has a special place in his heart for lowriders. He would love to own something like this someday. My favorite part of the museum was where they had kid drawings of fantasy cars and made them into real life models.

After we toured the museum, we headed to Pink's. We have driven by so many times and always said we wanted to try it, so today was the day.

We waited in line for over an hour.

I got the Lord of the Rings dog (a hot dog with onion rings and BBQ sauce) and Hubby got the Bacon Burrito dog (two hot dogs, chili, cheese and bacon wrapped in a tortilla) and we split chili cheese fries. Oh my gaw was it a big greasy mess. I am really suprised I didn't have a heart attack right there. Good thing I weighed in the day before!


It was good but we decided we like PCH Dogs better. Since we were in an adventurous mood, we decided we'd try Pinkberry which was down the street. I've never had it and was skeptical since I'm such a die hard Golden Spoon fan. It was actually pretty good! It wasn't as tart as I was expecting and the more bland flavor tasted really good with the fruit.

After that we drove home to relax for awhile. Hubby got MarioKart for the Wii for his birthday so we played that. You are actually steering using either the steering wheel or the controller. It's really fun and makes me feel like a kid again.
That evening we went to Mrs. Knott's to celebrate Hubby's birthday with some of our friends. What a way to round out a day of eating like total crap. Thankfully today I am right back on track!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Ice Cream Cake

Before I get started, this is for Amber who asked if my kitchen is filled with pink Kitchen Aid stuff.






The other day was Hubby's birthday and he had wanted cupcakes to take to the tattoo parlor with him. He had wanted two kinds but I didn't think we needed 48 cupcakes so I made 12 cupcakes and 1 9 inch round of each kind. So that left me with 1 round white cake and 1 round carrot cake. I knew I could figure out something to do with them. That night I got the idea to make an ice cream cake. We were going to the in-laws on Saturday to celebrate Hubby and SIL's birthday and I already has cake planned out so this would work out perfectly.
My very first job was at Baskin Robbins and my favorite thing to do there was make cakes. That was 12 years ago and I haven't made one since but I figured it's just like riding a bike, right?

The first step was to put the ice cream on the cake. I had learned that you place scoops of somewhat soft ice cream on top to cover the cake and then smooth it out so that's how I did it. Later as I was looking online for decorating ideas I discovered that this can also be accomplished by putting ice cream in a cake pan and freezing it, then popping it out of the pan and setting it on top of the cake. I tend to do things the hard way but I digress...The cake went into the freezer until it was ready to be frosted.

The next day was all about the decorating. SIL and I are very similar in a lot of aspects favorite colors being one of them so I decided pink and purple was the way to go.
The first step was to
frost the cake. Now you could use regular frosting but I like ice cream frosting the best. I put some vanilla ice cream and purple food coloring in a bowl and let it get reallllllly soft.


I spread the ice cream on the cake as much as I could and then back in the freezer it went to harden up for decorating.


I didn't have any decorating tools and I had a Joann's card that had been burning a hole in my pocket since my birthday so I knew I could stock up there. I bought a few different tips and some disposable bags. I also bought some adorable fabric to make an overnight bag for my doggies. Hubby said I'm officially a creepy dog lady. Psssh whatever.
Once I was home I mixed up the frosting and began stressing because I was cutting it close and only had an hour and a half to decorate the cake and get ready to go. After struggling with the frosting being too soft and then too hard I finally got it to work. I had attempted to make roses but the frosting still wasn't cooperating and so I scrapped that idea. Here is the final product.

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