Metamorphosis

Is it just me? Or is a very pregnant J.Lo...

...starting to look a lot like...

...Rachel Ray?

Bizarre!!!

I just hope that baby looks nothing like Marc Anthony...eeks!

Kitchen...done!

Although I wasn't nearly as productive as I wanted to be, I threw out three garbage bags and one box of junk. I also packed up four boxes of my kitchen (minus a couple pieces of glassware), and moved them all over to Boyfriend's townhome. Along with all my Christmas decorations and tree.

I'm starting to think that I'm working towards being a hunchback. Lugging four heavy boxes of kitchenware and two plastic bins full of holiday stuff down my flight of stairs and then up Boyfriend's townhome's stairs, has got me feeling a lot like I did after the six hours of yard work Boyfriend and I did a couple of months ago. I'm popping Advil like candy again.

The good thing is that I got my beautiful little Charlie Brown tree up. Yep, it's only a 4-foot tree, but I prop it up on an end table to raise it off the ground. It's so purty! I will try to post pictures in the next couple of days.

Boyfriend is still traveling for business, and I'm really starting to miss him. This work thing is so overrated, don't you think? Speaking of work, I have to go to Job #2 tonight...ugh! Bad weather at one of our airline's major hubs is going to keep me pretty busy tonight.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

I HATE PACKING!

Do I even have to mention how much moving sucks? I have attempted that pre-cleaning prior to packing the last couple of days - the kind of cleaning where you try to throw away as much as possible so that you reduce the amount of stuff you move. Let's just say I haven't been very successful. Tuesday, I fell guilty of becoming one with the couch after only an hour of going through the kitchen throwing things out of the junk drawers and surveying what I can take over to Boyfriend's house. Yesterday, I had a quick dinner with Ghurrrl and then attempted to start the cleaning process again. I quickly realized that I still was not "feeling it." What the hell is wrong with me? Do I really think I will ever feel like packing?!?! I need to get with it!

I think partly I'm unmotivated because I will be doing it all by my lonesome. Boyfriend left directly from Tampa after the Thanksgiving holidays to Jamaica again for a week of working and will head back to Florida for the weekend for upcoming meetings in Sarasota through Wednesday. I won't see him until Thursday when we leave for Job# 1's holiday party in New York next week. Jeez! My mother and sister are suffering from strep throat, so there goes my extra set of packing hands. Grrr!!! Sadly, this is the only actual weekend that I will have between now and the move. We are gone next weekend, and then I move the following weekend. What a hectic month! I plan to take everything that I plan on taking over to Boyfriend's this weekend... if all goes well.

I have to work tonight at Job# 2 so accomplishing anything for the move is so not going to happen today. It looks like I'll be one crazy packing lady all day Saturday and Sunday...ugh!

Anyone bored this weekend and want to help a sista pack some boxes???? I'm sensing I won't be getting any takers on that...

Thanksgiving Recap

I'm guessing that everyone has eaten themselves virtually into a comatose state over the holiday weekend. I certainly did. Boyfriend's family had an overwhelming abundance of baked turkey, fried turkey, and all the (as we say in the South) "fixins". Boyfriend has quite the extended family. He may very well put my family to the test...no, I still think the extended Spice Family can annex its population to become the newest U.S. Territory.

As for the Godiva cookie situation, we decided that there would be way too much food at the party we were attending already that we kept the boxes at Boyfriend's parents' house just for them to enjoy...which is really all I cared about anyway. And as we suspected, there were so many sweet snacks and desserts that good ole Godiva would've been lost in the mix and not fully appreciated. By the time I left, Boyfriend's mom had already "fully appreciated" an entire box of them though.

We decided to stick our heads in Macy's and a couple other stores on Black Friday. Disasterous to find parking at noon - can you tell we aren't devoted Black Friday shoppers like Single Girl and her family (i.e., waking up at 3:30am to get a jumpstart)? At least I was able to find a phenomenal dress to wear to my company holiday party in New York. Granted, I still have to get it altered in length since I'm hair-shy of being a dwarf, but I have a dress! Maybe I can buy those shoes by Chinese Laundry to complete the ensemble *note the gratuitous justification*.

As usual, I'm blogging from the plane on my way home to kill time. I'm sitting next to a woman that just wants to know all my business. Did you visit family in Tampa? Are you from Houston? When did you fly out? That must be something important you're working on because you've been typing away on that thing. Am as annoying as a three-year-old child? Do you want to kick my ass? Ok, I made up those last two. I'm sure she'd die if she knew what I just typed about her on this blackberry. I should leave it in plain view and get up to go to the restroom so her snoopy butt will read it. I know, I'm mean.

I have to work at Job#2 tonight. Seeing as it is for an airline, it was a given that time off would not be in the cards for me on one of, if not, THE busiest travel day for returning home for a holiday. I'm mentally preparing myself for all the unhappy passengers I will have to deal with who have either missed their flights, had delays or cancellations, lost their bags, lost their children (yes, you read that correctly), or just unhappy with the service in general. Wish me luck on my upcoming four hours of torture...

Well that's it. I hope you all had a great holiday!

Bizarre results to a "Happy Thanksgiving" search

Since I will be traveling and then stuffing my face for most of the long weekend starting tomorrow, I decided to wish you all a HAPPY TURKEY DAY a little early!!! In order to make this post more festive, I went to Photobucket in order to find a whimsical/witty/comedic Thanksgiving image to post. Strangely, when I put "happy thanksgiving" in the search box, one of the first few images was this guy...

I actually shrunk the picture a bit from the website because it was HUGE when I used the blog code

WTF?!?! I have no idea what this naked, tattoo-covered guy on the toilet has to do with Thanksgiving, but there he is! Thanks, Photobucket search engine...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, FOLKS!!!

Thanks to Single Girl and Single Girl's Mom

I decided to walk over to Macy's downtown during my lunch hour. As Single Girl's Mom suspected, they carried a selection of Godiva chocolates. Sadly, they did not carry the specific assorted box of cookies and biscuits that I discussed in the previous post because it is a new specialty item that can only be purchased online (which I don't have time for) and in a Godiva store. Macy's only carried the individual boxes of specific flavored one, but I went ahead and bought the three different kinds they had because I REFUSE to go to the Galleria just for friggin' cookies. The ones they had were the Godiva Signature Biscuit, Hazelnut Praline Biscuit, and the Raspberry Premiere Biscuit. I'm not a big dessert or chocolate fan, but I'm guessing that's good...especially since it is sheeshy Godiva, right? I'm not all too fond that they come in long boxes versus the pretty box that the chocolates come in because I'm all about presentation. Luckily, the Macy's gift bag she put them in looks nice enough...even more so since she put in a couple of fluffy pieces of tissue paper. I know...I'm ridiculous about how things look. It's the Martha Stewart in me.

The whole time I was looking at the Godiva cookies, I thought to myself, "I should really get the coffee, too." Then somehow I talked myself out of it. Not sure how that happened, but I guess it had a bit to do with thinking it might be overkill and little to do with that I got distracted by this beautiful pair of silver heels by Chinese Laundry across the way from the Godiva stand. I pretty much kicked myself all the way to the office thinking I should have bought the coffee. And of course, Single Girl's Mom suggested that very thing when I checked my blog comments upon my return. Drats! I guess I know where I'll be walking again for lunch tomorrow...

Thanks for the input, ladies!

How about this for a gift?

I figure if I can't bring something homemade for Thanksgiving that will showcase my inner Betty Crocker, I can at least bring something Boyfriend's choc-aholic mom would enjoy. This is the 36-Piece Biscuit Assortment Gift Box from Godiva. It's got a little of all their cookies and biscuits. I suppose they can nibble on them throughout the day or even have it with coffee after the big lunch/dinner. I feel so generic though...but at least it's high-class genericism, right? *I think I just created a new word*. Now to find a place that carries Godiva that's not at the Galleria - I detest going to the Galleria...especially around the holidays!

Gift Ideas?

So I'm going to the general public to get ideas of something to bring to Boyfriend's family in Florida for Thanksgiving. I feel lame enough as it is that I'm arriving on Thanksgiving day around 11:30am and won't be able to cook/bake something to take to the holiday feast. Once I am picked up from the airport, we are heading straight to Boyfriend's great uncle's house for Thanksgiving Lunch that will progress into Thanksgiving Dinner - apparently it is an all day affair with all the extended family. Since I'll have some constraints due to travel, I need some good gift ideas. I prefer not checking in a bag when I fly, so I won't be able to bring a bottle of wine since that is more than the alloted amount of liquids allowed on your carry-on baggage. All the websites I scoured suggested either the wine, flowers, or some type of centerpiece decoration if you weren't making something to eat. I'm seeing none of those are practical with my travel plans. I could stop and buy flowers, but I think flowers are pretty damn cheesey, if you ask me. I guess I could suck it up and check my bag in and bring a bottle of wine, but I was trying for something more original.

I need your suggestions, my readers...even those of you who I know read my blog but don't normally comment. If you are unfamiliar of how to comment, I will tell you. You can either log in if you have a blogger account or you can choose the "Other" option and fill out your name and comment. You don't need a website address to include unless you actually have one. It will work with or without one. OR, you can remain anonymous. I need help!!!

*Insert Rocky theme music/Eye of The Tiger*

I was actually going to include an excerpt of the lyrics to the song, but realized...I really don't like the lyrics all that much. I find the musical intro is what really gets the blood pumping, but writing out, "Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun, Duuuuuuun..." doesn't have quite the same effect. I even thought about adding a music player on my blog, but didn't want to bust any of my adoring fans who are reading this on the clock - which is just about all of you!

As of today, I have completed four weeks of Houston Adventure Bootcamp. I did the 3-day a week session. Can you believe I got up at 4:15am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays just to have a quick breakfast, get dressed, and to be at the park for my 5am butt-kicking?!?! It was actually a lot of fun! I enjoyed it thoroughly and found out that I'm definitely tougher than I thought I was physically. I've been saying that I wanted to do this type of thing forever. Blondie and I decided to sign up so that she get in shape before her Jamaica trip this week, and me just because I wanted the physical challenge and was curious if I could actually stick to it.

Weight-wise, I don't think I lost any specific amount of pounds because I generally fluctuate anyway. But, I do have more muscle...and as Boyfriend pointed out, my keister is quite firmer. Woot! With the fear of my big arse eventually drooping to the back of my knees, that was reward enough hearing him say that! Oh, and you can feel the muscles in my biceps now. Sadly, you still can't really SEE them because I'm just not genetically inclined to have that type of definition - thanks, mom and dad! I guess I will always resemble a somewhat cheap piece of steak...lean meat with a layer of gristle. *he he he*

After a month of working out with this program, I have accomplished and learned a few things from the first class:

• I have shaved off about a minute from my mile run time


• I have increased my 40 push-ups in 2 minutes to 60 push-ups - strong like bull


• I have increased my full-situps to 40 - I know, it doesn't sound like much...but for this chica with back injury history, it's AMAZING!


• I crunch and plank longer than just about anyone in my class...because I'm badass like that. Did I mention how badass I was?


• I no longer want to curl up in the fetal position crying for someone to saw off my legs a day after doing lunges for the length of a basketball court


• I still hate crawling/running/running backwards up steep hills


• I can now run with 6lbs. weights in each hand held at 90 degree angles for about a mile while stopping at several circuit stations along the way to do curls, front raises, flies, triceps, etc. without wanting to die...ok, I still want to die, but I learned I can push through it anyway.

Initially, I was going to celebrate by negating everything I’ve worked out for by stuffing myself full of queso and margaritas at a Mexican restaurant before going to a comedy show with Noodle and Grove. However, I just got a call from Papa Spice that even though he arrived just this morning from Iraq and is worn out, he really wants to see the whole Spice family together tonight. So I did a last-minute flakey cancel on the guys and am off to eat dinner at Yao Restaurant & Bar. Yes, the infamous Rockets’ basketball player Yao Ming’s parents own a restaurant on the southwest side of Houston. We’re sticking to an Asian theme...because, you know, all Asians are alike. Just look at the Yaos and the Spices. Ok, maybe we don’t have EVERYTHING in common. They are millionaires, we are not. They are giants in stature while some adult Spice family members get raised eyebrows as they pass the measuring stick at amusement park rides. So all in all, we have absolutely nothing in common. Whatever. We still plan to eat at their restaurant. My dad has never been and is looking forward to sitting on some of the furniture in a room specifically tailored for Yao and people who obviously are not vertically challenged.

Hope you all have a fun-filled weekend…

Update

I know, I know...I OBVIOUSLY suck at keeping promises - note my asterik two posts ago. And, I followed up with another failed attempt after saying I would repost a second time yesterday. For a while I was doing really well about blogging at least a couple times a week. I've been slacking again though. I don't know what it is... it's not like I have a lack of content because I really have had a lot of stuff going on that I could blog about, but I just haven't had the will to type it all down. What's up with that?!?!? I normally jump at the chance to proclaim to the world all that is nuts in my life. I've been equal parts uninspired, lazy, and downright just blah as of late. Oh, well... I plan to recap a few things, so bear with me that this be yet another long-winded post rather than smaller daily doses of Rice Spice-isms.

I was able to get together with Weenie before she left for Japan. Her little boy is adorable! He loved the Thomas the Train learning laptop I bought him (See pic below). As for the other high school peeps that some of you may recognize, I sadly have no pictures of them but only their children. It appears there must be something in the water though because it seems like EVERYONE is pregnant! Not Weenie though as she has already stated that she draws the line at one.

That's Weenie and her little one who had stripped down to his skivvies so that he could smother his face in chocolate cake - can you imagine how much more entertaining it would be if I did that at one of my parties?!?! Note the taller, blonde tyke behind him. He is also 3-years old and the son of one of my dear friends from high school as well who I will refer to as SA - her initials prior to marriage. (Hint: She was very tall, blonde, was the only girl who wore her hair in a short hairstyle, and won "Biggest Flirt" at prom - I'm sure my readers who went to "Da View" should recall).

What else is going on???? I didn't get to dress up this year for Halloween. I was a bit saddened seeing as I was the Hostess with the Mostest who threw "THE PARTY OF THE YEAR" on Halloween four years in a row. Although I did get Boyfriend to TiVo football and the World Series game to watch a scary movie the Saturday night prior to Halloween. If you ever get a chance to watch The Abandoned, you should. It's freaky scary. It was on the list for After Dark Horror Fest in 2006 which picks the top 8 scary movies each year. This weekend they premiere their 2007 picks. Maybe I can convince Boyfriend to go to one of the movies...although he almost didn't make it through The Abandoned.

As you read in my post yesterday, I had quite the car dilemma. Which in turn creates a living situation dilemma. I spoke to my landlord over the phone last night and stated my case. My strong points being the following two:

• With the schedule I keep of getting up early/before daylight to workout and often times not coming home from Job# 2 until about 11:30pm or midnight, I don't feel safe living at my apartment. Although the apartment itself is gated, walking to my car on the street can be very dangerous. If they can break in my car, who is to say they can't follow or attack me. Although I'd fight back like nobody's business and have 3 years of kung-fu under my belt (Thanks, Papa Spice, for MAKING me do that when I was a kid!), but it won't stop idiots from thinking I look like an easy target being of a smaller, petite stature.
• Two car break-ins in less than two months is unacceptable. Per the landlord himself, break-ins have the tendency to happen more around November and December (holiday times) in the past. If that is the case, I've been broken into twice already and will probably happen again because I don't have a car alarm. That extra expense is wearing thin on my pocketbook, and to consider I might have to shell out for a new window in another month is just preposterous.

My landlord said to give him a day to think about it and that he'd discuss it with his wife. I hope this all pans out because I really don't want to have to be on bad terms over the next two months until my lease ends should they not let me out of it. Seriously, my place is cute and an awesome price. I'm sure they can find some guy that wouldn't be concerned about the safety issues that I face to snap that place up in a heartbeat. I will keep you posted on that outcome.

Also, I cut my hair last week. I chopped off six whopping inches. It's about shoulder-length now with layers in the front. I love the look, hate the prep time. My hair is so stick-straight that if I don't use a rolling brush and hair dryer to fix it, it looks like caca. Maybe I can get a good picture of it this weekend so that I can show you. Boyfriend was a little taken aback by the shorter hair, but he still liked it. He better if he knows what's good for him!

I am also considering making a fancy, schmancy dinner tomorrow night. Not sure if I want it to be just for me and Boyfriend or if I want to invite the whole gang. Although I want my Date Night with Boyfriend, I really miss cooking for a group of people. I blame my mother for my hostessing/IMustFeedEveryone addiction. Regardless, I know I have something going on Saturday that I could swear I've committed to, but can't remember what it is. Horrible, huh? The clock is ticking, so I better remember soon!

My dad will be in some time next week from Iraq for the holidays!!! Next Friday or maybe Saturday, we plan on having our immediate family all get together for dinner and hit up some karaoke. I'm not kidding you guys...your read correctly...KARAOKE. How Asian is THAT?!?! My friends caught wind of it and know that the Spice Family never disappoints for entertainment and downright hilarity, so they are all crashing our dinner and karaoke evening. I love that my friends find my bizzaro, crazy, loud family so amusing!

Also, I really miss Diana Banana! Is your hiatus over yet?

Be on the lookout for a crackhead with toned arms!

I usually try not to swear on here, but all I can say is that this morning was MotherFuckin'Bullshit! I got up before it was even light outside to workout this morning. When I get to my car...low and behold...this is what I see...

This picture was taken a couple of hours later before I headed to work

It has been one month and 12 days since my poor car was broken into by another (or the same) a-hole. Unlike last time of which they took nothing because I keep nothing of value in my car, they did take two 5lb. dumbbells that I use for working out...granted, they left the yoga mat. Guess the crackhead wanted to do bicep curls and tricep lifts but wasn't a big fan of the lotus position.

My landlord is aware of this complete and utter bullshit since he saw me coming back into my apartment right after I had walked out the first time. I plan to discuss with him tonight the option for this to be my last month at my apartment rather than waiting until the end of January. He has not cashed my rent check for the month of November yet, so I was thinking that since I paid my first and last month when I moved in, he can tear up my check and just consider me paid in full. I wonder if he'll go for it. I hope so because if I have to tack on an extra $140 a month to replace a car window on top of my rent, I might as well have stayed at my last apartment which was 10 times nicer. Also, I really need to be concerned about the whole safety factor. I think that is grounds for fair termination of contract don't you think?!?!

Now that I've vented about this craptastic morning, I will go back and finish the post I started yesterday full of the witty Rice Spice-isms that Single Girl loves so much. I know, I know... I'm obviously a liar seeing as I promised to post more the next day on my previous post. But I really did attempt yesterday afternoon, but just never got done. I shall post again this afternoon before I head to the auto glass repair place.

Happy Halloweenie!

*I promise to post more tomorrow!

Eating, Sleeping, Peeing, and Pooping

Dogs and baby's have the life, don't they? I wish I could just lounge all day and do nothing but the above repertoire. Here is a picture of my mother's miniature dachshund Prada that looks like a potbelly pig (yes, that's her real name) and my three-month-old nephew sitting in his Thomas the Train beanie lazyboy watching his daily soaps. Actually, I think he's watching a Disney dvd, but I like the idea that he's "watching his shows" like old ladies do with their soaps.

Oh, Carolina!

Single Girl got stuck with babsitting duty Saturday morning, so we decided to hold off on the Zumba class. Disappointing, but I'm sure we'll get a chance to try it another time.

Seeing as I had no other plans other than cleaning and the dinner with Weenie on Sunday night, I decided to go ahead and visit Boyfriend in Greenville, SC. It was completely unplanned and extremely short seeing as I had to wake up at 4:55am this morning to make my 6:35am EST flight back home. I am blogging on the plane now with intent to post when I land, and the current time in Houston is 6:30am...ugh!. All the flights leaving at reasonable hours looked horrible for standby. So basically, I only had one day to see Boyfriend.

We went to Falls Park on the Reddy River downtown to walk around and get some exercise and to enjoy the sunny mid- to high-70 degree weather. It was beautiful..definitely fall-like weather we won't see in Houston until about late November (if we're lucky). Then, we got cleaned up and headed to Chief's Wings & Firewater to have a bucket of beer and watch the Florida/Kentucky game. The Gators won...woot!

After the game, we headed back to downtown to try a sushi place we saw earlier as we drove around. Their Main Street in dowtown was busy - lots of families and young 20's crowd. I can't remember the sushi place's name where we had dinner, but it was God awful. By far the worst sushi I had ever had. Not that I'm a food critic by profession, but I've eaten enough sushi in my day to know bad sushi. First off, I ordered a piece of unagi (freshwater eel) which is my favorite, therefore, I order it everytime I eat sushi. The piece of eel set on my little block of rice was the most paper-thin piece of unagi I had ever seen. I'm talking maybe 1/16th of an inch compared to the average chunk of eel. I'm not exaggerating. Secondly, the tuna was not fresh. Any sushi eater knows that correctly prepared raw fish is NOT suppose to smell and/or taste "fishy". Third, we ordered spider rolls which are very lightly battered in a panko batter and fried before being rolled. Theirs was heavily battered in a tempura batter instead. The batter was so thick that it was almost like eating a piece of cheap fried chicken wrapped in rice and seaweed. Extremely bizarre. And the biggest sushi no-no, was their salmon. Boyfriend ordered two pieces. Again, setting on their small rice blocks were not light pink almost orange flakey pieces of salmon. They were dark pink almost red (aka old), rubbery pieces made from the back parts of the salmon having not cut the grey piece of meat generally taken off with the skin. So imagine a rubbery, half-grey half-red piece of "salmon". I was mortified. When I said something to the waitress about it, her response was, "We make it that way all the time here." I bit my tongue from rebuttling, "well, you've been doing it wrong here ALL THE TIME then!" Somewhere a sushi chef has fainted knowing these country bumpkins have butchered a culinary art. Sadly, the only good things about dinner was the Asahi Light beer and the fact that they offered low sodium soy sauce...JEEZ!

Once we concluded our disappointing dinner, we headed back to the hotel room to crawl in bed and watch the LSU/Auburn game since my plane left at the crack of dawn. We were rooting for Auburn but fell asleep. We found out this morning before Boyfriend drove me to the airport that LSU pulled a very close win...booooo!

It looks like I have about another 45 minutes until I land. I'm sure Boyfriend is snuggled warm and comfy in his bed at the hotel...so jealous! I'm sure I'll take a nice nap myself as soon as I get home. Maybe I can even squeeze in a quick snooze before our descent.

Tootles!

I took this outside of my airplane window. The beginnings

of a sunrise with cloud cover underneath us. Pretty, huh?

Work = Messing With My Weekend Plans

By "work", I mean Boyfriend's not mine this time. As you recall, it was my work schedule that prevented us from going to Playa del Carmen while in reciprocity, Boyfriend's job is interfering with having friends over to his house for some grilling Saturday afternoon and going to a dinner Sunday night. As of 10:10am this morning, he was notified by his bosses that he was scheduled for a flight at 4pm today to fly out to their headquarters office in Greenville, SC for a meeting tomorrow morning with the intent to stay through Friday of next week. Grrrr! I understand that he needs to go, and that the deal he is working on means hundreds of millions of dollars for his company, but it doesn't make make me any less disappointed about it since we had a few things planned.

For those of you that I went to high school with, you may recall a friend that we use to call either "Shorty" or "Weenie." She was one of my bestest friends growing up, and it was not hard to see one little Filipino midget walking around school with her equally height-challenged Hispanic friend. I know you all recall her now! She will actually be in town from today through the end of the month before she leaves for four years to Japan. Her husband, who is in the Air Force, is being transferred there. Thus, Weenie and her husband with their 3-year-old son in tow are headed off for a great adventure in a far off land! I wanted very badly for Boyfriend to meet Weenie this weekend seeing as we have a planned dinner Sunday night with a group of old high school peeps. The last time she was in town, Boyfriend and I were on our hiatus around the same time last year. She was pretty interested in meeting him before our "break" as well as now more than ever. Oh, well... I guess I'll play "single girl by default" when I attend the dinner.

The upside is that the real Single Girl and I are planning on attending a Zumba class Saturday morning. I'm pretty excited! I hope I don't die or trip over my own feet. I guess that means no late Friday night partying for me. Although, I am thinking of doing a happy hour and turning in early. It's Friday! I can't imagine going to bed without a few alcoholic beverages in my system...let's be real. I think my body actually rejects my blood if it isn't thinned out a bit. So if anyone is interested, let me know :)

With Boyfriend gone tonight, maybe I can FINALLY finish cleaning my apartment. Lord knows my dust bunnies are starting to become dust Godzillas.

I survived!

Boyfriend and I attended my niece's 3rd birthday at Pump It Up this past Saturday. It was great fun for the kids...and even the adults. I got to bounce around in a couple castles, slide down a 20-ft inflatable slide (which I called "The Slide of Death" - how the heck these kids went down that thing multiple times is beyond me!), and then stuffed our faces with pizza and cake. Can you believe that those two short hours between 4:30pm-6:30pm had me so exhausted and snoring in bed by 9pm on a Saturday night?

Here are pictures from the party...



To work off all the pizza we ate, Boyfriend and I went to Rice University and ran the 3-mile trail. It was such a beautiful day that I refused to be in a gym. Luckily, we were able to finish our jog before the rains came.

Hope you all had a fun weekend as well...

Random Ramblings

No specific title for this post simply because I will be ALL over the place in subject matter.

• I've been moody...again...thanks to "Aunt Flo" (who came up with that code name anyway???). I think Boyfriend starts to sense the mood swings coming, checks his calendar, then hides at the far end of his walk-in closet hugging his knees while rocking back and forth in hopes I will not find him. Luckily, my psychotic episodes are subsiding and therefore I will not direct any frustrations on him but simply to strangers unsuspecting of the ass-chewing they are randomly about to receive. Waiters, grocery store workers, telemarketers... BEWARE!


• I've learned that I, too, suffer from road rage. Wednesday after work, I was driving out of the downtown area onto I-10 West towards Boyfriend's house. Seeing as I was in a lane that merged towards the left, I did just as I was suppose to and began my slow merge into the combining lanes. I'm guessing the woman behind me was unaware of the basic rules of merging, was in a hurry, or just plainly being a biotch because when I glanced in my side mirror she was shooting me the finger. The FINGER, people! Who even does that anymore? Even if I did do something wrong like cut her off...which I did NOT... don't people simply resort to yelling obscenities in the confines of their cars nowadays?!?! I guess it's just me then. Apparently, I did not take to that lightly. So I was a bit childish....ok, a lot childish. When I noticed that she was trying to get over to possibly exit, I obliviously (because heaven forbid I actually do this purposely - insert maniacal laugh here) would speed up and slow down in unison with her not allowing her to switch lanes. I was completely into proverbially shoving my foot up her arse that I even passed Boyfriend's exit just to get an extra one-two punch in by making her miss even more exits than she wanted. Aaaahhhh.... it was amazing how refreshing that was! And, yes, I know...therapy could help me, but why spoil all the fun? And again...it's better I take it out on stangers rather than my loving Boyfriend. Trust me, he'd agree.


• Yesterday I spent a very painstaking hour in Arne's to buy party favors for my niece's 3rd birthday party tomorrow. Goodies for sixteen boys and six girls all ranging in age of 3-7 years old. Looks like my niece takes after me with not being able to handle girly drama and not having nearly as many girlfriends as she does guyfriends. Interesting...must be a DNA thing. Since it is a princess-themed party, I chose tiaras, bubbles, princess lipgloss, and princess pocket mirrors. Boyfriend picked out bubbles, soft sports balls (baseballs, footballs, tennis balls, and soccer), and toy airplanes for the boys...and a big inflatable punching balloon for himself. Yes, himself. And of course, loads of candy to crack these kids out on sugar and send them home with their parents.


• I bought my outrageously priced ticket to Tampa today. I shall be spending Thanksgiving with Boyfriend's family. You realize just how spoiled you are from working for an airline for so many years when you have to pay for a ticket during a major holiday season when flying stand-by isn't an option. He will fly out a couple of days before I do to get some extra time in while I arrive Thanksgiving day. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm not spending Turkey Day with the Spice family. We don't necessarily celebrate Thanksgiving basically because The Mayflower never made it all the way to the Philippines. Granted, the Spice family usually does try to get together for dinner simply because we're all off from work at the same time, but it's not detrimental that I not be there. Should be fun visiting with Boyfriend's family again... not to mention that we'll get to go to the Florida/Florida State game, too.


• Tonight I plan to check out my friend's new restaurant in Midtown called LeMond's. I will let you know how it is. I'm all about helping my friends promote their business ventures.
  

I suppose that's it. I will report to you later about how I handled twenty-two rugrats running around...if I survive. Gotta give Boyfriend props because he's walking into the lion's den with me tomorrow and meeting the "extended" Rice Family - cousins, aunts, and uncles galore.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Weekend Review

Boyfriend and I did some apartment hunting this weekend. With his home officially being put on the market last Friday, we figured we needed to start getting ideas of places we'd considering living. The idea of buying a house is on hold for the simple fact that (1) Baby has no clue if relocation is in the cards for him, (2) which area he'd want to live, and (3) why not save a little money for a year? We decided that since my lease ends at the end of January, we shall get a place together - I know...that's like commitment and stuff...haha! More than likely it will take that long to sell the house...unless he is really lucky, so we're going to estimate a December/January move-in - basically the worse time of year to move. It always seems like that's when everyone's leases end, so apartments tend to jack up their prices around that time. Oh, well...such as life.

We are looking more in the 59-S/610-Loop area. Since Boyfriend works in Sugarland and I work downtown, we figure that this area is our best bet. Although mileage-wise I will be closer to work, driving into downtown in rush hour will be the equivelent time-wise of him driving to Sugarland since he is driving in the opposite flow of traffic out of town. There are a cluster of apartments in that area, so there were a few we checked out. There is a townhome coming available at one of them that is 941 square feet and three stories. The bottom level is a one- or two-car garage (depending on which one we decide to get), the living room is relatively spacious for an apartment, I can live with the kitchen, the bedroom is decent, and the bathroom and closets will work for two people. I really like the idea of a garage though. If we get the one-car garage, Boyfriend can park his car inside while I park mine out. I could care less about parking the bumper car in the communal garage or in the uncovered areas since my car in not nearly as nice as Boyfriend's - especially since he just ordered the new 2008 BMW 3-series Coupe (I think that's the one...I never know which is which...so non-car savy). Hopefully, we will figure things out about the living situation before the house sells.

As for the rest of the weekend, college football was bad for all my choice teams. Houston lost to 'Bama (no heckling, Sparky!), Texas lost to Oklahoma, and Florida lost to LSU. Damn...I'm glad I didn't put money on anything or I would be even more broke than I am now!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Too funny!

So one of my favorite gossip websites, Dlisted, posted about this link to Careerbuilder's Monk-E-Mail. I had to check it out. I had too much fun playing with it.

Check out my Monk-E-Mail...

HERE

------

If only I could get it to sing the Flashdance Song...She's a maniac, maniac, on the dancefloor...dancing like she's never danced before....

Gotta love SPAM (the emails...not the meat product)

I currently have four email accounts in existence. The primary being my work email in which I have linked directly to my blackberry. I am accessible 24/7...which isn't always a good thing for me. Second, I have Gmail for my personal use and is only given out to friends, family, and bill collectors who remind me each month of how much money they suck out of me for car insurance, car payments, student loans, etc. The third is one I set up in the event that Brad Pitt finally leaves Angelina and realizes how his life has been incomplete without the love of a 5'0" Filipino living in Texas - I needed to secure "brad_loves_rice" on one of the email domains before it was taken...you know, so that we have a contact email for our wedding website and all. And the fourth, an old Hotmail account dating back to my college years. The Hotmail account is what I give out when I either (1) don't like you, (2) have signed up for some giveaway that requires an email address, or (3) I don't like you. I probably check this account once a month only because it is constantly filled with spam mail. I checked the Hotmail account today and found an interesting email I wanted to share.
-----
From : Vasilisa Austin
Sent : Thursday, September 27, 2007 12:53 AM
To : Rice Spice
Subject : FW: periphrases myopic lrzv wsptqx

VlAmGRA $2.68
ClmALlS $2.83
AMxBlEN $2.53
(contact website I refuse to give free advertising)
expensive humanoid robots that money can afford. Which money will not
in your honor. Will you be so kind as to follow me?
Stainless Steel Rat, end of everything.
All of which I was very happy to do. With one last look at my
friends safe as well, and that for which you seek, the strange
remaining strength to crawl out onto the ground. Dropped with a groan
-----
First off, I'm bothered by the fact that they must word-play Viagra, Cialis, and Ambien. It's almost like buying a watch off a street vendor in New York's Chinatown. Instead of a Movado, you get a Morado kind of thing. Can you imagine getting half-assed Viagra? You're ready to go, things are going great, and then...Nope. Sorry. Shoulda bought the real stuff.

However, my interest is extremely piqued by the idea of "expensive humanoid robots that money can afford." How expensive is it? Do I have to go through a credit check for one or take out a bank loan such as purchasing a house or car? So many questions. What exactly would I do with an expensive humanoid robot of my very own? And if I could actually afford said expensive humanoid robot, could I get it in my likeness? That way, it could go into work for me or stand in for me at birthday parties or other social events I never really wanted to attend to begin with. At the very least, I would want to take my expensive humanoid robot look-alike to the mall and have it try on outfits so that I know what the clothes look like on me. I hate having to go back to the mall and return things. This would cut my gas expenditures for return trips for sure. I think I might click on the website to find out. Hopefully, they have a toll-free hotline with customer service agents that will have all the answers I need. I may even ask them if the Stainless Steel Rat does any tricks. If you ask me, that's a Christmas white elephant gift just waiting to happen...

Brokeback Yard

No, I was not having some lesbionic relations in the front/backyard or anything. I think I really broke my back doing yard work. Ok, broken may be a bit extreme, but I definitely hurt it. As some of you might know, I have had some extreme back problems dating back to high school. Although my back is relatively healed of all major damage, I will forever be susceptible to both minor and major back pains depending on the activity or wear that I put on my body.

Boyfriend is planning on putting his townhouse on the market this next month, so he needed to take care of some beautification measures to the outside of the home in order to increase its marketability. Namely basic yard work and some minor landscaping - mowing, edging, weeding, planting some small shrubs, and laying out mulch. We thought we could get this knocked out in about two...maybe three hours tops. We. Were. Wrong. It took us a total of six hours and two trips to Lowe's to complete the project because we ran out of mulch. SIX HOURS! Jeez!!! Granted, the front yard and the side of the townhouse looked phenomenal upon completion, but I think I may very well have done some serious damage to my lower back from being in a bent-over squatting position 85% of that six hours and lugging around heavy bags of mulch.

I popped three Advil right after we were done because it finally hit me when I relaxed long enough to realize, "Wow, I may very well die if I turn to the left or attempt to reach for anything lower than my standing arm's length." Once those kicked in, the back stopped searing with pain and simply remained sore. I was sure to take three more Advil before bed. As I was leaving my apartment this morning, I decided to take a muscle relaxer instead because my back was merely staring Advil in the face and LAUGHING. Needless to say, I've been a bit loopy all morning at work and have finally started feeling more lucid after lunch. Sadly, the pain is starting to rear its ugly head again, but I guess I'll survive until I leave the office. Man, I'm getting old!!!

Wish I had taken pictures of the yard...it looked so purdy and stuff.

Also, I found this funny picture while I was searching for an image to accompany this post. It made me giggle a bit, so I thought I would share. I have no clue what this animal is, but this is a good depiction of how I felt all morning on the muscle relaxer. *tee hee*

Effing Theives!

I'm always the first to neglect the safety in particular places. I suppose that it's because when you are use to living by yourself, coming and going at all hours of the day and night, and too busy to be in one place for an extended amount of time, you become desensitized to inner city living.

As I have noted before, I live in the Montrose area. My block is filled with beautiful historic colonial homes book-ended with shady old apartments. So even though I am in a pretty neighborhood, hooker alley is only a couple of blocks away. We all should recall my run-in with the poor tranny prostitute who lost her way in an older post. Well, Wednesday night, someone broke into my car. Poor bumper car! Just look at her... Minding her own business then violated by having her rear driver-side vent window busted out so that the despicable piece of excrement can rummage through my glove box. And for what? Insurance papers, receipts, kleenex, and pennies they didn't even bother to steal??? Bastards, I tell ya! Effing bastards! It's not like I had anything in plain sight other than a pair of size 5, brown wedge sandals and a couple of empty water bottles on the floor board. Although my wedge sandals are to die for, I'm guessing who broke into my car felt a bit like an ugly step-sister in Cinderella because NO ONE can fit into my midget shoes.

The ironic thing about it is that I am currently in my "please hide all sharp objects because I start next week" phase, but I walked out of my apartment yesterday morning thinking, "Wow, I'm not in the least bit moody today. I may not go psycho this week after all." Then I walk around my car to get into the driver's side, and WHAMO! I'm smacked back into the reality of just how angry I can get. Definitely not the best start to my day... So I'm off to spend moolah on something I wasn't anticipating...again! I couldn't find time to do it yesterday, so I was a bit ghetto driving around with no window. Although...I refused to put a plastic garbage bag and tape over it. A girl has to draw the line somewhere. Thank GAWD it didn't rain!

Name Change

From now on, I will be addressing Baby as "Boyfriend". It's kind of a stupid reason why I'm making the name change, but I never said I wasn't a bit goofy. I bumped into an acquaintance a couple of days ago who informed me that she is now a proud owner of a hairless cat. I was dumbfounded. Some might say speechless. I've always thought that hairless cats reminded me of warm, raw chicken. Disgusting. Let alone that anyone would actually want to own one. Guess what the kitty's name is... Yep, "Baby". With that in mind, when I started a couple of posts I never finished earlier this week, my brain would flash to pictures of a shivering naked, hairless feline every time I mentioned Baby. Or sometimes out of sheer comedic craziness, I'd envision a hairless cat with a bad toupee tap dancing on its hind legs with a cane. Don't ask. I know I'm a freak. So this day forward, the title of Boyfriend will have to do.

Resolutions Have Never Been My Strong Point

I decided to back-track to see what I posted as my New Year's Resolutions this past January. This interest came about as I realized that the year is more than halfway over. Wow, time is flying! So I wondered...What have I accomplished this year? I have a running list of things that I will note in December, but I was curious as to how well I was keeping with what I had listed as minor goals for 2007 thus far. I've come to the conclusion that resolutions are just set-ups for failure. Dare say, tools of the devil.

• 2 drink and 1 shot minimum - Hmmmpf...let's..errrr...move on to the next bullet point, shall we?
• Going to the gym more regularly - This I have been doing. Although I slack here and there, I do find time at the very least two times a week and at an average of 3-4 times weekly. Not bad, not bad...if I do say so myself.
• Less cursing - In my opinion, I have shaved this a bit. Remember, I said "less" not "not at all." However, Baby has his own opinion of the matter as he fears he has become involved with less of a delicate flower and more of Sarah Silverman-Lite.
• Visiting out of town friends more - I have been traveling quite a bit lately, but I'm guilty of it having been more trips for just me and Baby going away together rather than visiting friends. I do promise to try to see Pocahontas and J.Smith, Doc, and Sparky SOON!!!
• Giving up all things that bring me down or bring nothing positive to the table (activities, people, and stuffs) - I have, as Doc so upbruptly puts it, "written a few people off." These were people who either have hurt me beyond the realm of forgiveness or have a knack for being petty about insignificant things. Although some of them will be missed, life is much easier not dealing with drama. As for the activities and stuffs, let's just say that I'm a lot more of a goodie two-shoes than Rice Spice '06.

Two out of five isn't too bad. I still have three more months to make good on some of these, so we shall see. Maybe next year I will be a tad more realistic. For example:

• Date only Caucasian men who love the Florida Gators, are unbelievably ticklish, and always forgets our friends' girlfriends/boyfriends' names
• Eat Chicken
• Buy more shoes
• Be Short
• Be Filipino

With a resolution list like that, I'm positive of success in 2008!

Like you need more diversions from actually working...

You all know that when I start getting addicted to particular blogs, I try to give a shoutout to them so that others can indulge in their witty repertoire. There are two I'd like to give a bit of free promotion. No, they did not pay me for the free plug...although if they are willing to send a check, I wouldn't make them feel bad by declining it. Momma always needs a new pair of stilettos!

• AndyBiggart.com - Baby's childhood friend who I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times. He's a Gator fanatic like Baby, but I suppose I can't hold that against him...or can I? Watch as this guy takes Tampa by storm!
• Mindy Does Minneapolis - Sassy broad I stumbled upon while stalking other blogs. Although I don't know her personally, I'd definitely love to grab a beer (or six) with this chica!

So go forth, my readers, and check 'em out!

When things just don't work out...

Baby and I had plans to meet up with Pocahontas and J.Smith in Playa del Carmen tomorrow through Sunday. It appears that work-related matters on my side are going to keep us here in H-town after all. Too much is going on with both jobs for me to take any time away. Sad...I know! The upside is that Baby is relieved that he will get to take a breather before he leaves for San Juan and St. Croix on Monday for the week...especially since he's been in Kingston all week and not getting back until tomorrow morning. It's been over a year since Pocahontas and J.Smith moved to Denver, so I'm extremely saddened that this is the second time that plans to visit with them haven't panned out. I'm so upset!!!

In order to make up for it, I'm trying to think of something Baby and I can do that will cheer me up. Something we can do Saturday evening or some place we can go. Seeing as college football is on Saturday, I am sure that we'll be doing that most of the day, but I would like to do something else. Hmmmm... I heard of a new bar called Blue Label Lounge that opened near Baby's house that sounds interesting. The website is pretty cheesy with it's "see and be seen" attitude, but whatever. We tend to always like new bars when they just open before they get over-saturated with the early-20's crowd who are still into overly-impressing each other. When it gets to that point, we usually stop going. Strange, huh? It really comes down to hating when bars are so crowded you can't stand in one place without someone bumping into you and spilling half your drink. Ridiculous.

Anyway, I hope the rest you guys have had a good week so far. Any fun plans for the weekend?

Thank The Almighty for Hot Men in Boxer Briefs!

Yesterday, I went to the Human Rights Campaign 2008 Gala Kick-off Party sponsored by The World of Calvin Klein at Macy's in the Galleria. They hosted a mini-fashion show and served hors d'ouevres and cocktails.

So let's be honest here. I really only went for the free food and drinks because we ALL know that these mall fashion shows never have models that look like their advertisments. Be real. If that were the case, I'd be a mall fashion show groupie. Regardless, I had a fantastic time. It's not hard to have a great time when you attend an event like that with four catty gay men...two of who believe they are so fashion-forward it's ridiculous. Let's just say there were a lot of "blue steel" looks (aka the Zoolander pose) given every time a magazine photographer took pictures. I met some interesting event promoters and HRC members/Gala chairspersons. I even signed up to get more information on becoming a member of the Houston chapter as well as possibly getting involved in helping with their Gala. You know me and getting involved in causes. Granted, I can't imagine where I'd find the time to participate, but we shall see if it's something I feel strongly enough to want to be a part of. I'm still undetermined.

After the event, our little entourage headed to our local gay watering hole for some Drag Queen Bingo and, of course, a few more cocktails. Giant actually won in the first round of bingo along with one other guy. Because there were two winners and only one prize given per bingo round, he had to choose a number between 1 and 100. He didn't choose the closest number so he got a "consolation prize" of three cd's (which were all three pretty sucky selections) while the other guy made off with a year's membership to 24-Hour Fitness. How's that for getting slighted? Drag Queen Bingo becomes a pretty big drag (pun completely intended) after the first round, so I headed home and was in bed before 10:30pm.

Although I didn't stay out super late nor did I drink copious amounts of alcohol, I definitely feel worn out today. Testament that my age is catching up to me. Gone are the days of going out on school nights and not feeling any twinge of wear the next day. What sucks is that I have a going away happy hour for one of my favorite guys in the office right after work today. It is only a 6pm-7:30pm thing since he has dinner plans with some of the senior guys at 8pm, but I would rather just go home and be lazy on the couch. Oh, well...

(And YES, I changed the template...AGAIN!)

Finally...I've settled on my template...for now

It's not great nor extraordinary, but at least the colors go better than yesterday's red, yellow, white, lavender, and hot pink - WTF kind of color scheme is that, right?!? I settled on red, white, and orange for the time being. I figured the red, white, and yellow was a bit too McDonald's for me ;)

I shall try to post more once I become inspired. The coffee hasn't kicked in yet...

I suck at this template thing!

As you can tell, I have been fooling around with my template today. I've pulled a Diana Banana by changing it at least 15 times today. I've tried the standard blogger ones as well as a few I've shifted colors on my own. Damn this process takes forever...AND...I still don't like it! The scolor scheme sucks!!! I suppose I should've known better that if Diana Banana couldn't do it, I was destined for failure. I like the red, white, and yellow together so I guess I'll keep working on it. It's hard not to become obsessed with perfecting it. Grrrr!!!!

Oh, well...to make me feel better. I will post a picture that makes me happy and will probably have to be pulled off should Baby EVER look at my blog.

I caught Baby snuggling with his parents' dog Morris yesterday morning. Aren't they too cute?!?!?

Fun game...even if I sweat my arse off!

Yesterday was a blast. The Gators won over Tennessee 59-20. It was awesome!!!

When we arrived into Gainesville yesterday morning, we had to make a quick stop at a Gator shop because the coach made an announcement that he wanted all the fans to wear blue. EEKS! I only brought an orange shirt with cute blue beaded accessories. Damn it! Thank goodness I found a cute shirt at the shop. Baby bought a blue shirt as well since his Gator shirt was white...had to show our support and all!

Once we were done with the impromptu shopping, we headed to one of Baby's friend's tailgate. These people weren't kidding around. As you'll see in the pictures below, they were completely decked out in orange and blue Florida Gator paraphanalia. Reminded me a lot of fun days of going to a few UT (Texas NOT Tennessee) tailgates. A big THANK YOU to AB (for lack of a better nickname at this point) for all his and his family's hospitality!!!

After a few beers, hot dogs, and other munchies, we headed for the stadium. OMG...it was soooooo hot! We sat on the west side of The Swamp, so we were in the shade. However, one of Baby's friends was sitting on the east side students' section which was directly in the sun for almost the entire game. We were absolutely drenched in sweat because of the heat, humidity, and surrounding people's body heat that we could only imagine how miserable the east side of the stadium must have felt. Luckily, there were a few open seats next to us, so we text Baby's friend to join us in the less sweltering section. By the time he showed up after half-time, he was half-dead and his shirt was completely soaked. Poor thing!

After the exciting game, we headed back to the tailgate for more food and to wait out the massive traffic. After a couple hours, we headed back to Brooksville. The drive wasn't too bad coming home, but we were exhausted from the heat and definitely did not smell the greatest. It was a good thing we both smelled gamey so that we barely noticed the other's aroma...haha!

Now we're crossing our fingers to get on a flight home. Baby has to leave for Kingston tomorrow for work, so it would put a major kink in things if we got stuck here an additional night.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Hope you all had a great weekend as well!

Off to Gator Country

I have been absolutely slammed at work all week. Ridiculously slammed. Thus, neglecting this poor little blog...and neglecting to read my fellow bloggers' updates. Which, by the way, a huge CONGRATULATIONS is in order for Diana Banana. She is now a newlywed! WOW!

I have found time to FINALLY post. Granted, I am currently trapped on a plane right now on my way to Tampa, but that is besides the point. I arrived for my flight sans book, magazine, or work to do. EEKS! Two hours on a plane with nothing to do?!?! What am I going to do???? I can only read this Continental Magazine so many times (although it currently has a story about Costa Rica - a place I hope to visit one day). So I decided to write something and post it once I land and get a chance to log into blogger.

Anyway, I will let you kiddos know how the game goes. We're getting into Tampa at around 8pm and have dinner plans with Baby's folks. Tomorrow morning, we're getting up early to drive two hours to Gainesville for the game. It's going to be a freakin' blast. I can't wait!!!

Ok, gotta go...the booze cart is making its way to our row, and I've still got to dig in my purse in hopes for a $5 bill so I can have a personality drink (aka vodka cranberry) before dinner.

Now I've seen it all...

Drop EVERYTHING! Ladies and Gentlemen, I must introduce you to....

OhMiBod

You have to click on the link and read for yourself the wonders of this gem. I think this would make a great Christmas/birthday/you just feel like buying me something gift, don't you agree?

Finish the Meme

I got this off a MySpace post and also saw something similar on Scarlet Hip. Since I'm uninspired again today, I figured I could use it to fill the void...

My ex is still: a jackass.
I'm listening to: thunder outside.
Maybe I should: finish some more work.
I love: traveling to far off destinations.
My best friends: make more money than I do, but I'm okay with being "the pretty one."
I don't understand: Chinese because I'm not Chinese, people!
I lost respect for: Whoopi Goldberg. **She defended Michael Vick saying saying something similar to that "he was raised in the South and didn't know any better about how wrong dog fighting is". I don't see the excuse of "being raised in the South and not knowing any better about how wrong the KKK is" flying as a valid excuse, do you? People "KNOW" right from wrong...so stop making excuses. End of story.**
The meaning of my screen name is: that I want to tell you what I want, what I really really want...although Rice never made the Spice Girl cut.
Love is: a beautiful thing if it happens at the right time with the right person.
Somewhere someone is: wondering why I'm bothering with this meme.
I will always: wonder why I was cursed with such a huge noggin.
Forever seems like: commitment.
I never ever want to lose: my sense of humor.
My mobile phone is: often dropped on the floor.
When I wake up in the morning: I have to go to the bathroom.
I get annoyed at: people who encroach on my personal space. **Why you gotta be all up on me when we're standing in line, mister?**
Parties are: better when you (1) don't have to pay for them and (2) don't have to clean up after them.
My pet: now belongs to my mother.
Kisses are: amazing.
Today I: ran down the hall and tripped on my high heels. Typical.
I really want: to win the Texas Mega Millions Lottery - not picky about the jackpot amount, but the more the better.
I live: in a tiny apartment and have a landlord who calls me if he hasn't seen me for more than 3 days for fear I am dead in a ditch.
I work: a lot.
I think: too much.
I smell: Avon hand creme.
I listen: to all kinds of music, but mostly 80's and early 90's stuff.
I see: too much violence on the local news.
I sing: even when I shouldn't - karaoke, anyone?
I can: plan things with ridiculous amounts of detail in a short amount of time.
I daydream: about being happy, financially sound, and living on a remote tropical island writing a novel.
I fall: all the time.
I want: to be stress-free.
I cry: when I get frustrated.
I love: having my crazy family, Baby, and my high-maintenance friends in my life.
I sometimes: feel guilty for being unhappy about things in my life when others have it so much worse than me.
I fear: midgets.
I hope: to one day have a job in the PR industry again.
I eat: all the time.
I miss: Doc and Sparky
I forgive: almost no one once I cut them out of my life.
I drive: a Honda that bears a striking resemlence to a bumper car.
I dream: about the strangest things.
I kiss: Baby every chance I get.
I hug: just about EVERYONE.
I have: too much going on at all times.
I remember: when I had no responsibilies.
I don't: like unappreciative people.
I believe: in karma.
I know: more than I let on sometimes.
I hate: when people use derogatory terms and think it's either funny or okay to do so.

Thread v. Wax: The Big 'Brow Debate

Apparently, I have sparked some interest in the topic of eyebrow threading. I can't say which would be better for you, but I will let you know my experiences. Personally, I have very sensitive skin. Wax tends to rip layers of my skin off in addition to the hairs, so I end up looking like a red, blood-splotchy cromagnon as my forehead swells like a caveman.

With threading, the only downside that I have experienced is that the constant rubbing of the thread over the skin around my eyebrows tend to irritate it enough to create a bit of a bumpy, diaper rash-looking thing. I know, it sounds horrible, but this lasts for only about 2-3 days, but (to me) is totally worth it when it goes away. My brows are better shaped than with wax and I think that the hairs don't grow as fast. I usually end up needing to tweeze a few strays in about 2.5-3 weeks, but not many. As for pain, it makes your eyes water a bit, but nothing extreme. I guess it depends on your pain threshold. The concept is very much like those old Epilady products. The ones that would just basically pluck a bunch of hairs off of you at the same time. It's a smaller version of that. OH, and it only costs $5 to do. Not bad, eh?

I would suggest everyone try it at least once. It's such an experience to try things that other cultures do for beauty that are now being saturated in America. I'm sure every beauty regiment has a downside, so I suppose it depends on which ones you are privy to handling.

****

Also, here is another article about threading, if you're interested.

All Refreshed

We have lift off! As of Saturday morning, an end came to my horrendous PMS and Baby's reasons for questioning my "demon-like behavior" (as he so eloquently put it). All the ladies can relate to the weight being lifted off my shoulders and my sanity being restored.

Baby went fishing this past weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, and caught all kinds of stuff. He had great stories about their boat trip out in the Atlantic that I almost regretted not going. Almost. I am glad he had such a fantastic time. I'm sure it was well-deserved and very much needed after dealing with me and my mood swings for the 10 days prior. I am also glad I got to spend the weekend here in Houston I got caught up on some well-overdue one-on-one time with Grove and relaxed. Grove and I talked a lot about life and relationships on Saturday in between football, buckets of beer, and water moccasin shots. Who would've thought that we would've gotten so deep watching football? I blame the water moccasins. The conversations were a strong reminder of just how lucky I am to have Baby as well as how much I love him. I'm glad he came back Sunday night because I missed him so much!

Baby and I ran errands and then lounged most of yesterday. He accompanied me to the "Indian" part of town by Hillcroft and Harwin to get my eyebrows threaded. I love how perfectly clean threading gets your eyebrows. Baby was a sport by sitting and waiting as the woman went to town on my brows listening to Indian music wailing loudly throughout the little salon. I occasionally caught him staring at the ceiling with a perplexed look as if to try to understand what the Indian music was saying...too funny! Afterwards, we picked up a few things at the store and decided to hole-up at his house for the rest of the rainy day. We watched the movie Shooter with Mark Wahlberg. Pretty good movie even though the ending was a bit unrealisic, but it's the movies, right? And Mark Wahlberg being pretty easy on the eyes helped a lot, too.

Baby also made me dinner last night. He seared some sirloin steaks that he had marinated and made potatoes au gratin. He's such a great cook. I'm lucky I have a man that likes to cook as much as I do. Since I got off work from Job# 2 tonight, it's my turn to make dinner. I was thinking about this recipe for Pan-Seared Sea Bass with Olives and Tomatoes Baby and I saw on the food network yesterday while flipping through channels. It looked very tasty. Wish me luck...

:(

Last night at around 3:45am, I woke up and started having panic attacks, so I have basically been awake since then seeing as falling back to sleep never really happened. I'm beginning to have those "What am I doing with my life?" thoughts again. I'm sure it was emphasized by my moodiness of late, but I need all of you to send good mojo my way. I feel so out of sorts lately. Maybe I just need a drink...or eight. Baby will be gone for the weekend which should give me more space and time to put my life into perspective. Part of me is upset that he will be gone over the holiday weekend when I specifically asked "we" stay in town, but the other part of me is glad he'll be away as I'm thinking we're at the point where we need some time apart...or at least that I need some time apart. I'm not going to carry on and bitch a whole "woe is me" about how I've been feeling lately any more than I already have. Let's just say that although I put on a great face for the general public, I've been pretty sad lately. Makes me miss Doc living in Houston more than ever!!!

Reminder of why gay men make the best of friends!

I have officially entered the PMS zone. I've been irritable, mood swingy (is that a word?), and down right physically miserable with the swollen body, tender breasts, full-blown cramps, headaches, and massive fatigue. With that said, I am normally a very easy-going person. I usually take a tremendous amount of caca before I blow my top. But of course, once I do, RUN! HIDE! SEEK SHELTER UNDERGROUND!

Lately however, my tolerance level is at an all-time low. Every little thing sends me over the edge in about 15 seconds flat. That doesn't help with me and Baby considering he tends to not pay attention to my initial requests. Therefore, having to repeat myself leads to visions of pushing him down a flight of stairs. Often times I feel guilty for not being as laid back as usual, but then I have Doc right there by my side as my personal PMS cheering section in my near-homicidal tendencies. Short of helping me push Baby down those aforementioned stairs, Doc has been the perfect "Yes Man" in supporting me in my anger management issues lately. "Yes, you should put him in his place!" "No, you did the right thing by saying how you feel!" Even if I'm not right and completely irrational, Doc supports me in my manic behavior. There is something about the unconditional love of a best friend that makes your bad days all better.

Just an example of the ridiculousness between Doc and myself that reminds me how much I love him is the following excerpt from our catty email exchange yesterday when I was kind of feeling low (and, yes, I am a pretty superficial bitch in this email...and yes, I'm okay with that):

*****

Rice: Even these people found love... (attached photo of unattractive couple on their wedding day)

Doc: Who are these people? The boy is kinda cute -- in an ugly way.

Rice: I know the girl. I have no clue who the goober is, but they look so happy in love. I think I'm jealous...

Doc: "Happy in love," huh. See that's the problem. People like you, me, and Beyonce are always trying to be crazy in love. The ugly losers are only trying to be happy in love. Maybe there's something to learn from this picture. Shit, you know (head bobbing), none of us three could handle just being happy in love. It's just not fun and doesn't have a good beat (i.e., doesn't have that good ol' porn rhythm).

*****

Now who can deny such sage advice coming from a licensed psychiatrist?

We have pictures...

Since I have nothing to contribute today for blogging, I decided to post pictures from our trip to Brooksville. There really weren't many pictures, but I thought I'd share a few...

Because our 5pm flight was cancelled, we hopped on over to a completely different terminal to the Fox Sports Grill in Terminal E to watch football, stuff our faces with nachos, and have a couple of frosty beverages until our 9pm departure. That's Baby's sad, "What can you do?" face.

This is Baby giving his dog Morris (aka More Head) kisses

Doggie Butt *hehehe*

*Smiles*

Baby's family with a side of Rice Spice! My head looks HUGE in this picture. Why does my head look 3 times bigger than everyone else's?!?! I don't think it looks like that in real life...or does it? Hmmmm...

Brooksville Trip

***Written yesterday on the plane, but forgot to post it when I got home***

Our trip to Brooksville was a whirlwind. Sadly, our 5pm flight out of Houston on Friday was cancelled. We were unable to get out until 9pm. Seeing as we didn't arrive into Tampa until a little after midnight, there wasn't much we could do but go right to sleep. Arriving 5 hours late ruined our plans to eat at a premier steakhouse in Tampa Baby's parents were planning to take us, and it made the almost hour drive to Brooksville even that much more exhausting. Oh, well.

Saturday was more eventful. Baby and his sister took me on the "grand tour" of Brooksville. For those who grew up with me, let me give you an idea of what Brooksville is like. As my previous suspicions were that it would be a lot like Channelview, I was relatively correct. It is CV, a sprinkle of North Shore, and a lot of Pasadena/Deer Park minus the refineries. Strangely, it may very well have been smaller than CV - amazing, huh? Needless to say, I wasn't taken aback by the "small town" premise his family thought I would find so different from inner loop Houston. Being smaller than CV, everyone literally knew everyone. No joke. Driving down the streets in one day, they recognized at least six cars driving of which they knew the drivers. We even ate at a restaurant of which Baby went to high school with the owner.

After the driving tour, we headed back into Tampa about 50 miles away to go shopping at the International Mall. You all know my dislike of shopping, but Baby's mom did end up buying me some gloss and lip liner from Chanel as a gift. I argued back and forth about not wanting anything, but I had made the mistake in mentioning that I needed new lipstick that morning, and she remembered. It was extremely sweet of her. I actually ordered them two bottles of wine as a thank you for all their hospitality - an Italian merlot for Baby's dad and an Italian pino grigio for for his mom. Unfotunately, they won't receive it until the end of next week (damn holiday) because it was almost $30 more to expedite it to arrive only 2 business days earlier. Ridiculous, don't you think? I hope they like it regardless.

Anyway, after the mall, we headed to a steakhouse for dinner. Baby got a steak while the rest of us got seafood. It was fabulous by the way. Then, we headed home to watch some of the Tampa Bucs pre-season football game against the Dolphins. That was about it.

This morning, we had a quick breakfast and visited with Baby's grandmother who lives directly next door to Baby's parents. Afterwards we were on our way back to the airport for our 11:35am flight. I wasn't kidding that our quick trip could give someone whiplash. Baby got stopped by security at the airport because he triggered the explosive materials detector. They took him to a secured area to check him and his carryon with special scanners and hand picked through his bag. Crazy. Wonder if his chapstick in his pocket or the new cologne he was wearing that his mom bought him at the mall the day before had anything to do with what the machines picked up. We almost missed the flight!!! It's always something when Baby travels - cancelled flights, delays, missed connections, and NOW... cavity search for explosives!

To much saddness, I got some terrible news while catching up on friends' blog pages on the drive to Tampa airport on my blackberry. Banana had a horrible 30th birthday on Friday. I send her all of the mental hugs I can possible give. Also, I offer a supportive ear and a surprisingly super tear-absorbing shoulder if ever wanted or needed. I need everyone I know to send good thoughts and positive mojo her way!