Blah Blah Blah

After work yesterday, I attended a work happy hour with one of our portfolio companies. It was alright...typical work happy hour. I consider it "working after hours." I got to meet a number of new people from the other company which was nice, but I would've much rather been at home vegetating on the couch.

Afterwards, I attended a party for friends who got engaged that night. AK's boyfriend proposed during dinner at Brennan's and then headed over to Reef for drinks where all their friends would be waiting to surprise her in a celebration of champagne toasts! AK was so excited to see everyone and her ring was GORGEOUS! Luckily, I was able to duck out around 9:30pm and was in bed by 10pm...woohoo!

Other than that, I have nothing to report today. I plan to finally unpack that last pesky large box from my move seeing it's been over a month and Boyfriend is pretty tired of maneuvering around an obstacle course in the walk-in closet. Now don't laugh, but Boyfriend and I seriously want to watch the newest Rambo that comes out today. Maybe we'll see it tomorrow. You have to give Stallone some props for being 102 years old and still trying to play John Rambo. I think part of me is going for the nostalgia of seeing Rambo...c'mon everybody loves a non-thought-requiring action movie every once in a while...but partly because the dialogue in that script has got to be priceless. I swear Sly only had 4 lines in the first movie! It was like Cast Away with explosions and killing people...so I guess really nothing like Cast Away...hehe.

An Alcoholic's Mirage

I must be craving a martini... When I was scanning Amazon's Bestsellers book list, this book was #6. I honestly read that this book was by "Marci SMIRNOFF with Carol Kane". I thought to myself, "Wow...that's some serious propaganda by Smirnoff to tell you how to be happy... Step 1. Drink lots of Smirnoff..." I also thought it was a nice touch that Carol Kane contributed to the book since, although I'm not sure if she was a certifiable alcoholic, she was always so ditzy she might as well have been drunk every time I saw her on screen.

After reading the authors' names correctly on my double-take, I decided that it was me who in fact had drinks on the brain and sobriety in question. Well...tahtah for now...I'm off to happy hour.

I'm famous!

Ok...not really. It's actually kind of cheesy, but sometime in early December I went to the unveiling of the newest Bentley that just came out. Don't ask me what it was because I really just showed up for the free food and booze - I'm a classy broad that way. It was some highfalutin thing at the Bentley dealership near The Galleria that was catered and by invitation only. However, I don't want you to think I was formally invited...au contraire, mon amie...I am friends with a girl who does a lot of public relations work, and she invited me. I consider myself not quite six-degrees but maybe three-degrees of separation from being a social mover and shaker in Houston...haha! A few friends and I had our picture taken, and low and behold. I see myself in this January's issue of Icon Magazine - one of the Houston scene magazines. So if you get absolutely bored and want to stalk me, find the magazine and turn to page 87. I like to call that picture "Rice Spice and her gay entourage." I attended with Giant, Ghurl, and one of their friends who, as if you couldn't tell by the photo, are Fred Phelps' worse nightmare. I assure you that I won't let this bit of "stardom" get to my head. Although, Paris and Nicky make it look so easy to be famous for being famous, don't they?

Are you f'ing kidding me?!?!?

I was just pushed to the level of irate! I was reading one of my favorite blogs Dlisted, when he posted about that jackass Fred Phelps and his band of idiots announcing their plans to picket Heath Ledger's funeral because he depicted a gay cowboy in the 2005 movie Brokeback Mountain.

For those of you unfamiliar with Fred Phelps and The Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, KS, they are the relentless, homophobic, hateful people who believe the Iraqi war was punishment by God for our tolerance of homosexuality. And because of that, they picket fallen soldiers' funerals in their disdain of sexual freedom. Mind you, these fallen soldiers' families have to deal with this circus sideshow which is merely nothing more than a ploy for media attention during their time of grief and when their fallen family member is more than likely not even gay. WTF?!?! I can't even begin to scratch the surface on how angry this makes me. It enfuriates me that this group even protests homosexuality and even more so that it blindly attacks anyone just because they can. *Grrrrr....trying my damnedest to keep my cool and not scream right now!!!*

Luckily, there is a motorcycle group called the Patriot Guard Riders who have been appearing at these funerals to pay respects to the fallen servicemen/women and to protect the families from the protesters. I absolutely admire these people for caring enough to stand between these repulsive morons who show up with their hurtful signs that have nothing to do with respecting the loss of life. If I had a motorcycle, I would so volunteer to be a PGR at local funerals! However, seeing as PGR is for people in the service, I wonder if they will still assist in Heath Ledger's funeral or if there will be something similar. If anything, I'm sure the local police will be on-hand seeing as Phelps has already issued his statement that they plan to be at the funeral. So frustrating!

I know it is evil to wish bad things on someone, but I'm definitely not sending warm and fuzzy thoughts Fred Phelps' way!!!

Trying to be all that I can be...no I'm not joining the army

Seeing I've gone weeks and almost a month at a time not blogging, I thought I would try to challenge myself starting today...

I am going to try to post everyday until February 22nd - exactly one month from today. No matter how mundane my life is or how busy I am, I will TRY ("try" being the operative word here) to post something. Let's see how good I am at this. If for whatever reason I do not get to blog...for instance, I was being attacked by a gang of ninja midgets...damn ninja midgets...then I will have to post twice to make up for it the following day. I think there is an official month that is designated as the "Blog Everyday" month or something to that effect, but (1)I'm not sure when it is, (2) I'm almost positive it recently passed, and (3) it's my damn blog and I can do what I want so I'm starting this today.

Hopefully, this will entertain a couple of my friends who don't necessarily need even more distractions from work, but if you're going to be surfing the internet during work hours...why not have it be to read about ME and how wonderful I am?!?! Yes, please contain your excitement...

Long weekend update

Boyfriend and I did nothing of extreme excitement this weekend. We stayed in Friday night which was very nice. We rented the movie 1408 - very freaky! I so love John Cusack, but the rumors are right...he is starting to look a bit like Kevin Spacey...not good. I think we were in bed before 10:30pm - party animals, I say! Although... I had a few friends out at a house party that wouldn't stop calling me to meet up. I think the last call logged in at somewhere after 2am. Poor Boyfriend kept thinking one of our friends were either lying in a ditch using their dying breath to call me, using their one phone call from the clink to ask for bail money, or that if we got one more phone call we would have to get dressed and see why this party was so friggin' awesome. I decided to just click the phone off and sleep through the night after the last call...hopefully I didn't miss any dying breath phone calls or anyone needing me to bail them out of county lock-up.

Saturday, we decided to go to the gym for a quick workout and then meet up with my family to have a quick lunch. I still had belated Christmas gifts from Doc to give to my niece and nephew as well as Mama Spice. Here is a video of my nephew enjoying the wrapping paper more than the Lenox China ornament of Mickey Mouse that Doc got him.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Here is a picture of my sassy niece in her rockin' pink sunglasses pushing around her doll in a stroller. I kept telling her to look at me and smile, but she was perfecting her "I'm famous...don't talk to me" brush-off as if I was some two-bit paparazzi.

On Sunday, Boyfriend and I watched some football and then I worked in the evening...boooo! Very uneventful.

In observance of Dr. MLK, I was off yesterday. Boyfriend was not. I did, however, get a chance to meet up with J and Falkor - two guys I went to high school with and hadn't seen since graduation. That makes almost 13 years...jeez...time flies! For now I will call the one guy "J" as I am still not sure what a good nickname would be and the other is Falkor because J says he is magical like the luck dragon on The Neverending Story - J's too funny.

We met up for a vietnamese lunch and then headed over to the movies to watch Cloverfield. If you are planning to see this movie, save your $$$$. It wasn't horrendous, but it wasn't great. I'm seeing it was a major hit at the box office this weekend, but it was still a disappointment. It was Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla meets SUCK ASS MOVIE! If you really want to watch it, wait for it to be on dvd...or better yet when they show it on cable on the TNT or TBS or USA networks.

That was it. I wish I had done something much more interesting, but that's all this chica's got.

San Juan Update

Let's start by me noting that it took every part of my being not to stay in Puerto Rico through the weekend. Boyfriend and I seriously considered it. Unfortunately, the whole point of the matter was to save money by me meeting up with him for a mini-vacation. More of a vacation for myself rather than for him with the hopes that he'd be able to break away. Poor Boyfriend worked the WHOLE time. He got no beach time or pool time in except for maybe twenty minutes before we had to check out of the hotel. Thus, wanting to extend our stay a bit so that he could relax. Oh, well...maybe next time.

I actually got a lot of chill time in. I arrived on Tuesday early evening in time to grab dinner with Boyfriend, have an evening cocktail, and go to bed. The next day, Boyfriend headed to work around 8:30am and I roamed around the area. I walked around Isla Verde (the area we stayed) and further got my bearings of our hotel, the InterContinental San Juan Resort, Spa & Casino. After that, I headed for this awesome beach to relax and read my new book I picked up at the Newark airport on my way to San Juan.

Isn't it so gorgeous and peaceful???

The low temperatures were in the mid-70's and the highs in the low- to mid-80's...sure beats this chilly weather we've been having in H-town.

I decided to be all kinds of unhealthy and snacked on a fried calamari appetizer. These were my lunchtime essenstials: calamari, water, blackberry, and my new book "The Testament" by Eric Van Lustbader. If you are looking for a new book to read, I highly recommend this one. It was written by the guy who wrote "The Bourne Legacy" which is a follow-up to the three novels written by Robert Ludlum that were made into movies about Jason Bourne - The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum. For some reason, this book didn't get the greatest reviews with the Amazon crowd, but I really liked it...

There weren't very many people on the beach right after lunch... I love it when the beaches aren't overcrowded! I just had my toes painted at the hotel salon before lunch, so I thought I would capture them in this lovely beach setting. Note to self: NEVER spend that much money on a pedicure again!!!!

The first night I was there, we ate at a restaurant down the street from our hotel in Isla Verde called Metropol. Fyi-- do NOT eat here. The food was, in Boyfriend's exact words, "God awful." So Wednesday night, we ate in Old San Juan about twenty minutes away at a place called Aguaviva (meaning Jellyfish). Here is a picture of me and my burnt self... I never get a sunburn, but for the first time I got one because I didn't put sunblock on my chest. Weird that I never get sunburned on the mainland U.S. or Hawaii, but here I am in Puerto Rico with one...strange.

Here is Boyfriend drinking Aguaviva's renowned watermelon sangria...which, by the way, was spectacular!

I ordered a grilled salmon with a bacon risotto while Boyfriend ordered a fried whole red snapper with a lobster stuffing. I had to take a picture of it staring at me...haha! Both dishes were excellent. More than made up for the "God awful" dinner the night before.

On Thursday morning, Boyfriend headed to the office with the hopes to get out of there before lunch. Sadly, he got caught up in the office yet again as I mentioned earlier how he only squeezed in a few minutes before our check-out time to head to the airport.

It was extremely hard getting back to Houston's cold, dreary weather but I had to. Boyfriend even tried to think of ways to prolong the business negotiations so that we could stay through the weekend, but to no success. I was greeted this morning at my office with a nice pile of work that I need to complete. Luckily, I'm off on Monday for MLK...woot! All this time off right after the holidays is probably not a good thing as it is making it even that much harder to fully get into the swing of things.

This weekend, I have nothing planned except for watching some football and relaxing. What is everyone else up to????

Heading for some fun in the sun!

It's right after midnight as I'm headed to the east coast. Yes, you guessed it...Miss Spice is on a plane again. So here's the deal. Boyfriend is in San Juan, Puerto Rico until Thursday on business. The idea of him being at a tropical location staying at a hotel on the beach was just not going to do without a side of Rice hitching along, dontcha think? So I decided to take a couple days off to meet him out there. Granted, he will be stuck working the whole time, but I don't mind curling up with good book on the beach all by my lonesome.

The downside of this venture to the Caribbean is that I have to take a slight detour. Seeing as I am flying standby because Job #2 is at an airline, I'm at the mercy of how full the flights are. The nonstop flights from Houston to San Juan are overbooked both Monday and Tuesday, but the flights from Newark (yes, NEW JERSEY) to San Juan are wide open on Tuesday all day...which brings us to me being on a plane to the east coast.

I'm actually heading for NYC to spend the night with Doc. Doc and I plan to have breakfast at Pastis with his new boyfriend German in the morning. German is...well...German. Accent and all. I know, I know...original. After breakfast, I will catch the noon flight that gets me into San Juan the same time the Houston flight would have had it not been so friggin' overbooked. So overall, I'm merely taking a 3.5 hour detour that allows me some time with Doc. In essence, the downside actually has a quite a bit of upside.

Well, we are starting our descent so the flight attendant is about to come around and tell me to shut my blackberry off. I will try to post while I am in PR, BUT no promises!!!

Dear 13-Year-Old Rice Spice

For a while, this tag was going around to write a letter to your 13-year-old self. I thought it was very cool, but never got around to jumping on the band wagon. But, seeing as I was completely useless as work today because my computer crashed and all I could open was the Word Program and the Internet, I decided to start my letter. What do you think?

Dear 13-Year-Old Rice Spice,

You are officially in junior high. Currently, you love New Kids on the Block as well as The Cure, Depeche Mode, Madonna, and Janet Jackson. Let me tell you now, stop spending your parents’ money on all that New Kids shit because it won’t be worth anything when you get older. Yes, yes, I know…you may think they are the next coming of The Beatles, but sadly, they are not. In 17 years, Danny will still look like a monkey, Donnie’s brother will have a more successful singing then later acting career than him, Jon will fall off the face of the Earth, Jordan (the love of your life) will become an asshole and even more so after he unsuccessfully tries to revive his music career, and Joey goes on to star and win on a dancing show of celebrity has-beens. Pretty depressing. On a lighter note, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Madonna, and Janet are still performing.

As I believe that everything happens for a reason and all the decisions and even mistakes we've made are what makes us who we are today, I still feel there are a few things that would’ve made your life easier had you simply had the assistance of your 30-year-old self serving as a guide. However, you are very stubborn (a trait you will never shake), so this may all be for nothing.

1. Your parents are smarter than you think. They WILL catch you sneaking out. It may take a few years to catch you hopping in and out of that window, but they will. So either stop doing it or come up with a better plan than putting your stuffed panda in your place under the covers. Otherwise, come up with a much better excuse when you’re caught than that one of your friends “really needed you because she was crying and depressed.” Honestly, what the hell is a 13-year-old going to do at 1am for another 13-year-old who’s upset. Yea, nothing…so find a better excuse – something with severed body parts, psychotic clown killers, anything is better than that load of crap.
2. When you get to high school, you will have a lot of fun despite your parents’ desire to thwart it. There is definitely a cultural gap to contend with, but just be strong and work through it. It makes you a better person to later understand the adversity your parents were facing in a new country with different views and ideals.
3. When you have your choice to go to college, do not feel guilty by your parents to stay in town nor that the scholarship you receive at University of Houston is the best reason to go there – even though it was the most money offered. You have many other opportunities that surface, think about those longer and harder. You will go into A LOT of debt for school no matter where you go.
4. Should you still decide to go to UH, when you meet a cute guy in your literature class your second semester of freshman year, RUN! Ok, I’m being a bit harsh. Enjoy dating him for a year…maybe two, but when you get the first inkling that you guys are past your prime and you should let it go, do so. Do not drag it on. Do not let him take care of your finances as a couple. Do not get engaged. Do not let him convince you that you are less than you are or that you can’t do any better. Do not let him tell you that you are not a beautiful person because you are! Do not let his inability to handle situations give you any impression it is your fault. FUCK HIM!
5. Probably the most important piece of advice I can give you is in regards to the summer of 2004. Go to your parents and ask for money, go to the bank and get a loan, make your parents get a loan, and beg your friends for spare change. I know this sounds strange and that you will probably shrug me off, but this is by far the best advice you will get from this letter. Buy as many shares of this thing called Google (GOOG) during their IPO on August 19, 2004. This will be the lowest it will ever sell for. I know this is all foreign to you, but TRUST, you will LOVE me for telling you this. Keep it for 3 years and sell it for about 7 times its initial worth. Hell, tell your friends about it, too. Rich people should hang out with other rich people, don't you think?
6. And lastly, when your friend with the big, greenish hazel eyes starts going out with you to dinner by yourself and not with the group and you realize that it could be for ulterior motives, stop fighting it. Go with it, sista! All you’re doing is wasting time and stalling. You still end up with him in the end, so this whole cat and mouse thing and keeping it hush-hush is ridiculous. Your friends figure it out anyway, so why bother? I even think your friends figure it out before you even figure it out for yourself. Yes, he will drive you crazy, but you will love him regardless and more than you’ve ever loved anyone before. Also, he’ll love you even more if you have that GOOG stock I mentioned earlier :)
   

Overall, you learned to take care of yourself early on even if your choices weren’t always the best and sometimes may have even been the worst, but all in all you survived a lot. Actually, I’m surprised you are not dead by 30. You will always make mistakes because, c’mon, you’re Rice Spice… BUT, regardless, you are one kick-ass broad and don’t you ever forget that! You have a great family and wonderful friends that not many can say they are lucky enough to have. So go forth, 13-year-old self, and die your hair purple then red then blonde, keep driving your parents crazy, and continue to let curiosity get the best of you. That’s how you experienced some of your greatest adventures!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

No, I have not died nor have I contracted a phobia of blogging. I see that it has almost been a full month that I have not blogged...EEKS! Sorry about that. The month of December has been a whirlwind for me. In short, here are a few of the things that happened:

• I moved - yea, it sucked!
• Went to NYC for Job #1's holiday party. The company flew everyone and their dates to the Big Apple for two nights. It was a beautiful event and fun visiting and shopping with Doc...but EXTREMELY cold!
• Went to Florida with Boyfriend to visit his family the weekend before Christmas - lots of food and shopping
• Spent Christmas with my family - even more food...I think I ate enough to feed a small third-world country in the last couple of weeks
• Threw a New Year's Eve Party with Boyfriend

I am thoroughly exhausted just thinking about how busy my month was. So glad it's over! Seeing as the last bullet point is the most recent event, I will go into a little more detail about that.

We had about 15 people come over to ring in the new year. I picked up a sandwich platter and meat and cheese tray from Honeybaked Ham, bought a veggie tray, and made my very popular garlic 'n' herb spinach dip (take note to the recipe, Single Girl. It's so easy and people will think you're a culinary whiz). I even set up my nifty new chocolate fountain...

Here are a few pictures of the evening...

Here is the lovely spread of appetizers that we had for the party

Nothing like a chocolate fondue fountain with pretzels, marshmallows, and strawberries...YUM!

The dessert station and more party favors

Getting started with the festivities...

The Gang

Congregating in kitchen...why is it we ALWAYS all end up in the kitchen?!?!

About to start the countdown with champagne in hand...

YAY! Doc was able to ring in the new year with us!!!

Isn't Boyfriend just so cute???? So festive! Note the Gator colors of his leis.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Let the dancing begin!

Boyfriend getting the shot chiller ready with fresh lemon drops

All of us still hovering around the kitchen...AGAIN!

Boyfriend and me at the end of the night. Aren't we just so hot? Although...I look like I don't have a neck...strange!

~*~

So that was our evening. Luckily, I pretty much cleaned everything before we went to bed so that I we didn't awake to a disaster zone. New year's day was spent primarily watching football and fading in and out of sleep on the couch. Aaaahhhh!!!! I had the unfortunate luck to have to work last night though at Job #2, so I'm a bit tired today.

I will post more tomorrow about resolutions, but as of right now I am officially spent after finishing this post and all the problems I had with uploading these pics...JEEZ! Hope you all had a fantastic holiday season, and I wish you all a great 2008!

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*