Thunder, shaking dogs, and movie revivews.

Thunder is what I hear in the distance, and shaking dogs is what I have on my lap as I try to use my LAPTOP which is now on the table. I knew before I got the dinner dishes loaded in the dishwasher we were due for something. The sky got that funny grey color like the sun was up there someplace behind it all. Anyway - the thunder hasn't been regular and I'm afraid it's not close enough yet. That being said, the dogs won't go out the door - period. I hope it gets here and gone soon.
Anyhow - I was asked why I only just now got around to watching "The Virgin Suicides". Well - that's kind of easy really. My Netflix que is quite long. I go on at least once a week and add yet another foreign or independent film I saw in the previews from one I have here at home. When I get particularly excited about a particular film I bump it up to the top. That is how the movie took awhile to get here. Imagine how many other good films have gotten bumped because I rented "Knuckle Sandwich" ?
I got into the foreign film thing every Sunday morning - watching on the Independent and Sundance channels. And I think the one movie that pushed me was "Little Otek" It's not a movie you will easily find listed on the IMDb because it listed under the official name "Otesánek", but it's well worth a watch if you see it on IND or SUN. Next up is a movie I'm looking forward to from Tahmineh Milani. I've seen a few of her movies and I am truly fascinated.

This weekend I watched "In the Vally of Elah" which is not a foreign film but American and based on a true event. I enjoyed it more than my foreign film "Priceless" from France.
OK - that's it for me - the rain has stopped and the kids have come out of hiding. Going to get them out for a pee - hit the shower and watch "True Blood" If you aren't watching - you should be!

Blog More

Yep - that's what two people said - you should blog more. Then when the Third person said I should blog more - well - what can I say? Since I only have TWO followers I was stoked!!! Problem is - I don't know what the heck to blog about half the time. Hell - I can't even think of One TWEET a day. An entire blog??

I have been thinking about various things I wanted to blog about, but other problems have been blotting that from my mind. Just this weekend I thought how much I would liked to have picked up the phone and called my Mom. I think about her a lot (and my Dad) especially on Sundays when I listen to Sid Mark and his Sunday with Sinatra program. Actually they call it the Sounds of Sinatra, but I've been listening since I was a child and it was always Friday with Frank and Sunday with Sinatra - and ALWAYS with Sid. Anyhow - with all that was on my mind I wanted to run everything by Mom and see what insight she had into the situation. I wonder if she would have been more sympathetic and less distrustful than I? I thought about her again last evening when at 1AM I was pacing and needing to talk to someone so instead I did a blog of sorts. Not one I can publish, but it was cathartic just the same.

So I sat down tonight and though what do I blog about. I read Lora's blog and it made me sad and angry for her, and it made me think about my own Mother again and how lucky I was to have her in my life as long as I did. I can look back and wish I had more time to know her better, because I really didn't take all the time I could have to find out all there was to know. That makes me sad.
OK - no more friggin sad.

Happy thoughts about my Mom.....well, she was a working mom back when it wasn't the norm (in the 50's). She was a great hostess, had lots of friends and our home was always full of people on weekends. She was an average cook, no gourmet meals - she could mend, but didn't sew or do anything "creative" with needles. She was creative in other ways. She loved to write in poetry and people always came to her for poems for special occasions. As a great Sinatra fan she even wrote Frank Sinatra's life in poetry. Yes - he did acknowledge her book - and her - and that was one of the special events in her life. Even though I had to call home EVERY DAY of my life to check in -and that was even when I went to Europe when I was 45 years old - she taught me how to be an independent woman because SHE was an independent woman. I don't think I really realized that until now.

OK - time to refill the G&T. Goodnight my two readers (maybe 3)

Playing Catch Up

Although my life feels like a soap opera, it's not a soap opera that anyone would really care to hear or in some cases believe or understand. That being said, I will try to catch up with my otherwise dull existence. My dreams are more exciting then what has been going on in my real life. Normally I don't even remember my dreams - unless they were super bizarre - and that they have been. Everyone has been on my mind I guess and they have made a cameo in my dreams. What I need is someone to decipher them into a "number" so I can go play that number in the daily lottery. At least that would make sense. I was able to figure one out - having an apartment at work can only mean I am working too much.

So - I sat down late Saturday evening and decided to watch one of my Netflix movies. I was saving "The Virgin Suicides" for Sunday, so it was "Knuckle Sandwich". I had NO IDEA what that movie was. Read the sleeve and still couldn't figure what I'd been drinking when I sent for that one. After about 10 minutes I had to hit the pause and head for the computer and look it up on Netflix and IMDB. WTF??? Was someone playing a trick on me and put this in my que? Well - as it turns out I put it there myself. Seems I wanted to see an actual movie that my cousin was in. Now I know why I've not seen him since "90210" and the episode of "NCIS". OMG. For those that know who I am talking about - he played a guy named "Raoul" in this gem - and that is all I will say. I used the fast-forward and stopped once more during the movie to see the second of his two Oscar-winning performances (the second one in the sack with sunglasses on). I'd tell Melinda to wait to see it on cable, but I don't know of any cable station that would pick this up - even Skinamax. "The Virgin Suicides" was a good movie.


News on the dog front - well we survived the Fourth of July festivities without too much trauma and they have their own new hiding places now for the thunder storms. Carmel likes my closet, and Gaston prefers to be as close to me as possible. And at nighttime that can be VERY uncomfortable. The got clipped again and Melinda got to see them right after the hair cuts.

We found out last year that Carmel wasn't fond of frogs (remembering Ike) and that hasn't changed. The new complex has a few marshy areas. Walking by one evening we got close to the water enough to go over and see what was going on - and neither of them saw the frog that made a loud screeching type noise as it jumped into the water right under Carmel's nose. Picture two dogs running in opposite directions - brave dogs! Carmel didn't fare to well - she ended up with her butt in the water and none to happy. She didn't smell good either. Time for another dip in the sink. And speaking of not smelling good - she needed a bath in the sink after her roll in the grass.....not the best quality, but I only had my phone handy.....such a little lady!

So I'm almost all settled into the apartment. I decided this weekend to hang photos that have been lying around the place. And last weekend I made curtains for the kitchen. Yep - there are some out there who will gasp in disbelief, but I am quite able to sew. Haven't done much since Melinda was a child and was required to make her Halloween costume every year. (MY child wouldn't wear a costume out of a box !!!) So here is a photo of them - and they are NOT red and green - they do not look like Christmas!!

Well I have run on long enough - figured if I didn't blog something my two followers would wonder if my fingers broke or something. Hopefully I'll get out of the "funk" I've been in and find something worthy to blog about.

The Young and the Restless

A soap opera I started watching as a young, out of work, married girl back in 1973. Back then it was the Young and the Beautiful and the story lines were interesting and it sucked you right in. Now - some 30 Plus years later I can't say the same thing.

Since I can't sleep because my mind is racing with other issues - I'm blogging about the only thing I can that is truly PISSING ME OFF. YnR........

You only have to be a fan of Any soap I am sure to appreciate my frustration. I mean - if this is supposed to make you relate - it doesn't and if it's supposed to make you escape - the only thing I want to escape from IS this soap. Thank God for my DVR and the fast-forward button. (Not to mention close caption so you can understand Victor Newman when he speaks)

So - this will be my open letter to the writers (?) of The Young and the Restless........WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? Are you all eating bowls of stupid? How much more insulting story lines can you serve up? How many more times will you have the Cluster fuck kids being duped by fake FBI agents (CIA, Police, whatever) drawn into something shady that ends up with a bag/suitcase full of $100,000 or more? Isn't that storyline getting tired yet? Will these kids (Amber, Daniel, Jana, Kevin) EVER get to grow up and even resemble the successful adults they are - when they aren't involved in these tired story lines? Do the young teens you are trying to seduce into watching over summer breaks REALLY buy into this crap? Now the young Abby (who suddenly is a young adult) is a true version of today's SPOILED, self-absorbed, obnoxious brat. STRIKE . But I guess you can do an episode next year and she can be a "Bridezilla" - combine two shows in one with that one. Score!

OK - so what is up with the returning mystery daughter of Paul - the super assistant DA, Heather Stevens. Super girl. Nothing believable about this character and everything that makes me gag. Someone that gullible would never have made it thru law school. Maybe the writers should give her some of her Father's good instinct. What a drone. And can we get Genoa City another policeman? Come one - we have only ONE ?? I'm sure other soaps have at least two. Strike.

And speaking of returning daughters. What about returning sisters - sisters who have had plastic surgery and no one recognizes. Where has this mystery sister been all these years writers? The Williams are such a close family - WTF??? Strike.

There was a good opening a year or so back - before you REPLACED Colleen with the current actress, to address a storyline that hasn't been addressed since the soap came on the air - and that storyline was about a young woman who WAS NOT a size zero - who was of a fuller body - not fat by any standards except TV and Movies. A real life young woman with real insecurities - shy and believable. No - you replace her with another self-assured, spoiled young - size zero - woman who is overtaking the board room at Newman. Strike.

Now what can I say about the Newman storyline(s). Victor - able to suddenly father a child - at what - 70?? This man is shooting blanks for Gods sake! Maybe he could have gotten a lucky shot with the young wife last year, but Ashley? PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Let's be generous and say she is only in her late 30's. NOT. Do we really have to go thru another Ashley losing her mind because she lost her baby and doesn't realize it and has a fake pregnancy storyline - AGAIN? STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE. Send her back to the Bold and the Beautiful with her obnoxious daughter.

Sharon and Nick. VOMIT. Sharon is a cheating wife. Did everyone forget that? That sappy, needy whore has been with as many men as her handsome husband has been with women. Sharon should have gone over the cliff in stead of Dru and we could have ended this on-going same old star-crossed lover-high-school sweetheart bullshit. AND we wouldn't have had to suffer thru the rebound romance Neil had with Karen and now the sudden affair with the mystery "Aunt" (who isn't a real aunt but is adopted, of course) But I digress.....back to the Newman fiasco. My girl Phyllis deserves a man with balls - not Nick Newman. Time for Sharon and Nick move on to wherever the Brooks and Williams families disappeared to. Or better yet - let's get Phyllis a REAL man - KILL Sharon for real so she can't come back from the dead - and make Nick Newman bitter and crazy because he screwed up Phyllis' life.

Or, maybe it's time to bring back some of the original bloodlines because the present ones are getting really THIN......

Again - God Bless my DVR.

Long time no Blog

I can't believe so much time has passed since I sat down to blog. I had been involved in settling in the new apartment so blogging was taking a back seat to that - HAD to get the stuff put away! But so much more has happened my head just turned to mush. It has been hard to stop thinking about the so very Sad events that have taken place because they have been in my mind now for weeks. It's turned into a horrible nightmare and the only thing that is constant are the questions. Every day more questions and there are no answers. And no return calls.

OK - now I'm getting cryptic - those that know what has been going on don't have to ask. Others really don't want to know.

SO.....the new place is great. I love it - downsizing has been good. The complex is not as large as the last one and I think it gives it a more cozy feel. The people here all seem to be more friendly as well which is nice. Not to mention that when you walk by people they are all speaking English - that IS a treat ! I'll put some photos up soon. I still have to blog about the Ugly Green Chair. GOD it is ugly -- but it is soooooo comfortable.

I guess I can't let this go without saying something about Michael Jackson. Why I don't really know. When my daughter was little she was a big fan (we're talking 5 - 6 years old). Of course we indulged her (but she will blog about that). She explained to me today exactly how I related to his music - and to put it less racial - I liked his music better before he became a white woman........I suppose after my daughter grew out of the Thriller album in second grade we moved on. Unfortunately he ended up like so many other entertainers who abused drugs. I will leave it at that - his abuses were many. Rest in Peace and let's move on already. I think I was really more upset to hear that Billy Mays died. I hate to think that it may have been a blow to the head from the airline fiasco. What a cruel twist of fate.

The Move

The Actual move has been made. All I can say at the moment - sitting here after a shower with a Double Baileys is that I am looking forward to going back to work to rest. Initially I was upset that I couldn't get a second floor apartment - but after moving from a second floor to a first floor I can assure everyone I would not have survived a second story move. I don't think my movers would have either. God love them - Jason, Melinda and Kate. (Mostly Jason and Kate) The weather forecast for Sunday was supposed to be rain, but I don't believe we got rained on at all and it turned out to be a good weather day. Everyone was exhausted including the dogs, who though we were only visiting the new place. They're still not too sure about it, but they have stopped following me from room to room.

I took three days off to get settled in and move odds and ends out of the old place and clean over there some. I still don't know where all this crap came from. Melinda did take home quite a bit of her own (finally), but imagine my surprise to find Boxes of stuff that didn't quite make it down to Virginia. It's been quite a game trying to find room now for her additional boxes. I have a 2 bedroom apartment - she has a BIG house. There is something wrong with this equation........

So - I'm running between apartments Monday and Tuesday - cleaning - unpacking, collapsing. Tuesday tho I have to disconnect all the Comcast stuff and bring it with me so I decide to pop online - check mail one last time - and POOF - the new computer turns off. Try again to turn it on and - nothing. WTF??? The computer is what - 3 months old ? Do I need this shi*? So I pack it up and run down to Staples to get the problem corrected - since I paid for service out the arse when I got it. They tell me I can have it back that evening. Great - I'll pick it up in my spare time. Now I go back to the old place - pick up more crap and load the car - take out trash and head back to the new place and the kiddies. And.....I have a sick dog. Carmel decided to have a coughing fit. Since she is prone to upper respiratory infections I spend the rest of the afternoon listening to her hack like a cat trying to cough up a hairball. It just gets worse and now her little brown eyes are all tearing and her fat little body vibrating with each breath. Call the vet. Great - emergency visit. No - not at all! After talking to him he tells me to go get some pediatric cough medicine. OK - I can do that on my way back to Staples to pick up the computer. Just need to ask them to give me a syringe to shoot the stuff into her mouth. No problem. After a dose she curled up on the sofa and slept just fine. Emergency averted.

The kids are having a tough time getting used to noise from upstairs. Just the normal walking across the floor - creaking - makes them edgy. The funniest (and embarrassing) thing was Monday afternoon while I was in the bedroom putting some things away, our neighbor was getting friendly with someone. The dogs went wild. It did sound like the ceiling was going to come in on top of us. The office told me she works evenings or something, so I guess her afternoons are like our evenings. Whatever - I tried not to think about that tonight when I had to knock on her door because it was RAINING in my bathroom - like Angel falls thru the vent.
I was glad she answered the door dressed. I didn't ask WHO was in the tub.

So yeah - I want to get back to work. Get away from the cleaning, unpacking, flooded bathrooms, sick dogs, re-arranging furniture. I can start again this weekend. I need to catch up on all the shows I missed Monday and Tuesday night.

Going to pour another Baileys - the kids must have finished this one.

Ladies Room Comfort Assistant

Not every office is lucky enough to have one. But we do - elected unanimously by the Sales Service Department at I2. What exactly IS a LRCA ? Well - it is the person in charge of refilling the soap dispenser and toilet rolls in the ladies room of course. This post was given to the most vocal one of our group. The one who wasn't afraid to bitch openly about how lazy the females in our office can be when it comes to the refilling duties. I will protect her identity - I don't want to embarrass her totally, but let it be known that Rose, Gail, Ronnieanne and I missed her today while she was away at the Lightfair. (has the lightening struck yet?)

Soooo......while our gal was away working hard we decided that we needed to have a little fun at her expense. And, what better way to honor our TP Girl but by decorating her cubicle? Exactly!! Here is Rose hard at work - I hope she got the keyboard - forgot about that!

Here you can see the handiwork on the computer monitor, phone and mouse. I believe they did go back and get the calculator as well. If anything we pride ourselves on being thorough!

What can I say - here is the finished product. We are like a snowball going downhill - we get an idea and it takes off. What started out as an "innocent" e-mail turned into this. Kudos to the Customer Service Department. Even tho we were really busy today, we still found time to have some fun.

With luck I will get a video of her tomorrow on her return. Hopefully it won't have to be censored and I can post that as well.