I've found my cash cow! Or, at least my cash calf...

You know when you see items at the store on tv and think, "Man! I should've thought of that!" I do that almost everyday. So many products that are sold are such simple concepts. Make you wonder why you haven't already thought of something that could drop some extra dinero your way. Think about the soda can dispenser for you refrigerator, the PedEgg for your feet, the hard plastic sandwich box to keep your sandwich from getting smooshed, or the briefcase with wheels. Granted some of the products sell extremely inexpensively, but even if you had a product that costs the consumer $3 0r $4, that's still quite a bit once you add the millions of consumers that will buy it because it's "nifty". Or imagine if you had a product you could sell for about $30...hmmmm...the possibilities. Of course, you also have to keep in mind the initial cost of producing your product.

So here's the deal. Tonight, I had an epiphany. I won't say what the epiphany was or what exactly that I was doing when it came to me, but I've been scouring the internet to see if something like it even exists since it happened. After Google-ing and using other search engines for derivatives of what this product could be called and not coming up with an existing product or similar image of a product to my idea, I think this could very well be something innovative. I got so excited that I called Boyfriend about it even though I had just gotten off the phone with him about an hour earlier to say our good nights. Although he initially giggled at the fact that I got so excited about coming up with something and how I couldn't wait until morning to tell him, he also thought it was a great concept.

I suppose I should research this more and possibly create a rough prototype. Wish me luck that this product does not exist! Maybe one day, I'll blog about a new product that was created by your very own Rice Spice :)

Update

I know, I know... you feel neglected. I promise you that it is not because I don't want to blog, but I have been absolutely slammed at work lately (which is when I normally squeeze in some slacker time to post) and my life in general has been nothing short of chaotic.

First off, the Houston home is SOLD! We no longer have official residence in Texas...sadness. We are now owners of a beautiful little townhome at the Westshore Yacht Club (photo is of one of the pools at the yacht club...nice, huh?). Currently, I am living with my friend Blondie as I continue to get myself better positioned to move and be with Boyfriend permanently. Many thanks to Blondie for taking in a vagabond!!!

Our stuff was suppose to arrive via Mayflower moving truck Wednesday, but the guy had a death in the family and informed Boyfriend that he will be there tomorrow instead. Grrr!!! I feel bad for the mover guy, but my life is on a very strict schedule and he threw it all off! I planned to take Wednesday and Thursday off from Job #1 so that I can be there when the movers arrived and have an additional day to unpack a few things. That way, I can tell them exactly where to put furniture so that if I don't like it the way I envisioned it, they can rearrange it or take it to a different floor of the house rather than us doing it on our own after they leave. NOW... Boyfriend will have to do all the furniture placement with the movers by himself. Not that he is incapable of such a feat, but if I don't like where he has something placed, he and I may be moving a big screen tv from one floor to another...and that is just not happy times. So being the control freak that I am, I have printed out the floor plan of the new house, and started drawing where I want everything. I know...anal much? Anyway, I plan to scan and email it to Boyfriend so that he has explicit directions as to where things will go. I told him to use his best judgement because if it looks bad or I misjudged space size, he will have to figure out how to make things work. So I will arrive Wednesday and just spend time unpacking and determining what we need or are lacking for the new house.

So as of right now, my travel schedule is as follows:

• Wednesday - 7am flight to Tampa arriving at 10:30am, survey the layout of our furniture and determine neccesities to purchase, go shopping for the house, unpack a few things
• Thursday - unpack more stuff then take a flight at 9pm arriving back to Houston at 10:10pm.
• Friday - Work Job #1 since I couldn't take off (toooooo much going on at the office that I couldn't be away for 3 days) and then depart on a flight after work back to Tampa for the weekend

My nickname is "Headless Chicken" at this point! Anyone wonder why I've been having bouts of insomnia lately????

Anyhoodle, the job hunt in Tampa is still going at a snail's pace. On a positive note, I now officially have a Tampa cell phone number and address to replace all my Houston contact info on my resume. This should help me get a little more attention since they will consider that my resume is from someone local rather than out of state - let's hope, right? I need you all to send me your lucky mojo because this sista needs it!

In the meantime, I am continuing to enjoy the company of my close friends in Houston while I'm still here. I am always reminded...and even more so right now in the midst of all this craziness... that my friends ROCK! Of course, I look forward to meeting new people in Tampa, but those new people have quite a tough act to follow...

Boyfriend has a rebuttle to my doggie fever

As I turned the computer on today to get caught up on current news events and to stalk a few of my fellow bloggers, I notice that Boyfriend had replaced my absolutely adorable desktop image of Otis and Mabel with this:



Apparently, he feels that a French bulldog puppy should be our addition to the family...even though he's still standing his ground that we are absolutely NOT getting him any time soon. I'm still a Boston terrier gal, but it's hard to say no to a picture like the one above, dontcha think? Does he look like an Otis? Because I really like the name Otis, so the dog needs to look like an Otis. The one above kind of looks more like a Yoda rather than an Otis if you ask me... much more pensive. But it's so damn aborable, too!!! If it were up to me, we'd get one of each - an Otis and a Yoda. Now that would be fantastic, but I think Boyfriend would lay down the law...or have a heart attack...one or the other.

My clock isn't broken, just a couple hours slow

In the past year, we have had just about all our female friends have their biological clocks go into overdrive. I tend to find the phenomon quite entertaining. The ones with boyfriends/husbands determined that it's time to grow up and raise a family. In our circle of friends, that does not mean having babies. That means taking on pets...hehe...such is the life of young professionals. As for our single girlfriends, most are in their late-20's and early-30's looking for someone to direct their affections. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I think it's great as I am a huge animal lover. I, unfortunately, just have not had time to fully nurture the idea of a pet seeing over the last few years as my two jobs make it a bit difficult to be a good "parent".

However, I have been sooooo yearning for a little four-legged doggie running around lately. I keep telling Boyfriend that we need one. I even know exactly the kind I want and know what to name him...because, of course, it WILL be a "he", and Boyfriend has no say in naming him. He will be a boston terrier and his name will be Otis. Nice, huh? Boyfriend is running resistence to my campaign for a new family member. Although I agree that we are in a major transition and a dog would make things even more complicated, I am still working on softening him to the concept.

Even as we looked at some of the homes in Tampa, I made sure to remind Boyfriend that we needed enough room for Otis to run around as I am sure he'd bore easily if we lived at a place with a tiny yard. In addition, I have added this picture as our screen saver to remind Boyfriend of how cute Otis is:

Here is a picture I found at which I have named the black and white terrier Otis and the lighter terrier is his friend Mabel - short for Maybelline. I even tell Boyfriend, "Say good night to Otis," when he powers down the computer. Yes, I know... I'm not at all bizarre.

In the end, Boyfriend is right (and you will rarely ever read/hear me admit that, so he better relish in this instance!). Transitioning into a new city, getting situated with a new job, and trying to regain a network of connections will not leave much time to tend to a new puppy for either one of us. It would be extremely unfair to the little guy, so I guess Otis will have to be on hold temporarily.

In short, I guess that when all my girlfriends had baby fever, they got dogs. I have puppy fever, so I guess I'll just get a fish. I just don't think this:

...will ever be as cuddly as Otis. Sigh.

Radio Silence

I apologize to you all for not blogging lately. I've had my world spiral out of control over the last month. So much so that I've been both emotionally and mentally too overwhelmed to put it into words. Also, I'm still a bit leary of blogging about it as I am somewhat still in limbo at the moment.

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First off, let's start with the catalyst to my life going into overdrive. Maybe two or three months ago, Boyfriend and I had a discussion about the future. As some of you may know, Boyfriend and I have already had the whole "getting married" conversation. We agreed that we both want to eventually. Luckily, neither one of us is in a race to make it down the aisle - which is nice that we are on the same page. That in mind, that is NOT what the "discussion about the future" entailed. It was more about where we wanted to end up habitation-wise as we got older and really settled down. Boyfriend really wants to somehow end up in Florida again...his home state. I understand this feeling as I would love to stay in Texas because it is MY home. BUT... I came to the realization when we discussed spending our lives together over a year ago that in the end Rice Spice would be retiring to the land of the geriatrics. It was just with our recent discussion that he proposed the idea of us moving to Florida in the next year or two rather than during our retirement. His parents are getting older and he would really like to be there in their final years. Initially, I would say, "Well, what about my parents here in Houston?" but it looks like that defense isn't going to work since my folks are retiring to the Philippines and currently building their house there as I type this.

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As that goes, we agreed that in the next 1-2 years we would start transitioning. Seeing as Boyfriend is extremely maticulous in doing his research for companies he needs to keep in mind for a job in Tampa, he found the ONLY oil and gas engineering firm in just about all of Florida right there in Tampa. What are the odds, right? Most O&G companies are either here in Houston or international. So now he had his sights on them. He decided to check their career site, and low and behold! There just happened to be a management position tailored specifically to his experience except for the fact that it asked for someone with 10-15 years experience in the industry when he only had six. He decided that he would send his resume in just so that they would recognize his name in the next couple of years when he really wants to pursue them. As luck would have it, the company called him the day after he sent his resume. The last week of May, they flew him down for an interview, loved him, and virtually offered him the job on the spot - the offer letter was sent the following week. Apparently six years of experience in the Houston O&G industry is like 12 years everywhere outside of Houston.

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On the flip side, it doesn't stop there. The week Boyfriend was going to Tampa for the interview, an old coworker of his we had bumped into at one of our million weddings a month ago also called him about a job opportunity at his previous employment. They wanted him back and sweetened the pot with LOTS of moolah! The only catch is that the job was in the Middle East in Bahrain. Hmmm.... definitely an awesome professional move for him doing O&G work in the mecca of O&G. So there it is... we spent the last couple of weeks toiling with his decision.

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Just to add more to the decision of where we'd be, Tampa or Baharain, both would take our relationship to a faster track than we hoped. He already knew that I have never left Houston for anyone...even myself. If we were to move to Tampa, Boyfriend understood that a ring would be in the near future. Not because I would ever force that upon him, but seriously. Can you guess the looks on peoples' faces when I say that I'm giving up my well-paying job, my sister and brother, my friends, and my extremely networked life in Houston for a boyfriend? I get that look as if I'm nuts to be dropping everything for...JUST a boyfriend. At least if I say "fiancee", I don't feel like such a wide-eyed misguided moron. And don't you all lie... you would all think the same thing if one of your friends came up to you saying just that. You'd wonder if they really thought things through seeing as they may or may not even stay together. It's strange how society has a general way of thinking - so negative. Plus being engaged would help me justify moving...I know...it's retarded, but I am who I am. Not that I would require we get married quickly as that was still never really in the immediate plans.

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On the other hand, we would have to race to the alter if he chooses Bahrain. His company would not pay for my move with him nor would I have someone to sponsor my visa if we are just dating. Short of getting work there myself, it would be impossible for me to go with him unless we were going as married status. Sheesh! So of course, that was something that threw us even more to stress about...planning a wedding on the fly.

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In the end, Boyfriend chose the Tampa opportunity. Although financially the Middle East job offered more money and a priceless piece on his resume, his and my safety played a huge issue. We would not be based in a place like Dubai which is less dangerous and more internationally populated. We'd be in Bahrain which is not as progressed as Dubai, and he would have to travel back and forth to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for work. For those who have seen Boyfriend, he looks like someone would pay a ransom for him and would in no way blend in with the locals. I would also be stuck in Bahrain for periods of time by myself while he traveled for business both domestically in the Middle East and back to the States. That would suck seeing as I wouldn't be able to do much while I'm there. Not like I can grab a drink with friends at a local bar since there is no alcohol in Bahrain. Yes, you read right! Shoot me now!!! Boyfriend gave his two weeks at his current employment and as of June 27th is on hiatus until he starts the new job the first week of August.

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Sidebar: Boyfriend's house that has been on the market since late last year got an offer and we need to be out of the house for closing on July 23rd! See!!! I wasn't kidding when I said a lot has happened all at once.

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So with all this in mind, Boyfriend went to Tampa last Sunday to start a three-day crash course of looking at houses with a real estate agent. He was to narrow down a few homes we picked online as well as the agent's suggestions for me to view the top 5 when I was to arrive on Wednesday. It appears the Tampa market has nothing worthwhile to offer. They were one of the hardest hit in the real estate market downturn and have yet to equalize. So what we're seeing were people trying to sell homes for well over their worth. We see that leveling off by the end of the year as the market continues to flood with foreclosures. So we may be waiting until winter before buying...maybe later. We spent the better part of Wednesday looking at the top picks regardless so that I could get a feel for the homes out there.

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Luckily, we decided to take two days out of our hunt to relax at Clearwater Beach. Beautiful! We really needed a couple of days of clearing our head since the last month has been non-stop! We stayed at the Sandpearl Resort. I highly recommend it if you ever get a chance to go to Clearwater. Funny thing is we saw Chris Rock staying there, too!!! This was the beach right outside our hotel door...

Nice beach, huh?Here we are on our last day at the beach!

Chris Rock and his entourage having lunch at the table next to us...I was being sneaky by taking the picture of him without turning around. Pretty good amateur papparazzi picture-taking if I do say so myself!

It's amazing how clean and beautiful that beach is compared to Galveston...and they are both from the Gulf! Anyway, this beach would be about 25 minutes away from where we plan to live in Tampa. Jealous much?
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We got back into Houston on Saturday to spend the day with some good friends. We tried to relax a bit last night, but ended up doing some cleaning. I dropped Boyfriend off at the airport this morning before I went to work so that he can continue the saga of finding us a new abode. Looks like we've already got a backup plan seeing as we've chosen an apartment there already (Casa Bella on Westshore), but we just found out about some townhomes and single-family homes that have popped up on our radar at the Westshore Yacht Club community that we wanted to check out before signing a lease. It would be so much easier to do one move from our house here to having the movers take everything to a house there in Tampa, but we definitely don't want to buy something we don't LOVE. So an apartment is probably more in the cards than we had hoped.
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As for my employment status, I have decided not to leave my job right away. Ideally, I would prefer that I have a new job secured in Tampa before I leave, but that is posing to be a bit difficult. I plan to stick it out in Houston until then though... or for at least a month or two after Boyfriend leaves. As you've guessed, Job#1 is in the dark. I don't want them to know I am looking because I may be stuck here for some time and don't want to be out of a paycheck with them. I figure once I find something in Tampa, I will give my 2 or more weeks notice. I will definitely give them enough time to find a replacement for me to train upon my departure. If I can't find something over the next month or so, I may go ahead and move out to Tampa and do some temp work until the right job rears it's head to me. At least, I would be able to maintain a paycheck and be local whenever a good job opportunity arises. I met with a recruiter and staffing agency while I was in Tampa so that they can start scouting out new jobs for me as well as that they have me in their system already should I decide to come out and do contract/temp work for a while. So this is also a big reason why I have not blogged lately. I'm usually very particular regarding blogging about work and the possibility of people putting two and two together and realizing it is me on this blog. Out of concern that me looking for another job may get back to my employer, I've been holding off. Cross your fingers that they don't ever find this!!!
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Well, there you have the novel that has made my life crazy over the last month. So H-town needs to prepare itself as Rice Spice's days are numbered here...