Sunday, February 21, 2010

day 40: a sunday. not a good day to be my cat.

so i went for a couple beers with my buddy after work last night. i stayed out way too late, and was totally wiped when i got home. i let the dog out. i let the dog in. the cat ran out. he wouldnt come in. i closed the door, thinking he'd come running back to me in a few minutes once he got out into the yard and realized it was cold and wet.

i laid on the couch for a few minutes and snuggled with the dog. i got up and went to bed. i slept in super late, waking at about 11am. i got up, started the kettle to make coffee. let the dog out. puttered around a minute, and started the calling the cat to give him a new cardboard box. no reply. checked the bedroom, no cat. then it hit me.

oh crap.

i forgot to let the cat back in last night. i saddled up the dog and grabbed the can of cat treats and out we went. shaking the treats in the yard to see if he had hidden in the bushes. i kept calling him, no response. we started out the gate, and then backtracked. i decided to check the biggger, thicker bushes around the side of the house. i called and shook the treats, then heard him wailing. his little face poked out of the ground level opening under the house...

we rent the bottom floor of an old victorian in san diego. its built on a hill, with the backside on the down-hill. front of the house is flush with the street, but the back end is built up a tad, so there's a shallow basement sort of thing, not really tall enough to stand up in. the little opening on the side of the house has a mesh on it, with a hole in it, of course. the cat had wandered into it and spent a cold wet night under the house.

he screamed and screamed and tried several times to work his way out of the screen again. but finally, he came out, nice and dirty. i scooped him up and tossed in the front door. he ate a little, cried a little, told me all about his miserable experience, then disappeared to sleep all day.

the dog is napping too. looks like a good idea. i've been awake for 2 hours, but they were emotional. and i think that deserves a nap.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

day 33: valentines day

the dog is sniffing at the front door. she was barking a few minutes ago, but there is no one outside. i don't know what the deal is, but she's making me worry.

anyway, today was a fabulous day. i woke up when the neighbors started banging on my ceiling (they are replacing their flooring), about 930. i was having dreams about real-life zombie games. i had to go from 'scene' to 'scene' and complete the puzzle before the zombie came to life and ate me. for example: i came upon a house, where on the front porch were two tombstones. the left was the wife, the dead, on the right the husband, the undead. their faces were on the tombstones, which is why it was sort of game-ish, and on each a vial of their blood. in life, they had been motorcycle lovers, taking long rides together. it is also what killed them. beside their tombstones was a replica of their bike, some black harley-chopper stylie thing with flames on it. sort of circa 1950s. anyway, i was suppose to take the vial of blood off of each tombstone and splash it on the bike along with some sawdust, then vacuum it off to exemplify their death and clean rebirth into the afterlife. However, as soon as i took the vial off of the tombstones, they began to wake. when i took the vial from the wife's tombstone, her face came to life and began to scream. the trick was to do the motorcycle part quickly and as quietly as possible because if her undead husband woke completely, either by the sound of her screaming or the sound of my cleaning, he'd eat us both. needless to say i failed.

when i woke up, i stumbled out to let the dog into the front yard and accidentally followed her. when i got to the porch i realized how beautiful and warm it was outside, so i decided to put some shorts on, grab my hat, and go for a walk. halfway through the walk i decided it would be a perfect day to take her to the beach, so we headed home. as soon as i opened the front door, i realized how un-fresh my house was; dirty, cold and dark. so i opened up all the windows and spent the day spring cleaning. sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, dusting. it was a fabulous therapeutic thing to do. airing out the house felt great.

i was supposed to meet a kid from class to study for our spanish test this week, which quickly turned into an odd awkward thing. instead of mutually meeting somewhere, i went to pick him up, then drove back to my neighborhood to the local coffee shop. we were there for less than two hours and he called it quits. we got no mutual studying done, cuz we couldnt agree on what we needed to work on and he gabbed most of the time, afterward proclaiming how great he thought we worked together and wants to study each week. he's super nice, but a little spacey. so i took him home, and came home to study on my own. i made flashcards and watched most of a movie i didnt really like, which was odd because it was an Audrey Hepburn flick, with an old Carey grant.

i decided that since it was slow and annoying, and i'd take gene Kelly over Carey grant any day, i gave up spanish and moved to the couch to watch singin' in the rain.

i'm on day three of my super renew beauty routine (ie livestrong "my plate", and tee tree miracle waffles + teeth whitening strips before bed). just simply doing the same thing each day is making me feel good. i've never been one for any kind of routine other than washing my hair before i condition it (which i've been known to screw up), so this is a nice change.

the hubbs called tonight, but i missed it. i didnt recognize the phone number so i didnt answer it :( i tried to call right back but it went to a voicemail. happy valentines day indeed.

Monday, February 8, 2010

day 27: short sentences are awesomeness.

i've been out three times in four days. i'm done for the year. quota met.

friday night i went to the turf club with the people upstairs. it was, actually, a lot of fun. she gets drunky fast like me. we laughed a lot.

saturday night i went to the archway, a little divey bar near work, with my buddy ian. we laughed a lot there too. and griped about work. it was theraputic.

sunday, i spent the day with the cat on the couch watching the i love lucy marathon and reading my psych book. yay no super bowl for me.

today, i worked. i got angry at work. i hate work. then i went shopping at the commissary. i hate the commissary. i bought cat food. the cat hates dog food. then i came home. the dog was angry. jake and angela were outside. i ran over to say hi, we talked for a while. they invited me over for dinner. i went. she made good soup. we talked a bit. they smoked. i came home.

i made tea. i packed my gym bag for tomorrow. its supposed to rain. lameness = walking two blocks in the rain to a smelly old gym where i'm going to sweat and get more wet. in fact, if i get too wet, i'll be damn sure to slide off the bike that is not bolted to the floor. i'm starting a food diary to go with my workout class, well, not FOR class, but to go with it for my own OCD sanity. just gonna try to learn about calories and nutrition and how to eat balanced and healthy. i bought real oranges. whoa.


Thursday, February 4, 2010

day 23: school day 4, and other stuff

Well, Spanish is going well. Today I worked with Matt (the guy I met in the bookstore, who said my earrings remind him of a Polynesian girlfriend he once had, he sits to the right of the thermos girl) and Devlyn, the nice girl who sits to my right. She's a natural Spanish speaker, having grown up in TJ, and Matt is Cuban and Argentinian, i think, and understands Spanish though he doesn't speak it well. They are helping me tremendously and now I feel more confidente. Each day, including the very first day of class, we each have to say something or read something from the book in Spanish aloud to the whole class. Others are worse than me so that makes me feel ok. I can tell time (c Que hora es?) and count to 100-ish. Its very easy, actually, just memorizing the numbers will take some time.

Side note, Devlyn told me that fitness credits are not required at City like they are at SWC... so I signed up for this boot camp class for nuthin... ... sigh ...

I got two pairs of new shoes with my birthday money from my parents, including a brand new pair of cross-trainers to wear to the gym. They are white and lime green from New Balance, and I feel sassy in them. I also bought new pants, which really are just pajama pants, but super soft cotton from my best friend Target for under $15. With my new knowledge of taking this class for no reason, I opted to give it one more shot, since its my last class before the refund drop date. Afterall, Hawaii is five months away...

It was our second day completing coach Colbert's boot camp circuit, then we had close to 20 mins of free time to work on whatever machine we wanted. Of course, these machines are O-L-D. The bikes are super stylie. The seats are non-adjustable ('cept for height) and I have bruises in places that ladies don't mention. In fact, their only adjustable knob tightens a blue shoelace around a spinning wheel and circa-1980's steering wheel cover vinyl on the hand grips. No electronics, not even bolted to the floor.

The most modern machines are stair-steppers that are sadly outdated, with their electronic screens reminiscent of the blood pressure machines i was scared of in Walgreens when I was a kid, with bleepy lights like a Lite Brite. I tried the eliptical, my very favorite machine, only to discover that the two most importante buttons are broken - the start button and the down arrow. So it sits at default 150lbs for 30 minutes and you can't 'start' it. lameness. We then spent the last 30 minutes or so of class doing his 'crunch club' where we all got onto mats on the floor and did variations of sit ups, crunches, etc. I was proud to see that I was the only one that A. could do all of the things coach told us to do, and B. did it without whining, sobbing, or falling over, unlike the 350lb rappy-fantastic across from me that smelled like a goat. And there's some little skater kid that followed me around, which was a little flattering and creepy all at the same time. After class, I felt super great, so I think I will stick this out afterall. And I might even enjoy it.

I decided to give the showers in the neighboring brand-new locker room. See, they built a huge two story fitness monstracity in the parking lot next to the fitness center. It is used for dance classes, sports training, kickboxing and apparently every PE class except for the one I'm in. Rumor has it they took all the 'good' machines out of our room andmoved them to the new building which is why our class sucks so bad. Anyway, there are new locker rooms complete with private showers. They do not have enough lockers for everyone, so I've been carrying my entire bathroom and Spanish books in my 50lb gym bag.

In the showers, which are like giant tile laden cubes, there is a heavyweight curtain running from floor to ceiling for privacy, and a fold down bench near the doorway. There's about 3-4 feet between the seat and the shower head, which was a tiny little thing, so I figured setting my bag on the seat was ideal. This is my first public shower experience as it was, so I was already a little jumpy, but when I turned the knob and was hit by ice cold water with the force of all of San Diego's water pressure, I was just about shot through the curtain and out into the hallway. I quickly figured out how to turn the nozzle to narrow the water jet, cuz you cant aim it up or down, so i was able to shower with a jet stream pointed at my noggin, but my stuff still got soaked. Thankfully I have four days to figure out plan B, and dry out my Spanish book. HA - I could just claim my Spanish is watered down! I know, don't quit my day job.

Psych class went well, and I kicked the pre-quiz quiz's ass. So I feel really great today. And I'm wearing my new sandals :) I felt so good, in fact, that I celebrated my great work out with Del Taco.

That's how I roll.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

product review: Desert Essence Facial Cleansing Pads.


OMG.

I didn't know my face was so gross. These wipes are miracles soaked into little cotton waffles. They are a mix of beautifully natural things like witch hazel, lavender, tea tree, chamomile and some sort of backywackybrush that I've never heard of. They are also 100% vegan.

They are small little waffle textured cotton pads pre-soaked in their natural essential oil recipe. You pull one out, wipe it around your face and neck, then rinse with cool water. Simple.

They are strong and I had to fan my eyes a little, so I suggest keeping your eyes closed for a few seconds after application (not that I used them ON my eyes, of course, but the power of the ingredients makes for strong aromatic air).

I had been wearing only loose powder for days prior to using these, cleaning my face irregularly as normal. After several rounds around my face and neck, both sides looked like they had rolled in the mud. It was awful and wonderful at the same time. For the first time in ages, I looked into the mirror and liked my skin.

I'm rushing to their website now to learn more about them as it seems they have an entire line of organic skin care, hair care and other health and beauty items. I have to tell you, though, their web price on these pads is high. They sell them on their website for $6.99 and I bought mine at Trader Joe's for $3.99 (for 50 pads). Sadly, Trader Joe's carries only a couple of their items. But, if we gather the masses and ask them to carry more - they just might!

(I've linked the photo above to the product listing on their website, so you can just click the image and viola!)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

day 21: third day of school

(handwritten in notebook)

Groundhog day. I worked Sat and Sun, and at 8am on Monday. I slept ten hours last night but I still feel exhausted. My house is a disaster. I really have to change my habits. I'm going to drive myself crazy.

I decided I need to invest in exercise pants. I dont like this class, but I have to stick it out. I'm waiting for Spanish to begin. Yay Spanish. Drink more coffee. Yea, that'll make it better.

Spent close to $100 yesterday on snacks to send to the hubbs. I need to get a photo printed for him. ...sigh... so much to do and I dont have the energy for any of it. I'm going to consider taking Monday's off.

By the look on the face of the girl who sits in front of me, I can tell my hair looks awful. Hooray.

[yokel who came late sat in front of me only the first day. A girl named Zayra moved in front of me, next to the thermos girl, and a nice girl to my right. The four of us have been working together in Spanish class.]