Branded by a dime

Here's a word of wisdom, helpful hint, life lesson, or whatever you want to call it. "Never sit on change that has been baking in the sun all day".



I hate getting into my car after work. It is an absolute oven after being parked in the bright sunlight for 8 hours. But of course I have no choice if I want to get home. So, yesterday I headed to my car as usual after work. On auto-pilot, not thinking or looking, I plopped down on to the drivers seat. Suddenly I felt this sharp searing pain in my left butt-cheek (for lack of a better word). What the hell??? I reached underneath and pulled out a dime. Obviously in my haste, I failed to notice the dime that had been roasting in the sun on my car seat all day. I just plopped my happy butt down on top of it. Holy crap that hurt!! I swear, I must have a brand of President Roosevelt permanently burned on to my butt! I guess I'll just tell people I'm really patriotic and love FDR. Then again, who's going to see my butt besides hubby anyway??

Saggy Pantyhose

I'm sitting here in my beautiful new business dress, black heels... and my pantyhose bunching at my ankles. Not attractive if you ask me. Why can't a company make plus-size pantyhose for short women? No matter what brand you choose - as you go up in sizes, not only do the hose get bigger around, they get longer too. I guess they assume all fat girls are Amazon women too. I hate it. No matter which brand I buy - to get a pair that fit over my plus-size butt, they always end up pooling at my ankles. Man I miss the good old days of Size A Leggs brand. Life was so much simpler then!

Something New Again - Journal

I'm trying something new again. Doesn't it seem like I'm always trying something new with this blog? I always have thoughts, stories, and topics I want to write about, but I'm never at my computer when I think of them. And it seems whenever I AM at my computer, I'm totally not in the mood to type. So I'm going to start keeping a journal. That way I can write my thoughts down whenever the mood strikes me. I'm a secretary - I type 60wpm - it'll be absolutely nothing then for me to type the entries into my blog. I've skipped a dozen stories so far because I never had the chance to type them. Let's see if this corrects the problem...

Adventures in Hair Removal TMI!!

WARNING! FOR MY FAMILY MEMBERS WHO READ THIS - DON'T GO ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW DETAILS ABOUT MY BIKINI AREA! LOL


Back story: Just about everyone who knows me, whether they want to or not, knows that I'm a big fan of bikini waxing. I've been getting waxes for about 9 years now. My mother thinks I'm insane - she says I must be into S & M to do it. No Mother! It's actually not as painful as you'd think. (It's more painful to wax your lip & chin believe it or not.) Plus - with shaving you have to shave just about daily to keep it stubble-free, and all that shaving causes razor burn and wonderful little red bumps everywhere. While with waxing, I can go 4 - 6 weeks between treatments and have hardly any bumps. Anyway - I've been seeing my current esthetician for about 5 years now, and she suggested I try laser hair removal. I tried it once before, a couple of years ago, but it didn't work. The lasers zap the pigment in the hair follicle, somehow killing the follicle so the hair never grows back. I'm blonde, and unfortunately until recently, it's been almost impossible to laser blondes - not enough pigment in the hair for the laser to zap. My esthetician offered to do my first services for free, just to see if it would work. How could I pass that up??

Okay - enough back story... So... I had my first laser treatment in May. Going in, I had no idea what to expect. Kari told me she was setting the laser on 16 - whatever that means. She was starting out low since I have such pale, sensitive skin. Umm... okay. You're the professional! She was all about to start when she noticed I hadn't shaved the area. She forgot to tell me to shave. In case you didn't know, you have to let the hair grow really long in between waxing treatments, so the wax will have something to adhere to. Obviously, not so with the laser. It's actually best to shave a few days ahead of time because the laser works best on hair in the first stage of growth (there are 3 btw). I offered to reschedule my appointment so I could shave beforehand, but she said no - said it should do fine, it'll just burn the hair and smoke a little. Umm WHAT??? okay... So she started in with the laser. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt a bit! She'd pull the trigger to activate the laser 'flash', I'd feel a little pop, and then a little puff of smoke would waft up. Yep, that's right - I said smoke - the downside to my not shaving. Have you ever burned your hair? Every time she zapped me, it would burn the hair, causing smoke and leaving oh so classy burnt shrivelled up hair. It took me 3 showers with buff puffs to scrub it all off!

Fast forward to this week... I went in for my second treatment. Again my mother said that I'm nuts and must be into S&M. This time I tell her that the waxes are every 4 - 6 weeks. Three or four laser treatments and the hair's gone permanently - I never have to worry about it again! It's sooooo worth it! Besides, it doesn't hurt in the least... or so I thought. she zapped me the first time and I swear I came off of the table. Holy crap that hurt!! So she keeps going - pop pop pop pop pop pop - and I'm doing everything I can to stay on the table. I was trying to take calming breaths, trying to convince myself that it wasn't that bad - but yes it was! I ended up jerking and flopping around like a fish out of water -- screaming and cussing the whole time. That was so embarrassing - I was trying to stay quiet, but I just couldn't. I hollered with every pop! Finally she was halfway done (did the left side). I had to ask her to give me a minute to recover before she started on the right side. While I was catching my breath, I asked her why it hurt so bad this time - there's no way it was just because I shaved this time, was it? No, she tells me. She turned the laser up. Oh you did???? Well great, thanks!! No wonder it felt like she was frying my crotch! She said she could turn it down for the right side if I wanted. Umm no. I'm not having my bikini area permanently lopsided just because I couldn't handle the pain. Just finish so it'll be over & done. So we continued with our little duet - pop pop pop pop pop ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch!! Just when I thought she was finishing, she told me to flip over. Crap - I forgot about my butt!! Now this is always so much fun for me anyway. As if it weren't awkward enough having her remove the hair in the front, I now had to roll over so she can get the hair on my butt... all of it. I always joke that Kari & I have become REALLY good friends. She knows me more intimately than any of my friends! :-) Anyway, back to the story --- I'm on my stomach with my butt in the air and I can't help but think "thank God I don't have gas!" About that time, Kari tells me "now warn me if you have to pass gas. I have to stop. The laser could spark a fire." WHAT????? She said that they taught her in training to always put a wet cotton ball over the client's [anus] in case they passed gas. Otherwise the laser could spark a fire. OH MY GOD!! As if it wasn't uncomfortable enough, now I have to worry about accidentally ripping one and catching my ASS on fire!! Why do I get myself into these messes?? Finally it was done. she told me the hair should fall out in about 7 days, and I needed to come for my next treatment in 6 weeks. Oh - and if I experience any itching, take Benadryl and put Cortisone on the area. That should clear it up.

I woke up the next morning with my body saying "Good morning - let the itching begin!" Itch?? That word is nowhere near strong enough. I itched so bad I wanted to scratch my flesh off! It was the same level as the worst case of poison ivy or fire ant bits I've had. Scratching was almost sexual, it felt so good! I was going insane! I popped 2 Benadryl first thing that morning to help combat the itch, and dug out the tube of Cortisone. Aw shit! while I did have Cortisone, it was ointment instead of cream. Great. Wonderful. but I had no choice, I couldn't manage without it. So, I slathered anti-itch ointment all over my bikini area and got dressed for work. It was such an icky feeling - I swear I felt like Burt Reynolds in Striptease where he covered himself in Vaseline and said "I can feel it squish my toes".

It's been 4 days now and thankfully things are all back to normal - until next time at least. I keep telling myself that it'll be worth it in the long run. I can handle two more treatments in order to be hair free permanently. Can't I?? I don't know. I'm just not sure I'll have the nerve to go through it all again!

Sick Kitty

Willow's sick. Poor thing is having surgery today. She had an accident on the stairs (of all places) night before last and the puddle was pink. Uh-oh, not good. So we took her to the vet this morning. Turns out she has 2 rather large stones in her bladder that need to be surgically removed. We left her with the vet to have the surgery done today. She'll spend the night at the hospital and we'll be able to pick her up tomorrow. It's a simple procedure, and I'm sure she'll be fine, but I'm still worried. She's my cuddle bunny who sleeps with me every night. I don't think I'll be able to sleep without her! Plus it just breaks my heart to think of her in a kennel all night... poor thing!!

BAD Vietnamese

I've just discovered one of the worst things to eat EVER is Vietnamese food that's gone bad. OH MY GOD food poisoning sucks! Reminds me of certain nights of drinking & debauchery in college - dozing off on the floor in front of the toilet, while promising God that "I'll never drink again" if he would just make the puking stop!

The Best Break Up Letter EVER

This is compliments of my mother-in-law -- Thanks again Jan!!

OMG - I just love it!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I'm in the process of customizing a new template for the blog... please be patient...

thanks

Trapped in the post office going postal

I was in the post office for almost 4 hours today - 4 HOURS! OH MY GOD - I now know the definition of "going postal". I swear, if I had to spend another hour in that place, I'd twist off and start killing people. I needed to get a passport, and I had to go in person since it'll be my very first passport. So...

The passport office in my local post office is open M - F 10:30am - 2:30pm. I got there just after 10:30am and there was already a line. Ugh... this doesn't look good. The handwritten sign said to take a number and get in line. Umm... sure, but where are the numbers?? The nice lady in front of me said I had to get it from the counter lady (thanks!). she was a busy counter lady too I should point out - she had a family of 5 at her counter trying to get passports. Only one of the children spoke English and was translating for the parents. I stood there for a few minutes, waiting for a break in the conversation so I could ask for a number. No luck. Finally at a quick pause, I meekly said "excuse me, I need to get a number??" The postal lady said, "I know you're there. I saw you standing there. Did you see me talking??" Oops! Okay, don't piss off the postal lady! Point to remember. I backed up a step and waited a few more minutes until she gave me a cardboard square with #10 written in black marker on it. So - back to the end of the line I go. Thank God I brought a book. After an hour without moving up even one space, I plopped my happy ass on the floor, leaned back & got lost in my book - 45 minutes later I was still sitting in the same place, and now my butt was asleep. I got up to stretch my legs, work the feeling back into my butt, and check the line in front of me. The good news was that the postal lady had worked her way through 3 more people and we were now on # 5 - good, halfway to me! The bad news was that numbers 7 & 8 were families with 5 people each. Ugh... still 13 more people... so I sat down again and tried to lose myself in my book & ipod. That was proving to be difficult because 1) family #8 - a large group with piercings and tattoos and emo kids - sat down in front of me. I had a front row view of mom's bra straps and Victoria's Secret brand underwear, and the chubby teenage daughter's whale tail (translation - the top of her thong was sticking out of the top of her low rise jeans showing a good bit of black lycra triangle & chubby skin). It was really distracting. 2) around the same time - sometime between 11:30am and 12:00pm - a hispanic mom with 2 boys lined up behind me. Normally I could care less but her older son had absolutely no comprehension of comfort zones and kept moving waaaaaay too close for me. He kept bumping up against me. I have a very large comfort zone and do not like being crowded - this was not a good thing. The younger son was about 3, and was really sweet, but got bored very quickly. He started running around, bugging his brother, making these obnoxious 3 year old noises, and teasing his brother over and over in Spanish. I don't know why, but it annoyed me even more because I couldn't tell what the insults were. Around 1:00pm-ish, he started in with "mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom" (you get the point)... OH. MY. GOD. I wanted to scream "Mom, I swear to God, if you don't acknowledge him, I'm going to club him over the head." Then the kids in front of me got bored and the brother & sister started annoying each other. I don't know what started it, but all of a sudden there was hollering about getting cooties and then someone else giving the infected a "cooties shot" -- "circle circle dot dot, now you have the cooties shot!" Umm... okay. Really now, they're trying to kill me. They're trying to drive me insane so I'll run screaming out of the post office and be one less person in line. Okay - calming breaths... in and out... read your book... only 3 more numbers and then it's your turn... you've only been here 3 hours, it's not THAT bad... could be worse - could be at the unemployment office... I was able to tune out the mongrels for another hour or so, made it up to page 180 in my book (that I started this morning), and made it until I was next in line - whew # 9! Almost me!! Woohoo and it's only 1:30pm!! Then the toddler in the line next to me started in on her ABC's - "oh how cute she is! Look how she's circling her mommy while singing!" Okay, once was cute, twice still cute but getting old, FOUR times with no end in sight was torture! I need to write the military as a suggestion for interrogating prisoners. "They won't talk? try a two year old singing the ABC's on an endless loop! That'll break anyone!" So now I'm chanting - "just one more number, just one more number, just one more number" under my breath. Trying to keep my eye on the prize. If I get through this, I won't have to come back for a whole 10 years - yippee! Okay - head down, eyes in your book, and ipod turned up louder to drown out all background yapping - you can do it. You can wait just a FEW MORE MINUTES until your turn! Then it happened... I couldn't believe it! It was MY TURN! Trumpets started sounding - I swear I heard a cherub chorus singing! The postal lady became the most beautiful postal employee I'd ever seen, with a glowing aura around her. My salvation - she's my ticket out of this hell! I stepped up to the counter, answered all of her questions, listened and yes m'ammed at all the correct places, gave her my money, raised my right hand and swore I was telling the truth on my passport application... then it happened -- she stamped my application in triplicate. Told me something about waiting 4 - 6 weeks for my passport to arrive, and said I was free to go... WOW... really?? you mean it?? OKAY!! I walked out of there in a daze. I was starving, sweating (cause it was freaking hot), and absolutely brain dead. I got the hell out of there as fast as I could, grabbed some fast food on the way home, and plopped my ass down in front of mindless tv for a few hours to recuperate. OMG that was an exhausting trip to nowhere...

Dreamed about my dad

I had a dream about my dad last night - weird. I haven't dreamed about him in forever. Years ago, I would dream that I was trapped in his house with him and couldn't get out. Then the dreams changed to me screaming and yelling at him - all the things I wanted to say in real life, but never had the nerve. But even those stopped a few years ago. I really can't tell you the last time I dreamt of him. This dream was different too. Papa was in it - my dad's father. He died when I was in 6th grade, and I really only remember dreaming of him once - just after his death.

So anyway... the dream... the two of them lived together in a house on pilings in some made up coastal town. For some reason I had stopped to visit and ended up deciding to stay the night. Everything started out well enough - I remember talking to my grandfather and just having the feeling of knowing my father was near by. I was really happy being able to talk to Papa. (He was always one of my favorites, and I just hung the moon for him. He lived with us and was one of my major caregivers until his death in 1985 or 1986.) It was getting late and dark, and I decided to stay instead of driving all the way home at night. My dad was very welcoming and hospitable at first, but then started in with nagging, insulting, and just being plain mean to me. He wasn't obvious about it, they were just little jabs here and there and grumbles under his breath, but I finally couldn't take it anymore and went off on him. I remember just blowing up and chewing his butt about everything and saying I wouldn't stand for it anymore - I didn't have to put up with it, and I was leaving. I turned to Papa and said again how wonderful it was to see him, I hadn't in so long, but for my own sanity, I had to go.

The dream didn't have much substance to it. It wasn't one of the seriously in-depth, detailed dreams I usually have, but it stuck with me all day - the emotions and frustration stayed with me all day. It's odd - I wonder what brought it on...

Good Day

Today is going to be a good day - I just know it! The morning is starting out great so far --

- Hubby's out of town, so I had to both get myself and my son up and out of the house early so I could drop him off at day-care before heading to work. Mission Accomplished! It was actually much easier than I expected - he actually woke up early on his own so I didn't have to battle with a comatose rugrat.

- I weighed myself this morning. I've lost another 2 lbs, so I'm finally back down to my lowest weight (I'd gained 10 lbs back since April...). So I'm wearing my now loose jeans to work and a shirt I haven't worn in a year. Yay me!

So yeah... if the day keeps up with this morning, it's going to be a good day!

THURSDAY 13 - Insulting Nicknames for my cat

Now that I'm back to blogging regularly, I'm rejoining the ranks of THURSDAY 13 - woohoo!

Today's list is 13 insulting nicknames hubby and I have come up with for my cat. Let me explain - we have 3 cats: Shelby, Lily, and Willow. Willow is the youngest at 9, and though she's equally both of our cat, she favors me. Shelby and Lily are both 13 and were both mine before hubby & I got together. Within 2 hours of meeting hubby, Lily was smitten and no longer my cat but his. Shelby was a different story. She's always been a little 'off kilter' let's say. I say 'special' but most others would say 'psychotic'. The vet says it's because 1) she's a tortoise shell calico and they're always a little batty in the brain, and 2) she was an orphan kitty (I got her at 3 weeks) and never had a mother to teach her what's 'too rough' of behavior. Either way, she's always been a bit vicious and always hated everyone but me. She adores me - sleeps on my pillow at night, snuggles with me on the couch, is my shadow wherever I go in the house, comes when I whistle, and is always licking & grooming me.

One of the biggest past times in our house is making up goofy nicknames for the cats. I know I know, we're total dorks for it, but what can I say - it's fun! We have nicknames for all 3 of them, but Shelby I think has the most - and the most insulting. I swear, she was a beer guzzling, belching, obnoxious guy in a past life. It totally fits her personality. Either that or a dog LOL. She drools constantly - I mean big spit globbers, like a large dog, she fetches bottle caps & other little toys, she growls and even barks sometimes, and she's the messiest eater.

Anyway... enough background story - here's my list of nicknames:

1. Slobberface

2. Slobberific

3. Slobbericious
4. Grumpelstilskin

5. Grumplefugly
6. Snufalufu-butt (as in Sesame Street’s Snufalufacus)
7. O Cranky One
8. Pet Cemetery (thanks Chris)
9. El Gato de Diablo (thanks Taylor)
10. The Dog
11. Stink-a-saurus
12. Stink-zilla
13. Grumble-butt

Notice the pissed off expression...

This one she's trying to look vicious and mean, but she's actually yawning...

Sam Houston Memorial Funeral Home

I have to thank my mother-in-law for this. She's the one who noticed & pointed it out to me...

So... my mother-in-law was looking up the details about Barbara's funeral last week when the buttons on the funeral home's website caught her eye. I have to say, I didn't pay any attention to them. Apparently, neither have the management for the funeral home because they're clearly not appropriate for the site. Check it out: http://www.funeralplan.com/samhoustonmemorialfuneralhome/

1. What's up with all of the butterflies? They're all over the place! What, do they think that'll distract people from the fact that it's a FUNERAL HOME?

2. Obits/Guestbook -- what does a woman & a little girls have to do with obituaries?

3. Virtual Tour - (1) Who the hell wants a virtual tour of a funeral home??? I don't think that would really be needed here. and (2) BUMPER BOATS??? WTF??

4. Pre-Planning - Yes I understand tons of people pre-plan their funerals. It's a very smart thing to do to make sure everything is taken care of in the manner you'd like. but again I just have to say WTF?? What is up with the camping picture? I haven't heard of this being a common camping outing for the whole family. "Guess what kids?? This weekened we're going camping down at the funeral home! and at night, we'll roast marshmallows & weenies in a leftover wooden casket!! Yay!!!"

5. Community Events - this isn't so much a complaint about the picture but rather a question about what kind of community events are going to be advertised on the funeral home website? and who is going to that website for their calendar planning information?? Funeral homes are something we all need at one time or another for ourselves or friends/family. But I don't think anyone ever looks forward to dealing with them. It's never a happy occasion.

Does anyone know the management for Sam Houston Memorial Funeral Home? If so, you may want to mention to them that they should reconsider the clip art on their website. I don't know -- maybe lilies or other flowers, doves, books, even people embracing. Just about anything will be better than camping and bumper boats!

(P.S. Thanks Jan!!)

Rain & My Glass Office

So... As always, I'm again the chick behind the big marble desk, the receptionist in the lobby. Up here all alone in my receptionist bubble as I call it. This time it's a little different. Instead of being in a cave as it usually seems, I'm in a glass conservatory almost. Let me explain - usually the reception area is of course just inside the office doors, and facing or close to the elevator lobby. Almost always it's an area with no windows - I'd have to go to a manager's office to look out a window. My last job I could see the reflection of a window bouncing off of a metallic wall and could at least tell whether it was sunny or overcast out. I'd gotten very good at determining if it was raining by the details in the reflection. Several years ago I worked in an office in downtown Houston - that time I parked in an underground garage, took interior elevators to my windowless office, plus I ate in the tunnels underground. I could literally go all day without seeing the sunlight. That was a little odd...

So anyway, this is a totally new experience for me. I can actually see outside! Not only can I see outside, but I'm basically in a glass conservatory - AND it has an industrial looking metal ceiling. It's really nice normally, but OMG I just found out it's freaking loud in a rainstorm!! Ever been in a house or on a porch with a tin roof?? Well that's what I'm getting now, and it's echoing all over the place. I can barely hear the phone! But - beggars can't be choosers, and I'll gladly take the noise any day if it means I get the windows. Check it out... isn't it nice????

my desk

view from my desk

front door / another view from my desk

ceiling and last view from my desk

Text Conversation with Hubby

I just had to pass this along... it's a breakdown of a short texting conversation I had with hubby...

ME: Wow. Ever see executives get into a brawl? I'm about to! I have a front row seat to a major argument.

HUBBY: Once at (ABC Company) two of the high risk traders got into it. Major entertainment.

ME: Wow - two battling suits! The only thing that would make it better would be if they were midgets!

HUBBY: You really do have issues... and a good grasp of what's funny...

ME: Why thank you!

Chick Fil-A

Why on earth is Chick Fil-A so popular? Do they salt the waffle fries with cocaine or something? I admit, I'm a Chick Fil-A fan myself, but I just don't get it. Why is the restaurant ALWAYS swarming with people - every location, all the time? The drive-thru line is what truly baffles me. Every time I go to ANY location (there are 4 close by) there are a minimum of 12 - 15 cars in the drive-thru. That's what I don't get. Today at lunch there were about 20 in the drive thru line - it wrapped around the building, through the parking lot, and into Target's parking lot. I've seen the line at another location wrap around the building, through the parking lot, and spill out onto the freeway feeder, backing up traffic on the road. THAT's what I don't understand. There's no way you could get me to wait in a drive-thru lane that long. It's JUST FOOD. That line has to be 20 minutes long at least! And yes - it's always mass chaos inside too with kids running all over the place, moms chasing toddlers or feeding infants, lines to order and lines to pick up food - but it always seems like an organized chaos. They have so many registers open, there are never more than 2 people in front of me. Plus, they crank out the food so fast, they have your order on the counter pretty much by the time you hand over your cash. If there was a line or wait inside as long as in the drive-thru, I could guarantee you they'd not get any of MY money.

Anyway... I just don't get it. I've never seen crowds like that at any of the other 1,001 fast food restaurants around. Okay - maybe once at Krispie Kreme when they just opened their Houston location, but that was just initial mass hysteria. The lines totally died down after the first couple of weeks. But - name any of the burger or chicken places, none of them have swarms of people like Chick Fil-A. Weird...

I guess it might be one of the great mysteries of life that we'll never learn the answer to... though I think it might have something to do with suburban church-going folk and soccer moms... hmm...

QUESTION

Can anyone help me? I have a just curious question... Why is it that the american flag is backwards on the patch on soldiers' uniforms? I've always wondered about that. Hubby says that there are two flags, one on each arm - one's correct and one's backwards. There has to be significance for that -- does anyone know?

Funeral Yesterday - Barbara Jean Shumate

Went to a funeral yesterday... family friend died in a car accident Friday before last (June 13th). I was friendly with Barbara but not too close. I've known her basically all my life, but she's always been like the distant cousin everyone has -- we see each other at family functions but that's it. Either way, whether we were close or not, it was a big shock to all of us that we lost her last week - she was only 49. The funeral was not at all what I expected. Usually with our family we just have a small gathering of close friends and family. I swear it seemed like the whole city of Huntsville Texas showed up to say goodbye to Barbara Jean. It was standing room only, with people crowded in the back. I'd known that she'd worked as an instructor for TDCJ (Texas Dept of Criminal Justice) Academy since about forever, but I didn't realize what a military/police type of organization it was. They gave Sgt Barbara Shumate a full honor funeral - it was so touching. We walked through the honor guard lined up at the entrance to the funeral home; they presented the flags at the beginning, gave a gun salute and played taps at the end. There wasn't a dry eye in the place when they played taps. They also gave Barbara's children a Texas flag and the shot gun shells from the salute (I didn't know they did that). Plus, looking over the crowd at the funeral, it was a sea of grey - there were so many TDJC employees in uniforms there. Several people joked about "who's watching the prisoners?" because it seemed like every prison employee was crowded into the funeral home. And you could tell that they all adored Barbara. I swear, I've never seen so many grown men cry in my life. And we're talking big burly muscular prison guards - manly men! And each one was upset and crying over the loss of a little 5 foot nuthin of a woman (as one man said). I keep thinking about what one guy said about hugging her -- he's six foot something, and he said she only came to about his chest height when she hugged him, but he said when he closed his eyes, he knew that he was hugging a giant. Wow. Yeah, they all loved her - we all loved her. and we'll certainly miss her. Goodbye Barbara Jean...

Vietnamese food delights

I've been on a major Vietnamese noodle soup and spring roll kick lately. I ate tons of noodle soup in May when I was having a hard time eating solids. Vietnamese chicken noodle soup is perfect for that, I can eat a few noodles and then just drink the broth.

Hubby turned me on to Vietnamese food about 4 or 5 years ago. You really have to be adventurous to randomly try Vietnamese food I think. More than once my chicken noodle soup has contained skin & other mystery parts. I told Hubby last time that it's a good thing I'm from the country, I'm used to people using the skin & fat etc to flavor the broth. Plus when you order beef, several selections list "soft tendon" or "tripe". Hubby gets something that's good, but looks way too much like menudo for my tastes.

Anyways... I was perusing the stack of take out menus at my new office and spotted a card for Pho' Be' Vietnamese Noodle House. Cool! I'm always on the look out for a new Vietnamese place. So I headed that way on my first day, and I've been back 3 or 4 times since. I have a feeling I'm going to become a frequent customer - I recently looked up the calorie content of spring rolls and they're only about 160 calories. That's 320 for a full meal - sure beats the hell out of McDonalds! Plus, this place has the best spring rolls in this area I think. They are super super fresh and they're made with grilled chicken instead of pork. Most places I've been to make spring rolls with shrimp and thinly sliced pork - this place uses grilled chicken which gives it a lot more flavor I think.

Oh and the other plus about Vietnamese restaurants is I get to have my favorite iced coffee - cafe' sua da. They bring you a high ball glass filled about halfway with condensed milk, and on top of that is a filter cup with coffee dripping into the glass below. With that they bring you a tall glass full of ice. Once all of the coffee drips through you stir/mix the coffee & condensed milk and then pour it over the ice. Yum!

I'm somewhat of a novelty to the waiters I think. They don't know what to make of me. When they come to take my order, I normally order iced coffee "cafe sua da" said just like that, with both English and Vietnamese. The waiters in the last three restaurants have chuckled at me when I've said it. Just to make sure, I asked the waiter in the second restaurant if I was pronouncing it right. He laughed again and yes I was right. I think they just don't expect the blonde soccer mom to be ordering cafe sua da and spring rolls without looking at the menu.

Wow - all this talk about spring rolls and coffee really has me craving it now. I'm heading out to my soon to be regular table at Pho' Be'...

Fashion emergency - self conscious

I'm having a total girl moment this morning. I'm wearing one of my new dresses and I'm SO self conscious about myself in it. I keep freaking out and really would love to go change. There's nothing wrong with it, it fits correctly, it's just clingy. I asked 2 strangers at Lane Bryant when I bought it, and my mother & hubby after I got home. They all agree it looks nice. I'm just still not used to wearing form fitting outfits, I've been wearing nothing but big boxy stuff for the past 3 years. Ugh...