Miscellany

I've posted so many entries to Bubbles & Baubles that it feels weird to start this one without a disclaimer at the top!  It was a good week at work.  I met a couple of nice women from my city who were serving as jurors on an ugly case, my boss came to talk to me about some suggestions I'd made to our notices, citations and call day (and she left with my good pen!) and I didn't even think about killing or maiming anyone. :-)

I did think some nasty thoughts about someone else who works in the courthouse.  I don't know who she is, but she drives a black Cherokee with some distinctive window art.  A couple of weeks ago she pulled that "zoom up the far right line at top speed and then jump into the far left lane just before you need to turn" move.  Okay, I really, really dislike that move, but I didn't want her to die in a car fire until I got caught in a lane I didn't realize was closed ahead and she wouldn't let me in the other lane.  Selfish cow.  DIACF.

Next week is going to be a really good week for books--a new Cherie Priest book (squee!), a new Seanan McGuire book (squee!) and a new Terry Pratchett book (squee!) which is sadly the last Discworld novel ever (sniffle) will all be mine by the end of the week.

This morning was interesting--I had to go to the grocery store and get frozen food, then come home and stuff it in the freezer so I could go work out.  I put my bathing suit on under a dress and shopped and unloaded successfully and did the unthinkable in terms of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I forgot my towel.

Now, if you've been to Casa de Jammies, you know that the Natatorium is only about 2 miles from my house, but when I got there and realized I'd forgotten my towel, I didn't go back for it.  The reason was in part because I didn't want to waste gas, but also in part because we had a storm forecast, and I didn't want to miss my window before it started and the pool got closed because of lightning.  It turns out I didn't need to worry about that, but I worked out anyway and then drip-dried in the car on the way home.

We hates the quad stretcheses, Precious, yes we do.  Nassssty, nasssty horrid little stretcheses.

Yesterday, one of the local radio stations played a live version of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" complete with horrible feedback squeal, and this morning, the album version was the last song I heard played as I finished my workout.  So here's a little Stevie & co. so you can share my earworm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_aYibUx1B8

The year is ending nicely

Well, mostly.  I think I've burned out on Bubbles & Baubles, but at lease what may be my last post there is one that makes me happy.  I enjoyed making up the polish bags, and I'm pleased to have gotten rid of a tiny portion of my ridiculous polish stash.

The probate court has adopted a family for Christmas, and I got to go shopping for a 4 year-old girl.  I found some pants, a cute sweater and a Minnie Mouse sweatshirt and pants set, and then found the winter coat I've been wanting for two years.  Instant karma!

The courthouse café sends postcard with a coupon every month to the folks on their mailing list, and for December, my coupon was buy one sandwich get one free.  Instead of tossing it, I took it down when I bought my lunch on Thursday, and told the cashier to use the free sandwich for the next person to get one.  That happened as I was waiting for my sandwich, and it turns out that I bought lunch for one of the domestic court judges. :-)  Then I went out and bought a couch from a local business. :-D

Yesterday wasn't very pleasant, because instead of doing my work, I was docketing extensions filed by idiots who didn't get their filings done in time and don't want to be cited.  But we got raises for next year, and the day eventually ended.

Today I was at Mom's, aka the second job, and in addition to my usual boring paperwork, I got to make gingerbread cookies and cut out ninja shapes for my nephew to decorate.  I even figured out how to work the convection oven by myself!

My brother, sister-in-law and nephews will be here for Christmas, I have the 23rd through the 25th off and the last of my presents are scheduled to arrive on Monday.  The house is warm, the dog is getting fat, and all is well.

Love to all of you who took the time to read this--you're what Vio calls "Friends as Family" and you're a big part of why I'm content.

From Hell to Heaven in 36 hours

Yesterday was Monday on steroids, a seriously horrible day full of angry clients, sobbing clients, drama-queen Wards, paperwork and even when I came home and called Mom in Dallas, she had to hang up immediately because Tinkerbell had fallen off her bike (Tink's okay, thankfully).  I wanted to hide under the bed, or yanno, in it, because when I'm depressed, I sleep.  However, I decided it was too late in the day to nap.

So I nuked a cup of coffee and turned on the computer, and checked my e-mail and found something that cheered me right the heck up--an invitation to a salon opening from Zoya Nail Polish!  I sent my HELL YES response immediately, told all my friends, and then spent the rest of the evening until bedtime fussing over what I was going to wear.

I will post details and pictures at Bubbles and Baubles soon, but I will say tonight started with a name tag, a shampoo and blow-dry that left my hair looking stunning, continued with gourmet food and a serious swag bag, meeting a ton of great new people, including several Zoya polish fairies, as they are known, and Zoya herself!   It really was the perfect antidote to Monday. :D

Dad's Road Trip

2 a.m.: Go to bed

4 a.m.: Get up, eat ice cream

4:30 a.m.: Go back to bed

6 a.m.: Get up, drink coffee, surf the web, chain-smoke

6:30 a.m.: Panic!  Load the car.  Repeatedly call your wife out to the garage to help you, only to let her stand there for 10 minutes before you say you're not ready for her.

7:30 a.m.: Ask for pillows, a blanket, sandwiches, coffee and snacks.  Get them because your wife is awesome and did everything but the coffee last night.

7:50 a.m.: Leave 

10:30 a.m.: Take first nap

12:00 p.m.: Call home, joke that the food Mom packed means he's travelling the Trans-Fat Highway.

12:30 p.m.:  Take second nap

Arrive somewhere around 4 p.m.

On Saturday, Dad and his friend were driving back from somewhere when Dad's phone rang.  It was his friend D, whose family has known our family since the late '60s.  D was in New Jersey too, helping out his daughter who lives there, and he knew Dad was in NJ because Jeeves posted it on Facebook.

Dad thinks it's funny, Mom thinks it's an invasion of privacy, and I think the world just gets smaller and smaller. :)

Serious Paypal Stupidity

(cross-posted from Bubbles & Baubles)


Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab recently re-introduced single note scents, which change monthly.  This month, the scents are (or rather were) Iranian Galbanum and Rum-Soaked French Tonka.   If you're a reasonably internet-savvy person who doesn't happen to know that these are perfume components, you look them up.

If you're a drooling idiot who works for Paypal, however, you shut down the account of a perfume vendor who is selling a perfume with that name.  Really, Paypal, have you NO employees there with brains?

Still boring, but still here.

Spring is definitely here, because mulch is now available at my grocery store!  I'll be getting some next weekend and for a number of weekends thereafter, which may mean that Bubbles & Baubles goes on hiatus, given what I tend to do to my nails during mulch time. :) 

Temptation Nursery is open now, and Mom and I have a date for May 12th to go shopping for tomatoes and to fight about letting me buy her at least one plant for Mother's Day.  I swear, fighting with her over buying her things is as much of a tradition as giving her a card.

I also need to invest in a good spray bottle so I can get my butt outside and deal with the nettles.  I don't mind like dandelions, plus Snoopy mows 'em down regularly, but I will not allow prickly things in my flower beds!

Doc and I also have a date for lunch on the 12th, so I'll have to coordinate that with Mom, but then I get Doc to myself for a couple of hours.  She's had a lot of changes in a short period of time, and while we had a long phone conversation on Friday, nothing beats face-to-face chat over a bowl of white chili con queso and chips.

May is probably my favorite month of spring.  There are seeds and seedlings to plant, weeds to kill, mulch to spread, flowers blooming, lots of sun and the heat isn't usually ridiculous.  I'm looking forward to the next month.

Something new

I finally decided to get off my butt and start a second blog for all of my "girly" stuff. I'm calling it Bubbles and Baubles, and I will be using it for all the things that make me squee in an embarrassing fashion.