Oh hated thing!

One thing I will never understand are those hideous e-mails that say you have to pass them on or something terrible will happen to you. I just got one that said that one person deleted it and her boyfriend was killed in an accident and one person didn't send it out to enough people and was hit by a car. Why would you send that on to someone? Why wouldn't you just keep that to yourself? Why would you spread bad karma? It's kinda like telling the world about Jesus. Somewhere in the Bible, it says that those who have never heard the word of God will not be punished because they are ignorant. So why would you go to a small village in Africa, tell everyone, and then get upset when they don't latch on to your religion? You've just sentenced them to eternity in hell when previously they may have spent their afterlife elsewhere. I know people like to "spread the good word" and that they are "sent by God" but at the same time, they are sentencing people to hell, or in the e-mail case, bad luck. If they want good fortune, they can seek it out themselves. Don't spam me with that crap!

Christmas Oddities

Sitting at home wrapping presents with my mom, she asked me if I wanted to take my Christmas ornaments home with me. I replied, "Not this year, but as we take them off the tree, we can put them into a separate box for next year." That began a conversation on the ornaments. We usually get one every year from one of my crafty aunts. We open them on Christmas Eve, and put them on the tree. Sounds pretty normal, right? Well, when it is time to take the tree down, we remove the ornaments, and put them back into the box they came in. Sometimes we even re-wrap them with the wrapping paper that they came in. That's odd. Also, a few years ago, a friend of my dad gave my brother a lizard for Christmas because he thought my brother needed a friend. Also odd.

Big Weekend!

It's going to be a very eventful weekend! Today I'm going shopping with friends, and tonight may lead to lots of crafts. Then tomorrow, I have a full day of baking to be done with lots of fudge, cookies, breads and whatever else my heart desires, and probably some more crafting in there somewhere! Good times! I know you're jealous! :)

Perfect Placement

Today I realized that the vents on my car are in the perfect place. While driving straight, the vents blow out at the same spot that I hold my hands. YAY! It helps a lot when you forget your gloves, and it's like 5 degrees.

Season's Greetings!

Like every year before this one, I have started putting off my Christmas shopping. Determined not to wait until Christmas Eve, I am calling for gift ideas! Specifically for one boyfriend who has everything I would ever want him to have, a brother who has just moved out on his own, a mother who really doesn't need anything, and a sister with a baby boy on the way. Any ideas?

Dentist

Yesterday I went to the dentist for a cleaning and check-up. While I was sitting there, with torture tools in my mouth, I had a vision. It was one of the hygentist getting one of those silly picks stuck between my teeth. I would then have to walk around all day with the metal handle hanging out of my mouth. I was a scary thought. But, she was good, and I am not a metal mouth.

In related news, when the dentist was finished with the exam, I asked him, "Are you from Richmond?" and he said yes. Then I asked, "Is your mother's name Janet?" and with a really confused look, he said yes. I then spilled the beans to let him know that one of his cousins is my dad. It was a good time.

O-H-I-O

Blog Update

I think I have the calendar fixed. I'm not sure why it was showing that I was busy all the time, but it doesn't now. Also, I have started a web album and it's in the side bar, so go look at the pretty pictures!

More "Horner" Tots

Congrats to Liz and Scott!

Public Notice

Announcement:

I realize that I lost contact with a lot of people while I was living in Evansville, and working crazy hours. I am happy to announce that I no longer work crazy hours. More than likely, when you are home from work, so am I. My weekends are no longer devoted to traveling long distances to see my boyfriend. In fact, some weekends I would like to get away without him. So if you're thinking to yourself, "I haven't talked to Sara in a while." Maybe you should just call. You can stop avoiding me and blowing me off. Frankly, it's hurting my feelings.

Girl's Weekend

I want to have a destination Girl's Weekend. To just go some where warm and sunny for a weekend minus the boys. Any takers?

Minor Setback

Andrew and I fired our real estate agent this week. It was messy. He didn't take it gracefully, and while I admit it was kinda abrupt, I still think that there is no need to badger us about it.

So it has put us at a minor set back on the buying process. We still haven't found a house yet but it's not for a lack of trying.

I was talking to a guy at work, and he said that when he bought his first house, he really wished there was truely someone out there for the buyer. And I think he has a vaild point. When you think about it, why would a buyer's agent help to talk down the price of the house, that's just money coming out of his/her pocket. But a true "buyer's agent" would be doing just that. We'll see how our next agent is.

Probably the best advice I've gotten about the house buying experience is that you have to be willing to walk away. If you're in negotiations and you're not getting what you want, just leave. I think that will be hard for me.

Emotional Roller Coaster

On Sunday, Andrew was listening to the game as I did random cooking and cleaning around the apartment. Very stereotypical rolls for a Sunday afternoon. One of us was calm and centered during this time, and the other one was yelling and screaming, crying and laughing, excited, happy and depressed within about a 2 hour time period. Ok, so maybe not actually crying. That's an exaggeration. But the boy had more mood swings than a sophomore in high school. While I admire his passion for the game we know as Football, I will never understand it!

Easy to use!

Recently, Andrew and I bought a Roomba vacuum because we couldn't keep up with the amount of hair that the cats (Lilly and Stanley) leaving on our carpet. We have the "scheduler" which typically runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we can set it to go at any time, or even manually start it. Even though I had just vacuumed on Monday, yesterday morning, Lilly thought that the carpet was a bit too dirty for her, so she took it upon herself to start the Roomba. I just wish I had caught it on video

Hot Moves!

The newest question here in Fishers, is "Was that a hot move?" Andrew has a hard time believing that I can have hot moves in Lestat. (Note: Lestat is my '90 Chevy Lumina, or if you're a Hammie, it's a Buick). I'm out to prove him wrong. Or to scare him. Take your pick.

Also, Andrew and I went to Kona Grill at the Clay Terrace Shopping Center. A mistake we will not make again. I had heard the place advertised a lot, and what can I say, I'm a consumer whore. We looked at their website for any specials they may be having, to find that they have a reverse happy hour from 10pm until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. So we go, we get seated inside, and are asked for our drink orders. Andrew got a beer, and I, a water. The waitress did not know the 4 beers that were on tap. I've been to places with like 30 beers on tap and this chick couldn't remember 4?? After getting our drinks, she came back to get our food order. I asked her about the happy hour specials, and she said, "The happy hour is for outdoor dining only." That's it. It wasn't followed by a, "I can move you if you'd like." or "You weren't given your choice of seating?" At that point, we almost left. We decided to stay. Andrew had sushi for the first time, and liked some of it. But my water went dry halfway through the meal, which is bad with wasabi, and no matter how many times I slurped at it, she refused to refill my water. She checked on us once during the meal. Also, while she gave us chopsticks, we didn't get any napkins. She had just set the tables around us, so we just took 2 napkin-wrapped silverware bundles from the closest table. There was no one else in the restaurant. Then she came by the table, noticed the missing napkins, and made this face, this "Where did they go?" face. Then she looked at us with the napkins folded neatly in our laps, and the shiny utensils on the table in front of her. Her face then said, "I can't believe they unset my table!!" Get over it.

Now what really gets me about this whole experience, is that as soon as I ordered a water, and asked about the happy hour, she pegged me as a cheap customer. So I got crappy service, so I gave her a crappy tip. I have a rule about happy hours. Even though the food may be half price, I believe in giving a full price tip. Hell, one time I was at a fast food restaurant, and the guy ahead of me was being crappy to the girl working. She couldn't help it that the line was so long, or that no one was helping her. She hadn't done anything wrong, in fact, she was holding her own up there. So when I ordered, I gave her a $10 bill, for a $5 tab and told her to keep the change.

As a side note... When will it be my turn?

Sleepy Girl

To Merkle and the Mean Honkies:

I apologize for falling asleep on your couches. It's nothing against you, it's just that your seating is just so darn comfy. Next time, put me in a high-backed wooden chair.

In related news, Sunday afternoon house hunting season closed yesterday due to the opening of football season. Silly padded men running around after a dead pig...

Why the strange look?

Twice this week I've told someone that I had never met before that I was a chemical engineer. Both times I received an "Oh, really?" look. Like a female could not be an engineer. Maybe it's because I'm such a hottie... oh wait, no. Eh... maybe the blonde hair throws them off or something. Maybe I need to wear my glasses more. Or not.

What's bigger? $2.83 Gas or Shots Fired?

Last night, the boy and I joined the Mean Honkies for some martinis and desserts, followed by a couple bottles of wine, and some trivia games. Good times good times. (Even if we couldn't convince the boys to take us to the Talbot Street Drag Show). Boys are funny when it comes to games. We tried to play Trivial Pursuit (guys vs gals), but with my BAC rising, it was difficult to read the questions, and answering them was nearly impossible. But when we broke out the Tri Bond, we kicked ass!!

On the way home, while driving down 86th street, on our way to get some White Castle goodness, we passed a gas station. I was impressed by the sign advertising $2.83/gal, and while pointing this out, Andrew and I are quite certain we heard some gun fire. No harm was done, or rather nothing made the front page. We were able to get our White Castle and eat in peace.

Fair Season!

Well, it's that time of the year again, Fair season! I love going to county and state fairs. I like to go and see and pet the animals, especially the cows. Don't ask me why, but I love petting cows. In fact, I want a cow. A Jersey cow.

I was able to pet one at the Hamilton County fair last week. It was just a baby.

I also love fair food. No where else in the world can you get a Milky Way candy bar that has been put on a stick, dipped in donut-like batter, deep fried and then smothered in powdered sugar. In fact, when I went to the Minnesota State Fair 2 years ago, everything was on a stick. Hot dogs, pork chops, chicken... no need for a plate. Andrew's favorite was the deep fried cheese curds... I don't blame him.

Disappointment...

Today after test driving cars (I'm getting closer to retiring Lestat), Andrew and I went to UDF for some malts.
A little background info...
UDF (United Dairy Farmers for all of you out of UDF territory) is a gas station that has an ice cream counter in it. They brag that their peach ice cream has real peaches in it, and that their strawberry ice cream has real strawberries in it, and they have some interesting seasonal ice creams too... like pumpkin pie and egg nog. Until I was a sophomore in college, they offered a "Mocha" flavored milkshake and malt, which naturally was my favorite. One summer while I was home from college, I went into one and ordered my usual mocha malt, and the gal behind the counter said that they no longer had that flavor. I was crushed.
Well, today I saw listed on their flavor board was "Mocha Cappuccino" (which in and of itself is like saying PIN number, because Mocha is simply chocolate flavored cappuccino). I was so excited! However, when I ordered, the gal said that they only had the vanilla flavored cappuccino. I didn't understand. So I she pulls out the gallon of syrup for flavoring. I asked if she could just make the malt with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. She said yes, but it would cost an extra $0.50 for the flavoring. Again, I didn't understand why she would be charging me more for using chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla to make the malt. I mean, there aren't different prices on the individual flavors when I order a scoop, why should there be when I order a different flavored malt. Then she let the cat out of the bag when she said, "We use unflavored ice cream to make the malts and shakes." I tried to argue, but they said that they had been making them with unflavored ice cream for 20 years. For years I watched them make my malt with the same ice cream labeled "vanilla" in the front case and they just added a squirt of chocolate syrup and a squirt of coffee flavoring. And from this I had always assumed that when you ordered a strawberry shake, they would use the strawberry ice cream with the real strawberries. No, it's all fake. It all comes out of those damn flavoring syrups. A company who "prides" themselves with putting "real" strawberries or peaches in their "fresh" summer favorites are substituting nature's finest flavors with impurities like high fructose corn syrup and red dye #40. I'm not sure if I can ever go there again.

Damn Indiana drivers

Seriously!!! Can you please learn how to drive? Let's see... a couple of weeks ago, I was on my way to work. There was a accident blocking the right 3 lanes. There was a guy in an SUV sitting next to me as I was approaching the accident. Then, he was half-way into my lane. Of course I lay on the horn, and start yelling. They guy looks at me while he's on his cell phone. C'mon! Can't you tell the other person that you're in a traffic jam and you actually have to pay attention???? I mean damn... you're about to cause an accident you moron!

Attire

This past weekend, Andrew and I attended a wedding, and, as they always do, it sparked wedding conversation. When asked how formal he would like his wedding, Andrew responded with, "I don't know, how formal can you make a Wookie costume?"

Something tells me that I may want to stock up on Stormtrooper outfits this Halloween.

Greatest Spectacle in.... Racing?

The race is Sunday, and everyone in Indy has race fever. Today at work, half of the engineers left at lunch to attend Carb day. From what I understand, tonight and tomorrow night are like "Girls Gone Wild" out in Speedway. Who would name a city Speedway? And who would want to live that close to the track. Honestly. A bunch of drunks making noise and peeing in your yard for practically the entire month of May. More power to them. I wonder how much cash they reel in roping off public roads in order to sell you a spot for a few hours. But I will be there come Sunday afternoon. Sitting in section H. I do have to say that I had fun on Bump day peeking in the garages and spying on the pits. It should be entertaining.

In related news, go to Audra's blog and look at the video clip. It's good for a laugh.

Mac 'n' cheese box collector

A segment on the food network showcased a man who collects mac 'n' cheese boxes. They must have run out of ramen footage. After collecting 365 boxes, he concluded with, "I guess if they keep making different boxes, I'll never stop collecting." BRILLIANT!

Daily Grind

As June approaches, so is my anniversary. This June, I will have been a "productive member of society" for 10 year. No, I wasn't released from the Joliet Penitentiary a decade ago... I entered the workforce silly! You know, to pay for all of the Baby Boomers' retirements. (Enjoy it Dad!) Since taking my first job at 14, I have had 10 different jobs. Interesting huh? At any rate, only 30+ more years to go!!!

New Kitty

Just after Easter, Andrew and I aquired another cat. She is white with dark ears and a dark tail. She's sweet, and stays in the bed with us almost all night. She's getting along well with Stanley, but Stanley hates it when the new kitty whines at dinner time. The new kitty, Lilly, likes Chica too. She likes the little gray thing so much that she climbs into the cage with her sniffs at the rodent's dense fur. Maybe I'll have pictures of their new found friendship soon.

Downy Ball

I've become a nerdy Suzy Homemaker. Click on the title to learn about what I just looked up on HowStuffWorks.com. Don't worry though, dumb Dora still comes to visit!

The Merger

As many people know, the one thing about moving in with Andrew that I was dreading was the "merging of things." Both of us have very pack-rat like tendencies, and both of us have been living on our own for almost 2 years. This means that we now have 2 of everything. Two sofas, two chairs, two irons, two vacuum cleaners, two sets of silverware (one service for 8 and one service for 16), two sets of dishes, and the list continues.

In all of these duplicates, there are a few that I would like to point out as being exceptional:
4 containers of coarse ground black pepper
5 jars of creamy peanut butter
4 big bottles of vegetable oil, and one small one

I don't ask anymore.

Strangely enough, with all of these duplicates, we are still without a (real) dining room table.

Who knew?

Slowly but surely the unpacking is getting done, but I've lost a lot of steam. One thing that I can't get over is how much kitchen crap I have. I unpacked about 5 boxes; filling every cabinet. Nothing else was labeled "Kitchen" so I thought I was in the clear. As I have been sorting through the boxes, I have found 3 more! Where the hell did all of this come from? And where the hell is it all going to go? Definitely going to need a trip to Lowes to get some more shelves or magic cabinets!

Unpacking

Wow! Unpacking sucks! Especially while trying to fit all of my stuff in and around all of Andrew' stuff. He already has everything where he wants it, so I don't want to come in and just turn his whole apartment upside down! Yesterday was a good unpacking day. I thought I got a lot done, and emptied about 12 or so boxes. Today is another story. It's already noon, and I have to go to a physical thingie for the new job, and I've only unpacked 2 boxes and done 2 loads of laundry. I wanted to surprise Andrew with a half-way normal apartment for his birthday (that's right, send him some joy!), but the only thing he's going to get is a broken network. Yeah, I broke it. Not sure how, but "He's died." HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!

What? I don't have to work weekends anymore?

Last full day in Evansville, and I know the question on everyone's mind is, "Are you packed yet?"
Don't you people know me better than that?? Of course I'm not packed, sillies!

But just because I'm a procrastinator, doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to moving. I'm looking forward to being re-connected with the world. For the past 6 months, my work schedule has not allowed for any type of social life. When I was awake and at home, everyone else was either at work or asleep. Talk about being cut off! And I'm also looking forward to not having to plan weekends to see the boy, and actually plan weekends to see friends!!! For everyone who hasn't heard from me since I moved to E-ville, I am alive, and I apologize for not keeping in touch!

Men in Hardware Stores

Yesterday, I went in search of a new tool. First I went to Lowes. I am actually quite fond of hardware stores. Since I practically grew up in one, they feel like home. I especially like the bathroom accessories. And I would say that I am somewhat handy. At least I know the difference between a table saw and a circular saw, and if you needed a box of finishing nails, I wouldn't have to ask for help. But I digress.
I go straight to the tool section, and on my way there, an employee stops me and asks if I need any help. I ask where XYZ tools are and he directs me to they small display where they are located. I spend some time there looking at the different brands and models, but I have some very specific features that I want in this tool. The guy comes back and asks me if I need any help. I told him that I was doing fine, and then he says, "We just put one of those tools on the clearance table in the back; it was $19.95, and now it's $9.95. Let's go take a look at it." So I go all the way back, and he shows me the one on clearance, and it has neither one of the features I have dubbed as "must haves". Yes, I am female, but that doesn't mean I'm going to buy something inferior just because it is on the clearance table. If he truly wanted to help me, he would have asked me what I was looking for and be able to compare products from hands on knowledge. The customer service sucked, so I walked out.

Puppies!

It is official; I am unemployed and will continue to be until March 13th. As I left my former place of employment for the last time yesterday, I was reminded of a fond memory that I thought I should share.

One Sunday night, I was leaving work at about 11:30 pm, eager to get home and catch a few hours of sleep before I had to be back in at 6:30 the next morning. As I was driving down the road, I noticed something ahead walking in the street. At first, I thought it was a small deer, but as I got closer, I realized that it was a dog. A good sized dog in fact. For those who don't know, I'm not terribly fond of larger dogs. If I can kick it, it's fine in my book. So there I was trying to decide whether or not I should pick up this dog and take it back to his or her home. This type of rescue could take all night between catching the dog, figuring out where it's supposed to go, and then actually finding it. But then again, it was late, and there was a lot of semi trucks driving on this particular road, and the chance of the dog getting injured was high.

I stopped my car in the middle of the road, and got out; leaving my door open for a quick refuge if needed. I called out to the dog, and to my surprise, it was a young (maybe 8-10 months) boxer puppy. Usually loving dogs, my fears subsided and the dog came towards me. Picking up speed, it soon hit me that this dog wasn't coming to me, it was aiming at the open car door. Before I knew it, I had a hyper boxer puppy jumping all around my car! From the front seat to the back; sniffing and licking everything! Against my better judgment, I sat down in the driver's seat, to try to get a peek at the collar. The only thing I could read was "Daisy". Reading the address was nearly impossible with the lack of light, so I put the car in to drive to in search of light. Daisy enjoyed the car ride, sitting on my lap and licking my face as I was trying my hardest to see around her big head and reach the steering wheel. I don't like dogs in my face because when I was five, a St. Bernard tried to use my head for a chew toy so I spent the entire time driving trying to coax Daisy into the passenger seat without her turning on me. Finally, I came to a well lit parking lot, and was able to read the address and return Daisy to her owner without incident.

Help Wanted

WANTED:
A couple of burly men (who like free food and beer) to help me unload a moving truck. Must reside or be willing to travel (for free food and beer) to Indianapolis Feb 18 or 19. Serious inquiries only.

Movin' on

Well, I did it. I turned in my resignation today. In less than 3 weeks I will be living in Indy. It hasn't sunk in yet... will someone please pinch me?!?