bumblepug

weekend plans

this weekend i'm spending friday without ralph (he's going to a comedy show with work folks) which (i think) is the first time this has happened almost since we met.  i should try to catch up with debbie for dinner but it also sounds good to lounge around and relax.  i'm into lazy friday's because i'm usually really tired from the week so we'll see what comes along.

tomorrow we're going to the giants game.  we had to pass on a krispy kreme grand opening vip pass.  instead my mom and aunt will enjoy the door prize given to all- 2 dozen donuts!  we'll have to stop by for donuts later.  it's a dangerous thing that they're building one so close to us!

hmm, sunday...church?, breakfast (strawberry waffles!!!), and relaxation!

a whole new world

now that my carpet is clean i feel like i'm living in a whole new world.  i know this seems a bit drastic but they were really bad off before!  the previous manager was a total liar and said they had been cleaned (before i moved in) despite the fact that my clean feet turned black from walking on the carpet- i thought i was living in a barm for a while!  cleaned my ass.  now they are clean thanks to the new manager!  ahhh...relief, coming home to new looking carpet--just as i'm getting ready to move!

my back is killing me today!  it feels as though 20 soccer players kicked my lower back with their cleats, used my back as their goal, and shattered the bone(s) (?) into millions of tiny pieces.  kyle worked on it last night and apparently my spine was really twisted (i could totally feel it un-twisting as he pushed some stuff around to relase it) and my s.i. joint was being scrunched.  the session was painful but improved things a bit.  i'm still walking as though i have a cleat stuck up my ass but i'm hoping this feeling will pass by the end of the day so i can walk normal tomorrow.  if not, it means another session with his torture chamber (the table) for physical therapy.

just so you know, today is national high five day.  i learned this from my job's "gossip" column.  so, if somebody comes at you with a raised hand, don't punch them.  they are tyring to be nice and give you a high five!

back in the saddle

the tea place is open again with their regular hours.  they have a new floor that was hardly worth closing shop for 1.5 days.  what were they thinking?  anyways, as you might've guesses i'm back in the saddle and lovin' it!

must learn how to make these little sips of heaven's nectar!

http://bubbleteasupply.com/

overnight developments

my cold is not better yet it's not worse.  in fact, i'm not sure it can be called a cold because it's on the fringes.  yes, this is a development because i was expecting to wake up feeling miserable!  i still feel groggy and my eyes and nose are leaking like my bathroom faucet.  nothing a little cold-ease and airborne can't fix.

because i'm not in 100% good health i can't be near gram since she can't be exposed to germs.  i better get well asap so we can hang out before her surgery on monday.

ralph and i talked about stuff last night and we're moving in together!  time to start the new pad hunt.  time to bring back my clean genes.

oh, and i have a hair appt scheduled for next friday (see previous entry) and my carpets are being cleaned today!  yay!

what a difference a day makes.

bras, hair, and eyes

how do these all relate?

i need a new sports bra so i can retire the 2 that i've had since high school.  the truth is "sports bra" is just such a contradiction in my opinion.  there's no bra that supports me enough to make running (or any other sporty activity) comfortable.  i usually end up wearing a regular bra under my sport bra.  if you know of a studry sports bra that decreases bounce while running, pass the suggestion my way!  and i want an ipex bra since th office is always 20 degrees below zero but i have to think about whether or not i want to spend almost $50 on a plain looking bra- it's its function that appeals to me!

my hair is a wreck.  it's totally dry and i need a haircut but terra is moving to l.a. to intern with some great swimsuit designer.  i knew this would happen eventually since she finished fashion design school.  unfortunately, my hair is the type that has to be cut every 3 months or else it turns to hay at the ends (and i don't even blow dry it!).  i have 2 new people i'm considering but i can't decide which is better.  i guess the only way to find out is to give both of them a shot.

my eyes have been hurting so much lately!  i think it's this new shitty monitor i've been working on.  i made some adjustments to make it better but it still sucks!  guess i can't complain- it's only slightly below the old piece of shit but it looks way cooler!  i am supposed to wear glasses but seriously, i blame the monitor for my recent eye strain and bluriness.  this never happened before!  i need to book an eye appointment at the med center asap.  i'd go to my regular eye doc but i think she's a con artist who sees my generous flex spending plan coming a mile away and lives to take advantage of it!

as the world turns

it feels like a lot of stuff is happening.  i guess a lot of stuff is always happening, it's just a matter of whether or not i'm paying attention.  well, for whatever reason it may be, i've been paying attention lately.

wendy's is gaining support.  ralph and i passed it last night and it was quite a pakced house but at least there were 4 people inside and a car in the drive thru.

going down the list...

a new pope has been elected signaled by the white smoke.  congratulations, former cardinal joseph ratzinger of germany.  he has taken the name pope benedict xvi.

a new food pyramid has been introduced by the us government.  no surprises here, we were long over due!  it appears that it is something that needs to be customized by age, sex, and activity level.  this makes a lot more sense than the old pyramid which was a general across the board sort of recommendation.  click here for the story.  click here to customize the pyramid for your daily food needs.  i'll probably continue with my own way of eating as will most americans. 

scott peterson is getting mail from women who are interested in winning his heart!  yuck-o!  who are these women?  they are certainly writing him from a mental institution!

and in my own life...

i think i'm getting sick.  ralph and i played soccer with dog last night and it was a lot colder (55 degrees) than i thought (70 degrees)- guess that happens when you run.  i was wearing a t-shirt and by the time we left, i thought i had hypothermia.  i was freezing all night and i'm still cold, but also headachey, and congested (beyond normally allergy stuff).  pass the airborne, please!  hopefully this passes quickly because i'm all out of sick time!  why am i always getting sick?!!  can i trade my immune system for a stronger one?

the tea place was closed yesterday for floor maintenance!  how could they do that to me?  maybe that's why i'm sick?!  anyways, they have special hours today that i wish i had paid closer attention to because i can't remember if they open at 6 pm today or close at that time. 

i'll be watching dolce this week (thurs-sun) which dog is going to love!  it'll be fun to see what having 2 pugs is like.  i'm sure my arms will be sore after walking the 2 rascals!

tonight is my tv night: scrubs and law & order: svu.  i hope they're not repeats.

add to my shopping list: meet the fockers (released on dvd today!).

that's all for now.  time to find a gallon of water, some vitamins, and a bed...

happy birthday baby d!

today is dog's 5th bday (is that 35 in dog years?  she's now older than me!).  and no, her name is not "baby d" but it is one of her 200 nicknames.  i can't believe she's 5- how fast they grow.  i guess time flies when you have the sweetest dog ever created!  we'll celebrate with a cake (for dogs) and maybe she'll get to share a cheeseburger with dolce, and a fun run at the park!

full weekend

this weekend was packed with a lot of fun stuff.  we went to habana for dinner and found spying on first daters a lot of fun.  the people next to us were obviously having a bad date, so bad it was killing us to watch.

the next day we missed our tour of the chocolate factory because ralph was tired from mid-night runs to the hospital to help omar.  we can always rescheduled for a fourth time.

that night we went to christine's tap show and it was a lot of fun.  that night, i also learned that gram is getting a masectomy and beginning radiation therapy next week.  talk of hair and breast loss made it seem a lot more real, and the fact that she's getting a mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy makes it all the more frightening to me.  i was pretty bummed about this all weekend.

useful link:

http://www.lifetimetv.com/reallife/bc/olc/index.html

(please sign the bill)

me, mom, and gram went to church yesterday and gram saw some friends.  the sermon was nice and really related to stuff in my life so i guess it was like a free therapy session! ;)

later, ralph and i went to the a's game and it took me 3 innings to get our food.  it was okay with me because we would've starved otherwise and i would've been sunburnt had i been out there any longer.  the game was exciting but the angel's lost.  better luck next game!

i finally bought a soccer ball and we played for nearly an hour yesterday with dog.  it was so much fun!  who knew getting a soccer ball could make things so great?!  we're probably going to start running at the track of the school where we've been playing frisbee and soccer.  the track is bouncy which makes it easier than running on pavement and harder than a treadmill.

i also bought some clothes but i plan on returning them. 

i learned the tea place is closing tomorrow at 6 pm so i'll have to rush there right after work to get my daily fix.

a's vs. angels

we're going to the game this afternoon and seeing as i'm not a fan of either, i'll go to enjoy the park, food, sun, and i suppose i'll help ralph yell for the angels since he'll probably be all along in the house of a's!

can't wait for upcoming giants games!

chocolate factory tour

today ralph and i are going on a chocolate factory tour.  this is all we need after dinner at habana last night!  what a great way to catapult us into the weekend.

i'm afraid i'll want to hide out in a bathroom at the factory until closing so i can spend the night and swim in a tub of chocolate, or something like that.  really appealing, huh?

we flaked!

support wendy's

i feel bad for wendy's now that things look like the woman who found the finger in her food acutally planted it.  i like wendy's food but i rarely eat it, maybe once or twice a year?!  anyways, i want to hold a support rally to get people back to wendy's since it doesn't seem fair that one person can ruin things so terribly for a company.  wendy's has a lot of money and they are a corporation but i really hate rotten people and i think anna ayala is plain rotten, like the finger she claims to have found!  karma is a bitch!

now go eat at wendy's!

sweet emotion

emotions suck, plain and simple.  they make and destroy my world all at once.

i've been bummed about gram's news but also very optimistic, which is it?  i want it all, as usual!  i'm optimistic that surgery and medical advances are on her side.  she's a strong person so as long as she hangs in there, it'll all just be a matter of time becfore she 100% again.

in the meantime, i'm getting increasingly paranoid about the recent track record of cancer around me, and thinking could be next (i tend to be a paranoid person so this is no surprise)...

so

in the meantime...

i'm drinking my pom juice (which i wish somebody had warned me about the energy it can induce- coffee hardly comparea)

eating blueberries

stressing less

wearing 3 layers of sunscreen

trying to exercise more by buying a soccer and basketball

listening to my recent soundtrack: hate it or love it by g-unit, selah by lauren hill, why can't i by liz phair, passing me by by pharcyde, when you say nothing at all by ronan keating, with you by jessica simpson, part time lover by stevie wonder, human nature by michael jackson, and float on by modest mouse.  enjoy.

and getting my face sandblasted (which turned out really nice and didn't hurt as much as i expected!)

if only all of this could make me a health guarantee!

in a pickle

two days ago i got in argument with my mom about pickles, or lack therof.  it was stupid but i wanted to know how my pickles disappeared when neither me nor ralph have eaten them and she's the only other person with a key to my house.  somehow i rationalized it so that she's responsible for all guests who come to my place while she's there so she needs to tell them not to eat my pickles unless they tell me to buy more when i'm running low.  reason: i went to make a tuna sandwich and there were 2 left.  that's tragic!!!  anyways, the fight passed but i was still upset over the principle: i don't care if people eat my pickles (or whatever else if being finished in my place) as long as i'm told, "hey, you're out of pickles so don't make a tuna sandwich unless you buy more!" 

so, that was my concern 2 days ago until yesterday until i received news that my gram (my grandma) has malignant (web md: "(ma-lig-nant) -- cancerous; can invade nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the body.breast tumors") breast tumors (and now i feel mental for obsessing about pickles).  so, it's amzing how are concerns can shift from pickles to cancer from one day to the next. and that makes it 2 cancers this year.  dad (prostate), gram (breast).  i can't wait for 2006.

the plan is to get her into surgery next week so i hope that pans out in order to cut out the bad guys.  i've had the same surgery she'll be getting (lumpectomy) so she should expect some pain, scarring, not to wear a bra for at least a month (if there is a silver lining, this is it!), and lots of love and support from all of those around her.

hang in there, gram!  we love you!

 

superficial

i really cannot stop laughing at my weekly update from thesuperficial.com.  it's quite funny cause this guy hates everbody and if he doesn't, he totally lusts after them.  why am i reading this?!  i was just reading a clip on the latest hollywood pregnancy announcement and he wrote that he wants to punch kevin federline in the face.  i laughed so loud for ten minutes that i'm surprised i didn't just get fired!

anyways, it was so funny to me because when i first started dating ralph i had an elaborate list of rules posted on my refrigerator called "dog's laws" for when people were dogsitting.  it outlined every inch of her life and what to do, and it outlined every possible thing that could go wrong and what to do in those "1 in a million" situations.  ralph read the line: "when her stomach gets upset feed her cottage cheese and soft white rice" as "when her stomach gets upset punch her in the face." now, i don't condone any sort of abuse (neither does ralph) of dogs or of anything for that matter (not even the walls), but i found this so funny that i nearly pissed my pants when i heard him say that, and just thinking about it sends me into laughing paralysis, nearly 2 years later!  it's remembering things like this that used to always get me kicked out of class when i was in h.s.  oh, the good ol' days!  and ralph's definitely a keeper for leaving me with something that could make me laugh my way through anything!

anyways, the laughing is killing me (oh wow, and giving me a great ab workout!) and i really should head home to rest for having half of my face sloughed off later this evening!  wish me luck under that machine that blasts super fine crystals on my face as it vacumms up layers of dead skin!  is there anybody who knows how to have more fun on a wednesday night than me?

probably not!  not even close!

and yes, i know, i'm weird sometimes.

who is kevin federline?

two words: johnny appleseed.  but at least johnny appleseed was useful!

this morning when i was leaving to work, ralph told me in his half-asleep state that britney spears is pregnant.  no shocker here!  how many kids will this be for federline now?  3, 4, 5?  my point is, i think his goal is to plant his seed in as many women as possible, across the nation to start a new cult or something shady.

i heard they're going to have their own reality show on upn which already has failure written all over it simply because it is on upn.  how do they not know this?!  maybe they do know but britney doesn't care; she just wants him to stop asking for an allowance already.  this series is guaranteed to be as toxic as her music!  you can bet i'll be watching! ;)

dogs in cars

there is nothing that makes me angrier than seeing a dog locked up in a car without any windows open.  ok, it makes me upset that they are left in the car in the first place but throw the dog a fucking bone and roll down the window for christ's sake! 

anyways, now that the weather is getting hotter around here i just heard about an ordinance that was passed in los gatos that allows law enforcement to brake the windows of cars which have dogs left in them.  i'm so glad they can do this!

consider yourself warned if you go to los gatos.

watch for broken glass!

do not feed the pug

one of the searches that fielded somebody to this site what "what do you feed pugs."  i'll answer that question...

dog should wear a sign that reads "do not feed the pug."  why you ask?  she has food allergies that cause yeast build up in her paws and ears and then she bites and scrathes herself to pieces, or until we heal it with all the usual medications (at his point, i feel like i could be a vet!).

anyways, depending on your pug, whether or not they have allergies you should feed them modestly and always avoid table scraps and any other source of human food.  they are the most gluttoness dogs in the world!  really, i'm not as strict as i sound but it's always good to tell others to be the model dog owner!

adult pugs gain weight easily so i've been told they can eat up to 1 cup per day and it should be 3/4 cup if they are trying to slim down (dogs on a diet, who knew?!).  dog eats ivd (can't remember what this stands for at the moment) but it is special kibble that smells like ass and it can pruchased through a vet office- for dogs who are allergic to everything else, like chicken, beef, etc.  it's duck and potato kibble.  before she had really bad allergy problems, i fed her eukanuba lamb and rice.  dog food is so boring... i'm falling asleep writing about this...hope this ends your search and helps you feed your pug.

how sweet it is...

...to finally get a full night's sleep!  for the past 2 weeks i've been waking up at 3:37 am, unable to fall asleep for at least an hour.  well, last night i broke that streak and got some real sleep!  i'm glad because ralph just bought a new tv and i didn't know how to use it, so 2 nights ago was awful because i couldn't drift into a sleep by watching re-runs of full house and the cosby show, and it's really hard falling alseep as you read in touch!

here's my conclusion...it's all in the tea!  on the night's when i haven't been able to sleep well, i hadn't had my cup of sleepytime tea.  they aren't lying when they say that stuff is meant for sleepytime!  last night i made a strong brew and i was out in 5.  now, this is probably an association i've created in my head but it got me sleep, and that's just what i needed.  god bless celestial seasonings!

red bull gives you wings

red bull's slogan is no joke, it really does give you wings and i have proof!

shannon and i drove the dogs to the park and after leaving 10 minutes later because we were so hungry we came to a street corner where a homeless man looked like he was laying dead in some rocks.  we wanted to make sure he was okay so we pulled over and shannon got out to see if he needed any help and to confirm that he was breathing.  he was breathing and he responded with, "water."  we didn't have water in her car but there was a partially full red bull with a straw in it.  shannon offered him the red bull, which i thought was a bad idea because he was probably starving and might have an odd reaction from such a sudden stimulant intake on an empty stomach.  he chugged that red bull like it was the last drop of liquid on this planet.

we told him if he stayed put, we'd go get him some water and food.  we asked him what kind of food he's like and he responded, "um, carl's jr., mc donald's, santa cruz."  i'm not sure where he was going with the whole "santa cruz" thing but we got the point that he wanted a burger.  maybe he needed a ride to santa cruz?!

we raced to our complex, dropped off the dogs, and gathered up lots of bottled waters, some food that was perfectly edible, and sunblock (his skin needed some protection).  the plan was to drop off this food and then get some real food if he was still there.

we left the complex and went back to the same spot and he was gone!  he went from passerbyers thinking he was dead, to poof, gone.  our attempt to feed him was a bust because the red bull gave him wings and he was nowhere to be found.  we drove around and asked around for 7 minutes (or so) to see if he might've been in the area but he was gone.  who knows...maybe he flew to santa cruz!

a perfect union

whoever had the brilliant idea to marry kfc and taco bell was a fast food genius...and a lil' devil!

luckily i live close to one so i can have it all when i want it fast...sure, a burrito sounds like it goes perfect with a fried chicken leg, why not? give me 2 of each!

ralph and i ate there tonight and i couldn't stop thinking of how cool it is, even though i've been going to the combo joint since high school.

yes, i've read fast food nation; yes, i've seen parts of super size me...but,  sometimes you gotta live!

cheers to a marriage made in my heaven!

dr. murad

i love products and i love being a product guinea pig if it means better skin!  i had tried dermalogica and i liked it a lot but since i bought a kit, rather than customizing pieces, it really dried my skin out.  my solution, try another product...

on my next attempt i tried dr. murad's vitamin c kit.  it's pretty good stuff but again, i'm fairly certain this kit is not the best for my skin type.  i really like the smell of the products because it smells clean and citrusy. i had a facial with robin today and i told her i was using vitamin c products.  she told me that it's a good choice because vitamin c strengthens the cell walls of skin which kinda helps protect it from environmental damage (you still need to wear sunscreen!).  also, it evens out uneven pigmentation, which is the whole reason i bought the kit in the first place.

bottom line, i really like dermalogica and dr. murad, i just need to do some fine tuning and select products in those lines which will work best for my dry, problem-prone skin.  ;) 

microdermabrasion, here i come!  more to report on wednesday, after my session with minahz.

my latest obsession

my latest obsession is my funny farm colouring book.  funny farm is comprised of funky animal characters that wear outfits, for example, a chihuahua that wears a polka dot coat with a fuzzy scarf, a mokey that wears pimp pjs, and a turtle that carries a suit case on its zebra-print shell.  it's really cute and i think it's from london, and the borders near my place carries everything in the funny farm line- stationary, wrapping paper, post cards, pens, mouse pads, etc., etc.  i love it!

when i want to relax or just want to have my time sucked away, i go to the colouring book and choose an animal that fits the people in my life so i can color it and then give it to them.  i gave ralph the panda mom and panda baby from me and dog.  i'm giving amanda the turtle with his suit case since she's getting ready to move.  i want to give lindsay the ladbug that has wheel as it's feet since her life is heading in a different direction.  i love this book!!!

april showers

the rain is back and i just keep thinking, "april showers bring may flowers."  around here april and may flowers usually bring june flowers.  i want the rain to stop but as soon as it stops it gets too hot.  all complaints.  the good thing in all of this are the flowers!

i love having fresh flowers in my place.  i try to get some every week, either from gram's garden or from the store.  the question i undoubtedly get from visitors is "who gave you the flowers?" or "what was the occasion?"  this is so annoying...can't a person just have flowers in their house for no reason?  can't a person buy flowers for themself?  do they always have to be a gift?  i'm a grump who loves flowers and doesn't like the millions of questions that go along with them.

random acts of kindness

ralph gave me this awesome bracelet last night just because.  it's 2 silver bangles that are connected by 30- 6" inch silver chains.  hard to visualize by my description but it's really cool and i'll use it a lot when we go out.  i love getting gifts randomly!

back from a mini vacation

this weekend ralph, dog, and my mom drove to santa barbara.  the day before we left, dog's paw got hurt at the beach and it was quite a mystery.  i don't feel like typing the long story so maybe one day i'll tell it.  she's better now.

on the way down to santa barbara dog almost ran into a busy street while we were eating at good ol' burger in paso robles.  the 3 of us nearly had heart attacks (as if the burgers weren't going to do that on their own) and i've never seen ralph run so fast but dog was still a lot faster.  luckily, she u-turned right before she got to the street and ralph snatched her up.  she escaped from her leash which used to only happen when she was a puppy.  thanks goodness she's ok, and ralph, too since they were both running towards cars!

later that day we snuck her into the hotel because every place that took dogs was sold out.  amazingly, we got away with it!  i think she's traumatized though and will forever hate my mom's ikea shopping bag.

thanks to our hotel neighbors i had terrible sleep because they thought the whole hotel needed to hear the evening rendez-vous at 2 am!!!  then, at 7 am!!!!  jeez, somebody must've told them to get a room!  i wish they had gotten a room elsewhere.

the food in sb was good and the weather was perfect.  next time i go, i'd like to do some hiking, bike riding, wine tasting and get a sitter for dog.

psychic connections

i insist i am psychic (see entry on amanda dated 3/30) but of course nobody believes me.  i'm really good at predicting births and other odd events that come to me in my dreams or i just get a feeling about things.

anyways, amanda and i must have a mental connection (maybe she is psychic, too?!) because she bought me a scarf that i was wanting to buy 2 weeks after she had bought it (and i didn't know she had bought me anything).  and what are the odds of this...it was some random shop on a long, long, long street full of tons of cute shops and i told ralph how much i wanted that scarf when we were there but i decided i shouls save my money instead of buying every single thing i wanted.  then, amanda gave me that same scarf last night.  crazy, huh?!