bumblepug

happy valentine's day!

i love valentine's day! i love love!

and i love ralph!

have a happy valentine's day however you find yourself spending it!

valentine's day ideas

in case you've run out of ideas of ways to spend time with your valentine next tuesday, just ask me and ralph.  we are full of many great ideas.  while in rite aid getting my prescription, we passed the dental aisle (stocked with toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, etc.) and decided it would be loads of fun to buy a dental hygeine kit (you know the tartar scraping pick and the stick with the mirror on the end?) and give each other a dental cleaning for valentine's day.  boy, do we know how to say "i love you" or what?

happy new year!

is it 2006 already?!

thus begins my 2 months worth of writing 2005 on almost eveything that needs to be dated!

resolutions? you bet! i love resolutions because they serve as my goals for the year. some people just might call these goals but since mine change from year to year, why not just call them resolutioons and revise them every january?!

here they are, my resolutions for 2006:

go to yoga more often

take vitamins daily (yes, trader joe's children's chewable count!)

work abs for stronger back (the back is my problem area so i should start listening to my p.t.)

save money to travel to italy next summer (2007)

take notary oath and launch singing business on the side

lose 45 pounds by 8/1/06 (this is the biggest loser deadline for my family's competition- my secret weapon is weight watchers winning points system)

brush up on french skills

take knitting classes at commuknitty since amanda is too far to startt my projects- guess it's time to learn how to do this on my own

train milo (to not pee on the comforter, sit, stay, potty- those are the essentials)

become a more organized person

maintain the car interior so 3 people can actualllly sit in the back seat and so groceries can be placed in the trunk without being too embarrassed to open it

take a class about something totally random

pick up on karate classes

spend a week in maui

visit new places

that should do it for this year. everything else will have to wait for 2007.

xmas in the woods

we cut down our tree in the mountains today and i don't think it could have been any colder, and i have a tree farm confession to make...we accidentally cut our first tree too short so we left it there and hid and chopped down another one to make it taller.  we're going straight to hell and definitely getting coal in our stockings.

anyways, tree #2 is just as beautious as tree #1 though at least 2' taller!  since we got it from the woods, we used the dentist office's hose near our place to give it a good rinse.  good thing we live in the same complex as a dentist that has an outdoor hose.  and good thing roo noticed women filling jugs of water from that hose in the middle of the night or else we may have never known about it.  ah, where do we live?

our tree smells nice and my belly is full of burgers and fries.  the best tradition ever is to freeze your ass off outside by cutting down your own xmas tree and then ingesting a 1600 calories meal at happy hound.  nothing comes close to such a merry evening!

and new and exciting desperate housewives and gray's anatomy await!

warm winter bash 2005

our xmas party was quite interesting.  it seemed more crowded than last year but interestingly enough, i only knew 6 of 50 people.  that's the best, huh?!  who are these people and why are they at our party?!  needless to say, since i was in the midst of recovering from a cold, i left kinda early.  ralph had a tad too many brewskies but he was really cute since he's a happy drinker.  good thing i know how to drive a tractor!

pics will be posted soon.

happy thanksgiving!

this year i am thankful for the usual suspects: family, friends, pets, and some new ones... the fact that gram is fully recovered and cancer-free, that i survived a cruise during hurricane wilma and two moves- what a year!

hmm, i miss ralph.  i'm thankful for match.com since that's how we met, and of course, thankful for ralph.  :)

now...gobble, gobble.  eat some meat and be thankful!

happy halloween!

yes, it's finally halloween!  my favorite day of the year!  this is the first year that i have not dressed up during the day.  boo hoo.  i figured a bunch of lawyers wouldn't find the humor in a costume as they give me assignments.  i'm glad i went with my gut because costumes are zilch-o here with the exception of misc. types of headband animal ears (and a group of people who are made cardboard cutouts to be ipods- so cool!).  maybe the costumes come out later?!  we have a halloween party this afternoon so that should make for a nice break!

ralph and i are going to my family's annual halloween party which i'm stoked about because they're making chile verde and beans- another favorite of mine!  we're going to dress as construction workers since we're pretty much in the business now after doing our home rennos!  ;)

hope your night is full of spooks and good costume sitings!

3 more days til halloween

as many of you know, halloween is my favorite day of the year, well, second to my birthday, which is almost exactly 9 months later.  things that make you go hmmm....

this is the first time in history that i haven't had a countdown, had a costume prepared for myself, and a costume prepared for dog.  what's happening to me?  am i getting old?  and tired?  yuck.  i want to always love halloween.  i'm still recovering from the fact that i can't trick-or-treat, and that was like 10 years ago!

i can't use one of the costumes in the costume box because i've defaulted to those for the past 10 years.  i need something new.  give me some ideas please!  something original!

happy 4th of july!

***fireworks***

my favorite parts of 4th of july are the fireworks and food.  who could ask for a better holiday than this- sitting around bbq-ing and eating, then watching explosives around the neighborhood praying that none catch my hair on fire.  what a great one!

after a long weekend in arizona ralph and i are ready for a nap so about all we can do is eat and relax so i hope you can, too!

happy 4th!

memorial day weekend

my memorial day weekend was full of fun adventures.  on friday i dog sat dolce (dog's boyfriend) and ralph and i ate lg brewing company.  the food was delicious! 

on saturday we went to napa (the long way, thanks yahoo maps!  google maps got us there much faster last time!)- we hit the outlets and actually bought stuff this time, we bought picnic munchies at dean & deluca (i bought lots of that dubliner cheese and the berry balsamic vinagrette), then we picniced at niebaum coppola (no tasting because we already know their wine sucks so we brought our own and enjoyed their grounds (consequently, our randonly selected wine sucked, too!  this has got to be a winery faux pas on our part- bringing wine!).  the weather was nice and breezey.  when we left the winery we collected 3 perfectly fine tasting glasses and took them home.  why not?!  they were already paid for!  as if that weren't enough for a day, we went to san francisco and ate at momo's.  it was good and quite empty for a saturday night.  the bus boy was really talkative and told us exactly where he lives- does he want us to visit or what? 

on sunday we drove to yosemite for the day with anthony and christine.  it was perfect and crowded.  anthony and christine did some makeshift esthetician work on a serious cyst on my face.  what else are you supposed to do in traffic?  we also jumped in the ice cold river and our feet went numb- i a big fan of hypothermia.  i had to go in my bra and underware so i'm sure tourists got more then they were bargaining for.  i lost my underware in the river so if you find them on your next hike there please return them to me! ;) 

on monday we went to o'neill's annual sidewalk sale in capitola.  it was picked over but i managed to find a shirt or two that'll be perfect for the summer heat.  then, errands, errands, errands.  oh what a weekend!  lots of miles.

oh...on the way to yosemite we pit stopped at casa de fruita for a bathroom break.  i got out of ralph's truck and a little black bird pecked my head.  how scary!  birds creep me out.  on the return to ralph's truck, it pecked my head again!  what's up with that?  now i'm really creeped out!  good thing it missed my eyes!

happy easter!

yay, easter is fun!  today i'll probably be somewhere sunny with a bunny.  ahahaha.  have a good day!

st. p day flake

later that evening...

i totally flaked on my plans to go to the pub (see below).  i just wasn't in the mood to be around a bunch of people, i'm not drinking, and pub food sucks- more or less epending on where you go.  instead, we rented some movies (vanity fair and wimbledon- my picks) and i fell fast asleep 30 minutes into the movie.

i must be getting old.

happy st. p's day!

yay!  today is the day of wearing green and pinching those who aren't!  well, i guess if i pinched one of my co-workers i'd be presented with a harrassment notice of some sort so i'll pass on that today and remember my elementary school days where that sort of thing was acceptable.  maybe schools are too pc nowadays to allow such shinanagans!  tonight we're going to paint the town green at some local irish or english pub- yet to be determined.

amanda and i never went hiking yesterday as planned (this almost always happens when the equation is me+amanda~exercise).  we were too tired from our heavy lunch so we decided to get exercise in another way...we walked dog and then had dinner and went shopping.  shopping provides lots of exercise because you have to walk a lot to find the right things worth trying on, carry heavy clothes, and try on clothes which is like a lot of stretching.  i can talk almost anything into being exercise.  hiking would've been a lot cheaper for sure.  we went to old navy and they had a bunch of really nice stuff.  i'm sure it'll be demolished by the end of the year (their quality isn't the best) but at least it'll provide some stylish clothes for me to wear at a quarter of the price.  then we went to nordy's rack which was dangerous!  they have so many nice clothes for way cheap!  i bought a pair of polka dot dress slacks (nothing tacky, they're black with very, very, very small khaki dots) for $50 and they were originally $210.  what a bargain!

on the way into work i realized that the dream i had two nights ago about having a baby that turned out to be a pug made sense.  really....watch.  shannon, my neighbor has a pug (dog's boyfriend) and one of her good friends was having a baby yesterday (and i didn't know thatuntil last evening).  so maybe, i felt the "baby" energy and predicted it's birth (well, this is not a true prediction since they knew about it but i didn't so it was a prediction for me).  the baby in my dream was a pug because it was linking the event to shannon- since it's shannon's friend.  yeah?  this works.  weird dream and this is the only way i'm able to interpret it without seeming to weird.

anyways, we're having lunch at neiman marcus cafe, again (better make a reservation in case they are booked full due to a special menu).  i think it's our new #1, i'm just bummed that we never went there when lindsay was here.  speaking of lindsay, it's almost her birthday as well as all the other aries i know (debbie, shannon, dog- did i miss anybody?  no aries guys?)- what does l want for her bday?  my life is full of them (aries), including dog.  i want to have a party for dog but she only has 1 friend and a half (the cat who glares at her when she visits dolce).

my rambling will end here for the day unless something incredible eventful happens, which i'm fairly certain is not in my cards today.

let me leave you with an irish blessing:

may there always be work for your hands to do;

may your purse always hold a coin or two;

may the sun always shine on your windowpane;

may a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;

may the hand of a friend always be near you; and

may god fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

happy valentine's day!

today is the day of love, inspired by hallmark as many would say.  wherever it came from, i love it!  here's a little history on love day.

tonight i'm cooking dinner for ralph and we're going to watercourse way for some hot tubbing.  i'm sure his legs could use the jets because they've been sore from all the running.  i'm glad i'm making minestrone because it forced me to find my handwritten cookbook, which reminds me that i really need to generate an electronic copy.  this soup take 4 hours to make.  am i crazy?  call it a labor of love!  must simplify this recipe!

i'm currently loving: r.a.g., dog, fam, friends, joss stone's voice, and chocolate!

happy vday to all!

new year's sucks

new year's is my least favorite holiday- if it can even be called that (well, i guess it is since lots of people have the day off and banks, etc. are closed).  the only good thing about it is that it doubles as my uncle's bday.  it's a terrible day of scrambling to find a plan that meets the party of the year expectation and i'm inevitably let down every year.  i'm a bum.  not to mention i usually end up at home by 11:30 pm to watch the ball drop on tv so i have a better chance of dodging drunk drivers.  then i'm sad that i wasn't somewhere that had fireworks and explosions going off!  this year, i'll be happy (because i bought a cute sparkly top from guess) if i sit in front of the tv all dressed up with nowehere to go!  btw, guess has really cute sparkly clothes right now!  oh, i forgot that that is the one thing i like about new year's...everybody dresses like they are in a chorus line.

new year's resoultions:

release new year's expectations for future years

eat less (of the bad foods!)

party more

learn a new dance style and a new language (or just get back to spanish)

exercise 3 days a week...hmmm

clean and file at home on a regular basis so you don't get file box build up from 5 years ago surround your bed that would trap you if there was a fire- god forbid!

get organized (see above, but this also mean keeping the car fairly clean so co-workers don't find sports bras hanging out of car doors)

stop caring what people think of constantly unorganized state

some of these are so generic...more to come

happy 2005!

merry christmas

"i will honor christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." ~charles dickens

"merry christmas to all and to all a good night." ~clement c. moore

any gift i receive today will make me happy but the true gifts are in my life throughout the year: my friends, family, and dog.

peace and health be with you today and throughout the new year!

merry christmas, ralph!

christmas eve

christmas eve is one of my favorite days of the year, next to halloween!  the excitement leading up to the actual day is what i love and my family has a reception before midnight mass (which is really around 10 pm so i'm still not sure why they call it midnight mass).  i love church on christmas eve because we sing christmas carols, hold candles (that almost always ruin my nice outfit), and it smells of frankincense (which any other day makes me want to puke but i can stomach it for one night). 

my family is coming to my place for the xmas eve reception which makes me laugh a lot because it looks like a tornado and a hurricane blew through.  there's wrapping paper, clothes, and bottled water (don't ask!) everywhere!  i'm a mess!  no, my place is a mess and i am unorganized!  i think i'm going to start a company that rents out elves for the holiday season (heck, year round!).  the elves could help you shove things into closets (and under beds) before your company arrives and they could wrap your gifts (secretly in a room) while your company is eating.  then you could go grab them from the elf and present them to your friends as though you slaved away over the beautifully wrapped gifts!  ok, don't steal my idea!  i'm going to patent it or something along those lines. 

where was i? 

have a nice evening with your family, friends, or whoever else you may find yourself with on this special night!

christmas party

our christmas party was not fun- no big surprise.  it was odd because we had a steel drum player which made me feel like i should be somewhere in the tropics rather than celebrating christmas in the boondocks (my job's location).  the food sucked, the wait staff was rude, and to top it off...the head caterer was in the bathroom at the same time as me and she didn't wash her hands!!!  well, to clarify, she truned the water on and off, not even giving herself enough time to run her hands under the faucet.  why did she bother turning the water on?  you can't fool me with your i'm washing my hands but not really trick- i wanted to puke on her shoes.  don't they know how anal i am?  really, i should work as a hygeine (sp?) inspector or something.  at that point, i stopped eating food and ralph and i left the party.  the best thing was the potato cosmo bar (unusual set-up but it was damn good!) and the strawberry/chocolate fondue.  better luck next year!

feeling gifty

those around me must be feeling gifty today and i'm thankful for that.  one of my bosses gave me this awesome coral, crystal, and gold bracelet.  every year she gives me jewelry and each year the items are something colorful and fun.  what a great boss!  a co-worker also gave me a gift  but i can't mention the item now- will mention on 12/21/04 blog entry!

today is my company's christmas party.  i know a party that starts at 4 pm really puts me in the mood to party!  ;)  i suppose that's how they like it, bland with a dash of bland.  oh well, the food is usually good, the wine is free, and the people are nice (more or less) so it's never all that bad.

amanda and i went to the mall again for lunch and i keep finding things i want for myself.  materialism is consuming me...must stop going to the malls.  must remember ing savings account.  not only do i want things for myself, i want to buy everything for those on my shopping list.  i should procrastinate with gifts next year because i start shopping too early and by the time christmas comes, i have 10 million too many gifts!

i have a headache.  i feel hungover but this is surely from dehydration from a water protest not alcohol intake.  going to find water now...

santa's back party

tonight is our santa's back party!  i'm concerned we won't have enough food, liquor, and floor space.  but all that matters is that i have an outfit and sparkly moose antlers.  i bought the headband with attached antlers only to find out that they're not reindeer antlers but those of a moose!  great.

my potato latke making went well.  i'm happy to report no fires.  those of you who know me, know i have a fear of frying because of several fires that have occured in the kitchen on my watch.  i did read the directions to my in-house fire extinguisher and i set it next to the stove- just in case.  i also made macaroons but i added to many egg whites.  they were too soft.  oh well.  maybe people will be too drunk to know.  the rest of the food was made by costco!  there's no way i could cook that much food in my 2'x3' kitchen!

things to do:

straighten hair

straighten chrsitine's hair

transport food

playlist

eat dinner

stay calm

holiday cheer

i went to a client luncheon today at the sheraton and won a gift certificate for dinner for two at soleil (valued at $50/each).  this works our perfectly because ralph and i were planning on a gift exchange next week along with a nice dinner.  the food was good and it allowed me to leave the office for 2 hours, which is the true gift!

tonight is mel's party and i can't wait to eat some more party food.  looks like there will be chocolate and lots more chocolate, which is just the kind of thing i could use on a friday.

i should also begin brainstorming with a, c, and r about our party tomorrow night.

happy thanksgiving!

yay turkey.  today is the day to stuff our bellies and give thanks!

i'm thankful for...

my sesame street apartment which has the worst carpets ever, a kitchen light that sometimes works, and looks like it was last remodeled in 1960 (because i'm lucky to have shelter and pay the cheapest rent in town while still living in a safe neighborhood)

my hand-me-down geo named neo which has many bruises (because it was free and gets me where i want to go)

my extreme sensitivity to sugar and caffeine (because they remind me not to be as gluttoness as i'd like)

my crooked spine and pinched nerve which often leaves me paralyzed or limping (because it makes me so appreciative of my legs and back when they are working without pain)

my fun-loving dog who never listens to my commands (because i like a challenge and she is full of sunshine)

my friends who i used to see a lot more of (because when we finally have a chance to get together it is that much more precious)

my ralphie g. (because he finds humor in all of the off the wall names i come up with for him, his unconventional humor is always good for a laugh, and he craves chocolate with me)

my family (because they love me and support me no matter what, even though i can be a tad moody sometimes)

my highly unorganized life (because any other way could not top what i have now)

happy thanksgiving!

list-loving

highlights of the weekend:

banana split sundae at ghiradelli...then watching a 20-minute argument in an unrecognizable language, with lots of arm and hand motions.  pretended to take pictures of ralph when i was really taking pics of the fight in case they needed witnesses or another other type of proof.  trust me, we weren't the only ones standing around not calling the authorities.

completing my thanksgiving day grocery shopping by 9 am on saturday!  this may be a trivial thing to be happy about but i really dislike crowds and mayham so i was able to avoid the last minute rush.

going to the beach with dog and ralph...then losing my car key.  i was carrying my car key loose from the key chain and it must've fallen when i was running around with dog.  we're grateful for the geniuses that drew a large picture of a key in the sand and then put the key in the middle of their drawing.  that was the best ever!  i wrote a huge thank you note next to their drawing and drew me, ralph, and dog.

discovering that archer farms market (a target brand) has awesome spice chai tea mix.  it's sold in a small rectangular tin in their tea section.  seems to have a lot of caffeine.

the lowlights:

totally missing the kdfc party.  we arived just as it ended.  oh well, we still had a chance to see the beautiful lights and decorations in the hyatt. 

paying $2 for 12 oz. of water in the hotel gift shop because i was totally dehydrated from having taco bell and potato chips in the same night.  the cashier was weird but spoke excellent japanese- at least i think he did but who am i to say?  i can't speak japanese.  he left to a back room for a while and anybody could've walked out of that little store with just about anything.

paying $30 for dog shampoo and conditioner.  her skin better stop itching!  i thought our problems were solved...she needs to go in for some serious skin tests if the itching persists after use of the special fur products.  maybe her items will make my hair silky.

wondering if ralph was going to accidentally drive us off the cliff as he talked on his phone while driving us home from the beach.

sitting in subway for nearly 2 hours thinking of something to do and then getting to my car to amanda's phone message reminding me about the party at hanamaru, after i had totally stuffed myself on a footlong- on the one day i actually ate the whole thing. 

going to marshall's and realizing that i threw away $5 at subway because i stashed my change in the plastic subway bag!  i wanted to go to get it because $ is $ but ralph convinced me to take it as a loss.  i'm finding tiny ways to recover that $5.  hmmm...no more starbuck's for one week!

things to do:

dishes

hang clothes

clear table- ok, i know i keep listing this, but you should see my table- this is the most dreadful task (you'll see why when i post a photo!)

find pyrex thermometer at bed & bath for mom's turkey

buy ginger ale for tart cranberry dipping sauce and white wine for the gravy

remember:

mashed potatoes and some form of fatless butter so i can drowned them at dinner time.  if my potatoes fail, i can buy this mashed potato and butter flavored soda as an unexpected alternative!  heck, they can do the whole meal...

gravy

2 pumpkin pies

cranberry relish (this tastes a lot better than it sounds)

tart cranberry dipping sauce

utensils

dog and dog's toys

anything else?  i'm sure i'm forgetting something important.

holiday ballyhoo

shopping around the day after halloween, i noticed that retail was ready for christmas.  what happened to putting the xmas stuff up the day after thanksgiving?  i feel like i barely had time to digest halloween and then we suddenly skip thanksgiving and go right to xmas?  it's annoying because it makes me feel rushed and that it's time to start thinking of gifts for the holidays, which isn't the reality.  i'm glad i'm not a frequent mall shopper.  when it comes time to shop for xmas, i'll keep it to the city and online stores as a mall protest.  i'm sure they'll really miss my $300.

aside from the holiday ballyhoo, i'm doing great!  i've been taking airborne every 4 hours on the dot and what ever sickness thought it was going to make a home in my body must've found a new place to live.  airborne kicked the germs, i hope.  since we're traveling on thursday i've been paranoid about getting sick because there's nothing worse than being congested on a plane, aside from being the "sick person" in the tight space that everybody looks at with disgust and fear.

last night we watched the original texas chainsaw and it was very gruesome.  what can you expect i guess?  there was a character in a wheelchair and all the bad stuff was happening to him but at least he didn't get killed first.  i can't believe i've had this dvd for 8 days, backing up my netflix queue.  if you've seen the latest remake of tcm, i'd pass on the original because it's half as entertaining and twice as graphic.  overall a c-.  i haven't been impressed with netflix's shipping or receiving speed this time around.  they used to be a lot faster but now it takes nearly 4 days to receive a new one in the mail.

i had a burst of energy to cook last night.  i made chicken soft tacos with homemade tortillas.  i think i have curse of the tortilla...every time i make tortillas something goes drastically wrong that evening.  maybe the fresh dough hits the brain like a craze-inducing drug.  who knows?  if you'd like a crazy night of your own, here is the recipe for the tortillas i made.  maybe you'll have better luck! :)

aunt b's tortillas:

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt (min.)

1/4 vegetable oil (but lard if you want it the traditional way.  do not use caola or olive oil because both have a strong taste.)

1/2 c. warm water (maybe a splash more if it is too dry to work)

mix the dry ingredients thouroughly then add the oil and water.  knead the dough until it is a uniform consistencey.  let it rest in a bowl, covered,  for 15-30 minutes in a warm area.  if you don't have time to let the dough sit, that's fine- they just won't be as soft and fluffy.  once you have let them sit split the dough into even balls- make 8 (or less if you want a larger tort) or so.  roll out each ball with a rolling pin on a well-floured surface, or use parchment paper (this is what i do).  heat a cast iron pan on medium high and lightly grease if you think it'll stick (i used a stainless steel pan without grease and it did the trick but the key is to not let it stick or burn).  once your tortilla is rolled thin to a size of your liking, put it in the pan and cook on each side for about 1+ minutes.  you can gauge when it is ready by the texture, appearance, and smell (do not overcook because they will become stiff).  when they are done put them in a deep dish and wrap them with in a clean dish towel so they stay warm while you finish up the rest of the dough.  butter or fill generously and enjoy while they are warm (they reheat in the micro like a charm, give them 10 seconds)!

soft taco chicken filling:

boneless skinless chicken parts (i prefer breast)

dashes of garlic powder

dashes of salt and pepper

cumin to taste (but not too much because then it tastes like indian food)

chili powder to taste (you can be generous here.  use a good one, the better ones are typically sold in mexican markets)

1/8 c. beer (a few splashes)

1/8 c. olive oil (a few splashes)

cut the chicken into small pieces.  heat the pan with olive oil so it gets very hot, medium to medium high (i like using a nonstick pan so i don't have to use too much oil).  add the chicken and sprinkle the spices on top (it helps if all of the spices are mixed prior to adding to chicken so flavors can distribute equally).  pour a few splashes of beer into the pan and let it simmer for 10 minutes.  be sure to turn the pieces so they cook on both sides.  this recipe comes in handy for taco or burrito filling and as a salad topper.  chicken can also be subbed with ground turkey or ground beef.  enjoy!

happy halloween!

today is one of my favorite days of the year, next to my birthday, which has not yet been established as a holiday but i'm sure it's only a matter of time. i'm going to be a queen bee, ralph is going to be a bee keeper (or a man attacked by killer bees, we'll see what takes shape by afternoon), and dog is going to be a party animal. i was so happy about dog's costume idea. i'm going to dangle streamers, crushed beer cans, and balloons from her harness (not too heavy, of course), she certainly is the life of the party.

i think the plan is to visit the castro tonight. it should be exciting and i'll make sure to take and post photos of all the cool costume ideas! i'd rather go trick-or-treating but i'm not sure i'd pass for a adolescent girl anymore. i suggested to ralph that we could possibly get away with it if we dress as ghosts and bend our knees to look shorter. that might be hard to do after a few hours. damn, i bet the houses in our neighborhood give the full size candy bars, too. i can't wait to have kids of my own so i can steal their candy!

trick or treat, smell dog's feet, give ralph something good to eat (so i don't have to cook in my broken oven)!

happy halloween!

...and don't forget to fall back (and get that extra hour of sleep you've been craving!) for daylight savings time!

tricks and tips

it seems like everybody outside of my job is celebrating halloween today. it's so exciting! i totally forgot to dress up today or even wear anything closely resembling anything halloweenish. it crossed my mind at 7:06 am but by the time i was brushing my teeth at 8:15 am, it totally vanished from my mind.

i just had my allergy shots and the entire department was dressed in costumes and many had false eyelashes. i'm glad they were dressed up because waiting to get allergy shots for 20 minutes would've really annoyed me otherwise (it's usually a 2 minute wait). it's so much easier to not get upset with somebody dressed as a cat or a nun than if they were wearing plain ol' office clothes. guess there was a lunch party?!

i was able to talk to kyle about the achilles and shin aches i've been getting and it seems that i have a tendon weakness due to a few things: wearing heels (i know, i know, i won't anymore), increasing distance too quickly, and not stretching or warming up enough and slowly enough. i thought the problem might be my shoes but he said for the mileage i'm doing they should last for at least 1 year (and they're only at 6 months). i'm bummed because i just bought more running shoes online yesterday. so here are the tips i picked up from him: warm up longer, increase mileage very slowly (just read in self mag that it should be 10% per week), ice achilles and shins in 20 minute incraments, wear "kyle-style" flats (this means some nasty granny shoe that has no lift whatsoever!), continue with some sort of activity such as power walking, etc. (so they muscles don't get weaker) without re-creating pain, and have ralph massage my calves (yay, i love massages!) from heel to calf. a few random things i learned from the phone call...you should always massage (and apply lotion, etc.) towards the heart in order to prevent swelling in the feet or elsewhere because it directs the blood to the heart, rather than overwhelming other parts. i had hear this before but i always thought it was a myth. also, wearing high heels wreck havoc and weaken your leg tendons. and last but not least, running shoes with styrofoam in them can deteriorate over time simply by sitting around. the clock starts ticking on them as soon as they are manufactured. i thought it was all about wear but apparently, both things matter. so if you've had running shoes that have been sitting in your closet for 10 years and only have 10 miles on them, it's still a good idea to get a new pair before you start a new running routine. what a lot of info!

as for dog's skin...my mom stopped by the vet this morning and we spoke at lunch. she mentioned dog's irritated skin to them and they said it sounds like dermititis (sp?, or something like that). in other words, her skin is very dry and pugs are prone to skin problems. another thing my mom pointed out is that her skin began itching after i stopped giving her a daily dog vitamin. solution: she bought more doggie vitamins and the vet's office had a derm pill that has helped most of their dog patients that had terrible dermititis. if she's still itchy in a week, i'll need to re-evaluate the course of action!