I'm probably the only one who has been enjoying all this rain. Aside from the fact that I like rain and generally dislike summer, my allergies have been substantially more mild and the fact that my car's a/c is broken again bothers me a lot less. Speaking of the car the plan is still to get rid of it late this year or very early next, scion xd still top contender.

I'm supposed to go see the eye doc tomorrow about new contacts. Last time she gave me a different kind (I had been using acuvue) that I did see better in but I couldn't stand having them in. I could feel the ridge, they felt heavy and moved half the time when I blinked. Toric apparently has a new kind that is much more permeable and the weight distribution is totally different. We shall see. My astigmatism has gotten worse, which apparently they can fix with the new type of surgery. If my eyes continue to suck more each year I may investigate that. I don't want to be that person who cannot see enough to safely maneuver out of bed without groping around for glasses first.

A historical event that captures the essence of my awesome home state.

Kat: you should forward the link to your new labmates so they'll know not to fuck with you.

Friday. Matinee. Me and motherfucking TERMINATOR SALVATION I AM SO EXCITED I AM IN KANYE WEST MY CAPSLOCK IS LOUD MODE.


I kind of love Kanye West.

Been awhile since I posted.

I've been 30 for over a week now. Can't say I feel any differently. The way people talk about 30 I feel like I should be getting hit with waves of.... something. But nothing. I must be broken.

More later.

Home today since I thought I was getting my last wisdom tooth out, but I rescheduled since I have to go to a training tomorrow and I tend to bleed for a full day or two when something is pulled and I'm not keen on doing that at a thingy put on by the Alexandria City CSB.

In an effort to improve my physical, mental, and fiscal health I have been cooking more. I want to expand my comfort zone a bit, so tell me your favorite recipes. Bonus if they are easy to cook and will easily chill/freeze for leftovers. I'll start. I decided I wanted to make chicken chili awhile ago so I threw some stuff together and it was quite tasty. I've made 3 more batches since then.

2 28oz cans of diced tomatoes

1 can red beans

1 can black beans (I use goya low sodium for both types of beans)

1 large yellow onion, chopped

torn up chicken (I'm using the garlic herb harris teeter rotisserie chicken since it's good and only $4 on sundays)

a few cloves of garlic or few spoonfuls of that 'fresh' jarred garlic

some olive oil drizzled into pot

season all salt, chili powder, and dried basil to taste

I throw everything into a big pot and let it cook slowly on the stove for about 75-85 minutes, then top with some shredded mozzarella and a spoonful of sour cream. It keeps really well so I often bring some to work for lunch.

Your turn.

So I get home and see this pizza ad that has been slid under my door about a foot and a half away. Something seems questionable about the situation. As it turns out Moshe barfed at some point during the day, and dragged the ad over it to cover his shame. I thought it was so funny I was laughing as I was spraying resolve onto the affected area.

It was a rough week. All sorts of client dramaz and crises, and then an all day training today on my day off, just like last week. However I am getting comp time for it (extra leave basically) so that's good.

I went to the doc and got referrals for physical therapy and acupuncture. The arthritis is mainly confined to 2 vertebrae which is good, however there's something else wrong, something is being forcibly straightened that isn't supposed to be. That apparently happens because of persistent muscle spasms. That is some lame shit. I have med refills, apparently I'm not to be shy about using the anti-inflammatory or muscle relaxant if it's acting up. And if I start getting shooting pains down my arms or my hands start going numb I call my doc immediately because that means nerve compression and possibly surgery. When she was interrogating me about numbness I was like, BELIEVE ME I WILL TELL YOU IF MY HANDS GO NUMB OH MY GOD DO YOU THINK THAT'LL REALLY HAPPEN I DO NOT WANT!!!!! And she was just like 'well you just need to tell me immediately if it does.' But I get the impression that it isn't something I have to worry about for awhile if at all. Good to know, but also I could have lived without that knowledge because now I'll be obsessing about the leveling of feeling in my hands.

Xray results came in. I have osteoarthritis. Also known as degenerative disc disease and cervical spondylosis. Arthritis sounds friendlier.

It could be worse, and it's early stage apparently. I'm not happy to learn about this even though it confirms my suspicions that I haven't been imaging or exaggerating the stiffness and pain in my neck and shoulders. But it gets progressively worse and that that ain't good. Seeing my doc on Monday to talk about what I should do about it.

I'm so tired. Subtracting soda breaks, I spent about 5 hours putting together furniture. I cannot believe it took that long. The bed took forever to put together, I am very happy with it though. The nightstand took a long ass time too because the directions make no sense. I finally gave up and used my ESP to figure out how to assemble it, and though I had some extra stuff leftover it appears to be correct and sturdy. The couch wasn't hard, though there was an unexpected surprise. The dark blue color is actually.... denim. Yes, I have a denim couch. Luckily they sell slipcovers seperately so I can get a different one later.

I've got Alexander and Beowulf from netflix and a greek pizza on the way. And I've got Mr. Bubble for my bath. I already took the boxes out to the dumpster and cleaned up. It's going to be a good evening.

I'll take some pics tomorrow, I'll see if I can get Moshe to pose on it, price is right style. He's still cautiously circling and snuffing the new stuff.

The delivery peoples are coming tomorrow to bring me my new IKEA loveseat, bed frame, and nightstand. I'm very excited. Thanks tax return!

It's very satisfying to cross several things off a list. I know some of you understand what I mean. I took apart my old couch earlier and brought it outside. Vaccuumed the hell out of the area. Also went to the AT&T store and switched to a gophone, my number was ported within 5 minutes and I can use my same online login and such to load minutes. I investigated switching from cable internet to dsl but it looks like it's going to be the about same price for the good plan.

I called my doctor's office and they ordered neck xrays for me. I was supposed to do this after the sprain/spasm bullshit healed and I regained enough range of motion. That was like... 8 or 9 months ago.

I picked up the trade pb of Anansi Boys so I can finally read it. I'm totally caught up on BSG. Replaced the filter in my brita pitcher.

So this was mostly a success. I broke it on 3 occasions, once when I ordered pizza, another when I bought some more groceries (just milk and some produce though) and the last was my peapod order. I placed the order before I knew my car was ready because I needed several things including kitty litter and was not into dragging that on the bus.

I may keep using peapod for my stock up shopping and just shop for perishables and stuff that's on sale really cheap that week. Having the running tally of the cost, it organized by food type, list including price per weight, stuff on sale easily sortable and identifiable.... it's all quite handy. And you can use coupons. I won't need to shop for non-perishables for 3 weeks or so. Due to increased discipline, even with the delivery cost I think it might be cheaper to do it this way and only shop the periphery when I'm at the store. We'll see.

I'll be making taco salad shortly. Yum!

So Moshe has been bathed. Jesus. I had no idea he was this strong or had the ability to be so frickin loud. I'm sure they heard him 3 floors below me. He completely lost his shit, which of course made the whole process take longer. I was wondering if he'd outright attack me but he didn't, though he did leave a chunk of his nail in my leg from trying to climb up it following a cortortion worthy of cirque de soleil. He got it together a bit at the end and sat in the tub (I had a couple of inches of lukewarm water in there) wailing pitifully (and really loudly) for 10 seconds or so at a time.

I'm completely exhausted now. I'd take a nap but I don't know if it's wise. He's still shaking water off and glaring balefully from across the room.

Something wonderful happened this morning. My mechanic called me and said he had a valentine's day present for me. My car is ready!!! He finally got it through testing, and after all that shit it passed, didn't need to get a waiver. Did the annual inspection too, and I promptly took it to the DMV to renew the registration. Then I took myself for a drive.

I'm so happy. So, so happy. I mentioned to him that I was probably going to trade it in late this year, he let me know that he thinks that's a very good idea.

My car is back! I saw it on the way home, no word from my mechanic. I'm holding out hope that it's because the nissan dealership finally figured out what sensor was FUBARed and fixed it, and they filed a waiver and are waiting for confirmation. I really hope that's what it is... and not that my mechanic is putting off having to tell me that my car is undrivable due to the new law.

I'm really, really tired.

I finished season 3 of BSG. I'll be caught up with razor and the first half of 4 next weekend so I can start watching the new episodes on hulu. I think this may be the best TV I've ever seen. My inner fangirl has been in full effect since I watched the beginning but it's hitting a brand new level.

I can't believe the actor who plays Leoben is almost 50. That's bananas. I haz a massive crush.

I just placed an order with drugstore.com for the first time in a year or more. I'd forgotten how much I love that place. Due to my lack of wheels, when they sent me an email offering free shipping with no minimum I decided that instead of wrangling 2 buses to Target to grab all the stuff I'm running out of I'd just sit on my butt and wrangle the mouse. One stop shopping for kitty shampoo (yes, Moshe is getting a bath, pray for me), Jocelyn shampoo and conditioner, hair smoothing lotion, daily face scrub to keep in the shower, grape seed mask, trash bags, and vitamins.

And. Wait for it.

MR. BUBBLE!!!!!!!
I didn't even realize they made this stuff anymore. I can't wait to use it.

Total cost: 61.30. I can guarantee I'd have spent more at Target. Though it's influence isn't as great as it used to be Target remains a dangerous place. I have to be on my A-game to go in there and stay focused.

Starting Sunday I am converting to all cash for non-bills. It's an experiment, I'll do it for 2 months minimum. The idea is to stick to my groceries/restaurant/household/misc budget without those annoying (relatively) minor things I stick on my checkcard that add up. The drugstore.com order is kinda cheating since I won't have to worry about several household type things since I just restocked. Baby steps.

I had seen mentions of fourfour before but never went to the blog because I'm not into ANTM. But I went the other day and discovered one of the most glorious creatures in the universe. I am speaking of Winston. OMG. Seriously, OMG. I'm enthralled by him. Go check out the kitty pride tag to see the trials and tribulations of the glorious Winston. And Rudy too. Moosh doesn't quite know what to think of Winston, he started circling my laptop standing when one of the videos was on, and he alternates between running away and inching towards the screen when Winston makes noise.

Also, I love dlisted not for the celebrity gossip but Michael K's obsessive love for chola eyebrows, the elegant empress of lucite, and Harvey (Jordan's son).

Oh and I filed my taxes this weekend, getting a decent return for the first time in a couple of years. Huzzah!

I went to work yesterday but took advantage of the unscheduled leave for today. My neck is killing me, so me and my heating pad will be spending some quality time together.

The first discs for BSG season 3 should be here later today. I am so hooked.

I have never had so much trouble with setting up any kind of service before. I never heard from them about my number port from last week so I called today and kept getting different stories from different reps, including a note that says they supposedly emailed me when AT&T refused to release the number (I never got an email, checked spam folder and everything), not being able to find me in the system, my address being erased in part of their system, and then being hung up on by a rep. The kicker is this: when I called AGAIN to cancel the account I had set up the girl I talked to couldn't even find me and asked me if I was sure it was virgin mobile I'd set an account up with. WTF!!

Needless to say, I am going to stick with AT&T and get a gophone. I assume they won't have a problem porting a number within their company, and while it isn't as cheap as virgin the improved customer service is IMO worth it. They also told me that they aren't showing any port requests for my number, I'm inclined to believe them over virgin at this point.

I threw away the plastic package that my virgin phone came in, but I still have the receipt and everything else. Hopefully the radio shack will give me a refund.

Is anyone going into DC on tuesday? I was planning to but the more I read about how it will be in the city (closings, crowdlimits, etc) the more I worry that all I will end up doing is freezing on a sidewalk trying not to get suffocated by other people's puffer jackets* and not even close to anything.


*For those that have not had the joy of meeting me in person: I am short

Anyone have experience with the the AT&T GoPhone or Virgin's pay as you go cell? I've been paying attention to my cell phone bill for the past few months and it's pretty clear that I'm wasting my money. I didn't realize that you could port your number to pay as you go phones, now that I know I think I'm going to get rid of my cingular (now AT&T) phone and plan as my contract was up months ago.