I must have nummy blood!

What a weekend. Friday, D finished the last game of the LARP event and it was supposedly wonderful and emotional. All I know is the write up before the game was 31 pages (when in size 10) and after over 2 hours of reading it aloud, my voice was hoarse. It was interesting and compelling and even for someone not involved, it was good. However, that night, I had gone to bed before midnight and D woke me up coming home at 3 am. And wanted to talk. Fortunately for D, I reminded that work was a middle shift so D got to sleep. I, on the other hand, couldn’t fall back asleep. Sucky! Saturday was spent doing some shopping at the Re-Store and I bought a labeler. I gave into my urge and now I can label everything. Bwahahahaha! Another late night though, cause we ordered dinner and my first meal was done incorrect, so an hour later, I received the second one. Evil BPs.

And Sunday. We managed to snag a new mattress pad for the bed. The disadvantage of having a unique bed is that it can be difficult to find replacements for the basics. Then the Social Event of the Season. That was fabulous. Lots of talking, eating, hanging out. It is nice to be reminded of all the people you do know and talk to, even though you don’t see them a lot. It was wonderful, but it was an early evening for me as I was exhausted. The horrible thing was that the mosquitoes have once again decided that I am nummy! At least 4 more bites last evening. This time on my shoulders, which thankfully don’t get annoyed as easily as my knees. Still, itchy!

Next weekend is a tournament. Possibly the Sunday gang may be meeting up on Monday to get together and catch up. Though I enjoy Sunday nights usually, I must admit, having the last few weekends off has been nice. Don’t have to rush, for the most part, and we have been able to hang out with other friends.

This Tuesday is another trip to Cheesecake Café. I love that place. New group of friends to meet there and catch up. So exciting.

Domestically, this Saturday I also swept the garage and installed some hangy things, so the bike is off the ground, the ladder can go on the wall as can the excess baseboards. The garage looks soooo good. Sometimes, I amaze myself.

Horrible news, my car got a ding in the bumper sometime between Saturday afternoon when I washed it (after sweeping the garage, of course) and today after work. I am peeved. It was so pretty, and now there a big mark and the paint chipped. Wish I knew who the rude person was.

Off to make supper. Have to empty the freezer some within the next two weeks as the garden needs to be brought in. Oops! Heehee.

Intrinsic snub

I was reading a friend's blog and he referred to this site which is about the Geek traits. It was very interesting and I can see that occassionally, I suffer a bit from #5, the intrinsic snub. I have recently been feeling this more lately as I have been invited to many events, but not friends and visa versa. On Saturday, at our bbq, a friend mentioned that they had been invited to the Social Event of the Season (honestly, we call it that). I had not been invited yet and my first gut instinct was 'what did I do to miss out on an invite?' When we ran into the friends hosting the Event on Sunday, they invited other people in front of us and again, gut instinct. I held back though and waited a bit and the conversation eventually turned to the party and they mentioned that they had forgotten some people and I piped in and the invite was there (as desired). It wasn't a snub at all, but as the site says "friends do everything together" and so intrinsically, I felt snubbed cause I hadn't been invited. But it does work the other way as well, cause I have felt upset for a friend when I realize that they have not been invited to an event. Like the wedding on Sunday, D and I were invited, but our friend J was not and I didn't know or even think that she wouldn't be. Here I am talking about it and she was 'well, maybe I'll see you at the dance part.' I felt horrible cause she wasn't invited despite us all being friends. Anyway, the site is interesting in a thought-provoking way.

The bbq went fairly well, only half, if that, showed and the wasps came uninvited so half of the people were indoors and half outside. It was fun, but not enough food was eaten and by 9, all but our two best friends were gone. I have leftovers galore. Did I mention that no one goes away from my parties hungry? Just part of my upbringing.

The wedding on Sunday was... interesting. I cannot really share my thoughts on it. Just because currently no one I know reads my blog, they may find it and read it in the future. I'll say this, it was interesting and the food was good, though the desserts were either chocolate or had strawberries on it, both of which I know for sure I am allergic too and I believe a few others have preferences against as well. The one thing I will mention is that while I may not know everything when it comes to etiquette, I do know that if the groom and bride are thanking everyone, they shouldn't forget the wedding party, especially after what the groomsmen and bridesmaid have been put through. And if the bride is talking about how wonderful her new in-laws and grandmother-in-law are and how they welcomed her into the family, then perhaps she shouldn't forget to say something about the stepson she's now mom to, even if she isn't fond of him. That upset me more than anything, I believe. She just ignored him and the groom said nothing. Oh well. What I can also say is that the table I was at, while missing half of the people, was the most fun during dinner and we laughed alot.

This coming weekend was supposed to be relaxing and free of plans, but we now have the Social Event of the Season and next week, I have plans to get together with colleagues from my previous job, which is always fun. I believe that Cheesecake Cafe is soon going to know me by name, cause I think I have been there every two weeks since it opened. Heehee. Part of me is looking forward to September which should be slower, part of me is happy with all that is going on.

I am off to make supper. Not a clue what I am eating though. I am sure I will think of something.

Open relationships

What a weekend! Today, the baseboard are 95% finished in the living room/dining room. There is one wall that is covered by the vertical blinds (they came with the house) so we are waiting on that wall to see what we decide. Mainly, this is because we have picked fairly large baseboards (3 3/4 inch) with a front bullnose. That wall only has clearance of about 2 inches. So we either have to put the old baseboard back up (just painted to match the other baseboards) or we have to figure out how we want to cut down the current baseboards. Today is especially a good day since it was almost a year ago that we began the process of doing the baseboards. Good day as well as D and I did not fight at all doing the baseboards. That's impressive.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with my mom, which was fun. Wasn't planning on doing that the whole afternoon, but we got caught up in the thrill of the hunt and next thing I knew it was 5 o'clock and I was just coming home. Oops.

Friday night was a blast. I went to the bar with a few friends to celebrate two friends' staggettes. Unfortunately, beside the two brides-to-be, there was me and one of the brides' maid of honour. No one else showed, which sucked, but it was still fun. For the first couple of hours, we just sat around and talked. I got to officially meet and get to know S who everyone seems to know, but I had only recently talked to via email about the upcoming bridal shower. S is really cool, very free and open. Cool wedding ring too.

At about 11, someone started to dance on the dance floor. The first person all night to do so. And this person was good. Now honestly, we thought the person was a young male at first, really cute, but fairly young. Had the moves though. Wow! After a bit, though, the face was caught in the light and I suddenly had the suspicion that this was a female, which whatever, the girl could move! The security guy came over to talk to her and when I glanced back a second or so later, she had pulled down her pants to show... Sponge Bob boxer shorts! Sponge Bob's face was on both sides. She pulled them back up and the security guy walked off, sort of. We were sitting just off the dance floor a bit and he noticed us laughing at the boxers, so he came over and said isn't she hot and can't she dance (which confirmed my suspicions and made everyone else go... that's a girl?!?). Now I missed the rest of the conversation cause she was dancing again, but I heard something about taking bets that he could get her pants off and L saying that she'd pay $5 for that. And then security was gone. 10 minutes later and he was back and her pants were coming off. It was quite amusing. She continued to dance, he gave us a wink as he went by and we laughed and watched. Now I must say, it was more distracting trying to watch her dance with just the boxers, cause Sponge Bob's eyes glowed on the dance floor. Especially when she was shaking her arse.

Anyway, the night goes on, she calls out for her pants, none appear. We talk and watch and the other girls dance. I table dance, not dance floor dance (unfortunately, one of the brides-to-be decided to sit at a short table and not our usual one where you can stand and dance or sit on bar stools). So I chair danced. It came to our attention later that she had been asking the security guy for her pants alot and he said he made a bet with a table to get her pants off. He at first refused to say which table, but I guess she figured it out. (What with him coming over to talk and laugh with us.) So she came by at one point and said that she knew it was us that stole her pants and we would have to pay when she came back from her smoke. We laughed and she went outside. When she got back, she grabbed L up to dance. And they danced. The girl danced well alone and she could dirty dance very well with a partner. So L and her danced. Then B and her danced. B was less open about it and she gets tired easy, so while it was a good dance, it could have been better. Then S went up and danced and the two of them danced really really well together. The titanic song came on and they did the front of the boat move and then it went on. I disappeared into the bathroom (I had to go, really.) When I came out, she was dancing alone again. Until she noticed me.

Now, as I said, I table dance. So when she came to grab me, my foot hooked around the center pole of the table and I thanked her and said no, I don't dance. I reiterated myself a couple more times, and then she paused and came to me. And I got a lap dance. Okay, if Sponge Bob was distracting on the dance floor, he is even more distracting when in your face. And of course, I have in my head, you know the rules, no touching the dancers. heehee. I watch way too many shows. But it was fun and she was good and ... flexible. Yeah. My first lap dance. After she went back to dancing, I told the girls that we had better that the grooms had when they went to the strippers for the stag as we all had a turn having fun. Heehee.

She came and sat down a little later and we all talked and met her S.O. with whom she has an open relationship with. That was her opening line when the S.O. came "this is *** and we have an open relationship." What do you say to that? I was like okay, nice to meet you. It was fun though. And after all that, I didn't get to bed until almost 3. So it was a good night.

Tuesday is the bridal shower and next weekend is our bbq on Sat and the wedding on Sun. That should be fun, especially since several of us work Monday morning. I am going to be tired. August is only half way done. Sighhhh!

Life gets busier, but nothing happens

So I didn't go to Tyrant as my cohorts had hurt their knee and had a migraine respectively. Instead, me and a friend went to Kingdom of Heaven and then Applebees. As for Kingdom of Heaven, I must say I adore Orlando Bloom. He is wonderful. His acting was great and then he took his clothes off. That scene was far too short. It was a good movie though and it brought up a lot of interesting points to be discussed with friends. Afterwards, we went to Applebees which was good, but after the popcorn and pop (which amazingly lasted me for the whole movie), we couldn't finish the sample platter between the two of us. The following night was the possible staggette, but due to a lack of desire on my friend's part, was replaced with Cheesecake Cafe with some of my other friends. And it was fun. We talked and laughed and ate cheesecake. How could you go wrong?

Sunday was spent shopping for World of Weed (aka World of Warcraft) figures for a wedding gift. No such luck. When we finally found a shop that sold them, they were sold out. So I am thinking of printing a bunch of pictures from Weed and using it as the wedding gift paper. They'll get the joke.

This weekend which was booked as my off weekend has now become busier. Friday night is my friends' staggettes. Due to my intiative, it is for both of my friends who get married this month. Unfortunately, their timing for what date worked for them is of course not conducive to most of our friends, so it may be a slow night of dancing with few appearances.

Speaking of weddings, I have one more wedding gift to get and I am out of ideas. The list the bride and groom made was rather lacking... in ideas. It was either really inexpensive, silly stuff or really expensive items. Not a lot in between. So I got one thing off of the list and now I am stumped.

Did you know the Wine Gums can be moldy? Or at least that is what I am assuming the white stuff on it was. Wasn't going to taste it to find out. Kinda gross. Kinda not wanting wine gums right now.

So I have been thinking alot about cooking lately. Cause goodness knows, I hate doing it. And I was remembering that when I cooked for one, I used to fry a hamburger patty and cut it into pieces in the frying pan with a bunch of spices, then serve it over rice and veggies. And it was like a poor person's stir fry. I have tried to reproduce this since, but I honestly cannot remember what spices I used. I know I used chili powder and garlic powder, but there were about 3 more and every time I try to imagine what was in my spice cabinet then, my mind goes blank. It was the best meal though. I would eat that so often. It was fast, cheap and good. Now I am so dependent on cream of mushroom soup. I wish you could get cream of chicken soup in the bulk aisle, cause that would give me options. I use mushroom soup in so much - with one pot rice dishes, my potato chip tuna casserole, hamburger helperish meals and occasionally, even as soup.

My current favorite "pull a meal out of your arse" meal is my dad's famous tomato soup and pasta. You could only do kraft dinner (except it was the no name brand, not actually kraft) so many times, then dad would step up and the next thing you knew, there would be pasta boiling in a pot, he would drain it, add a can of tomato soup and water and then top it off with pepper. Now a days I add shredded cheese to the top as well. It is so nummy. Lately, I have been craving that more often. It has all your essential nutrients - pasta, veggies (tomato soup is made of tomatoes), dairy (milk for creaminess) and protein (cheese). How could you go wrong? Did I ever mention that I am really good with rationalization. Heehee.

Anyway, I should return to straightening out the finances. I haven't updated my account book in a few weeks, so I should do that. Might find some extra money lying around. It's a hope. And all we can do is hope.

Another day in mundaneness

It is amazing that my life is so busy, yet it really seems like I am doing nothing. If someone asks, what did you do? I usually respond, not much. But then I start to think and it is like, but I was so busy? Hmmm. I guess I measure things different when I am talking in my head versus talking with someone else.

Anyway, this month appears to be quite busy - this weekend, I am going to the Tyrant concert at the Union (I know people in the band and crew - not because I remember anything done by Judas Priest or Iron Maiden); Saturday is a possible friend's staggette the involves lots of dancing; Sunday, friends come over for gaming. The 20th is a bbq here; the 21st is the wedding; on the 25th, another wedding on webcast; then the following weekend is a girls' night; and the next is the tournament. Yeah. Quite busy. Lots of preparing of food. :)

My garden is actually growing vegetables! This is amazing because last year, I grew weeds. This year, I have actually managed to pull most of the weeds. So there are 3 rows of carrots, 3.5 rows of lettuce and I hate to think how many onions are growing. Thankfully, the onions and carrots are for my parents as well. They live in a condo now, so they supply part of the seeds on the condition that they get to harvest some. Now if I get them to help with the weeding more. :) I have been enjoying fresh lettuce and onion tops. Nummy! Of course next year I will have to remember to plant the lettuces at least two weeks apart, cause I have lettuce EVERY day right now and I still can't keep up.

Today's recipe is Banana Bread. It's great in winter, but sometimes when it is cooler in summer, I like to bake and use up the frozen bananas in the freezer.

1/2 C - margarine or butter (I like mine softened)
1 C - sugar.

Cream these together with an electric mixer.
Add in

2 eggs
1 C mushed, ripe bananas

Mix all together with electric mixer. (This is my trick as the mixing actually makes the bananas go throughout the mix, instead of just chunks.)

Now technically you are supposed to add the above into the below mixture, but I like one dish mixing, so I add the following into the mushed mixture.

1 1/3 C - flour
1 t - baking soda
1/2 t - baking powder
1/2 t - salt

Mix again, making sure the mixture is even in texture and colour. Bake at 350F for 1 hour.

When using frozen bananas, remove skin before it completely thaws as having to squirt the banana out of the skin is rather icky.

It is close to bedtime here. So I have to go and make my lunch and tidy before bed. According to the Queen of Clean, a clean sink is a good way to end the night. Eh, at least it makes it bearable to look at in the morning.