March 29, 2007
Busy
- Work has been crazy busy. The marketing team is being swamped with RFPs and we're all going flat out to help, in addition to our normal work and the big projects we're already working on. It's a tad hectic, but it feels good to be busy because we're doing something right instead of screwing something up.
- I'm a regular invitation mill these days. Barbie's wedding invites are currently in progress. Part of the assembly is done and the rest of my supplies are on a UPS truck in my neighborhood as I type this. I'm hoping to push through and have them in the mail by Saturday morning. That means a lot of cutting and stamping and gluing between now and then. I also have a couple mock-ups of the invitations for Troy and Tamisha to work on when I get a chance. And I found super cute birth announcement inspiration for Amy. Did I mention that Mom asked about shower invites for Barb and a coworker said I should go into business? I've gotta get more efficient if I want to do that.
- Also on the stamping front, I'm going to a little get together with some other local ladies from Splitcoast at the Nashua library on Saturday afternoon. We're doing a shoebox swap (each person designs a project and brings the supplies so that everyone else can make it) and I haven't finalized my design yet. Luckily only eight ladies are coming, which means a little less cutting than I originally expected.
- There are probably a dozen empty boxes sitting in my living room and I'm not quite sure how to start filling them. Jon already packed the contents of our broken bookcase and DVD collection. But what comes next? What can I live without for a month?
Posted by criminal at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2007
10 Idol Thoughts
...and then some. No Doubt and their inspirations should make for a fun night with lots of up-tempo performances. Gwen Stefani is adorable as always, pimping her new album, which I like.
- Again, LaKisha is in a dress I love. Totally fun song too.
- I hate to say it, but Chris Sligh just doesn't have rhythm.
- Gina was just wow. The best I've heard her.
- ...glimpses of how good Sanjaya could be in a few years.
- I think I could go into diabetic shock from watching too much Haley.
- I still don't like Phil, but he wasn't as bad this week.
- Melinda made me dance. And dance.
- I'm loving Blake's arrangements, even if his vocals are't inspiring, the music he's writing is.
- Can you say cute? Jordin is really going places.
- Chris was nice, but I'm not sure he's great enough to go much farther.
Posted by criminal at 8:09 PM | Comments (1)
March 23, 2007
Shelf Life
How old is that jar of pickles in the back of your fridge? Can you still eat that salsa you opened in February? Real Simple has given us the answer to these and other very important shelf life questions. This should be required reading for all adults, especially those who tend to forget things in the back of the refridgerator.
Posted by criminal at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)
Help a Brother Out
This is Kolby.
My mom calls him my brother, but I'm not sure I see a resemblance. In this photo he's strutting his stuff in mom's letter sweater. The photo is part of the Wheaton's In Need Paradeand Kolby needs your vote! The pups with the highest number of votes get to go in the WIN calendar. To vote you just need to e-mail the address on the parade pages and tell them Kolby is the keenest!
Voting ends Saturday at midnight, so help Kolby out before then and he promises to give you sloppy dog kisses. (I'm told he's still working on hugs...)
Posted by criminal at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
Pancakes!
Tomorrow I get pancakes.
I'm practically drooling right now in anticipation and I have almost 24 hours to wait. We're making our annual trip to Parker's Maple Barn with Jon's family tomorrow morning. They make all of their own maple syrup on site. Add it to freshly made buckwheat, pumpkin, banana pecan, or blueberry buckwheat pancakes and I'm in heaven. This whole lower-carb lifestyle means that I miss out on these tasty treats for most of the year.
But not tomorrow. Tomorrow I eat pancakes. Pancakes smothered in maple syrup...
Posted by criminal at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2007
Supposed to be Spring
According to my calendar, it's officially Spring today. To celebrate, Dunkin' Donuts is offering free iced coffees. So why is it that it's freaking freezing outside? I had to forego the iced coffee and actually pay for a hot one. How un-spring-like.
Posted by criminal at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2007
11 Idol Thoughts
- Haley is going to fall out of some part of her outfit before the night is over. Be it her blouse, her short shorts, or her shoes, she's gonna have trouble keeping it all in.
- Chris's a cappella version of Don't Let the Sun has very much redeemed him in my mind.
- Is it wrong that I totally forgot about Stephanie by the end of the show?
- I really wish Blake would pick a song that don't require beat-boxing to make it hip.
- I *want* LaKisha's dress in the worst way.
- I'm getting tired of Phil's sub-par singing.
- Jordin just delivered the first shiver of the season.
- The close-up on the crying girl in the audience sums up my feelings on Sanjaya's performance better than any words could.
- The second shiver of the season! I think that's more a reflection of the song than Gina's rendition of it.
- I'm not sure it's fair to put Chris Sligh right before a powerhouse like Melinda
- And I'm so happy with Melinda's performance and the air of innocence and sweetness that surrounds her.
Posted by criminal at 9:07 PM | Comments (2)
Sinking Feeling
I just found out that I have been trying to solve the unsolvable for weeks. I've been getting nowhere really quickly and now I know why. I simply can't force a product to do something it isn't capable of doing.
Posted by criminal at 2:59 PM | Comments (1)
Hacked
My ebay account was hijacked this weekend. Luckily (or not, depending on your view) it was a system-wide problem, so it was caught right away. In the meantime my account is in limbo of sorts until I can get it "restored." The primary method seems to be calling the phone number listed in your account, except that the phone number listed in my account is from 1998 and has since been disconnected. We tried the only two other phones I have access to and they were both rejected for security reasons. As a back-up, back-up plan I was asked to verify the e-mail address I used to sign up for my account way back in the day. Not a difficult question, but it seems like a lot of security for a site that is apparently easy to hack.
Posted by criminal at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2007
For Your Information
You know it's been a long day when you misspell FYI...
Posted by criminal at 4:58 PM | Comments (1)
March 13, 2007
This Is My Lunchbreak
Amazing how I can find time to leave one post in my journal in the middle of what has to be the busiest, most over-scheduled, stressful day of the year so far. Call it my lunchbreak, since I haven't had one yet and don't expect to.
Posted by criminal at 1:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2007
Signed and Sealed
It's official: we're moving to Hudson, New Hampshire in the last week of April.
We signed a one-year lease and handed over first and last months' rent just last night. Depending on how things go for the owners we may even be able to start moving before then. Jon is hoping to take a carload everyday on his way to work so that there's less piddly stuff to move on the day we get the uhaul. Now we just have to start packing (and purging). And figure out how to move our TV without the nearly 100 cubic feet of packaging it originally came in.
We have a bunch of furniture on our wish lists and I think this would be a good time to get some of it. A new couch and king size bed may have to wait, but I think a used dinette set and buffet, new bookcases and night stand are doable. Their color pallette choices are pretty similar to ours, so unless we need more curtains than what we already have, most of them can be reused.
Posted by criminal at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)
March 9, 2007
Sludge
You know it's too cold outside when your car feels like it's moving through sludge when you step on the gas. I can't wait for weather that doesn't require me to warm my car up for 20 minutes.
Posted by criminal at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
March 8, 2007
Let's Polka!
I'm in a bit of a polka dot phase. For the past few months I've been drawn to polka dot stamps and craft materials. And now I'm seeing polka dots everywhere. I want them all. I have temporarily talked myself out of a green and white polka dot sheet set at Target but picked up a cute black and white headband. And at lunch today I found a matching blouse at Lane Bryant and had to bring it home. They had the green and white polka dot blouse featured on their last mailer, but not in my size, otherwise I might have brought that home too. Ditto for the black and red dot dresses, which are in my favorite (and most flattering) style. I very much wanted the black and white polka dot ballet flats too, but I think they would've been overkill. There are only so many dots a grown person can wear.
Posted by criminal at 3:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 5, 2007
Come 'n' Get 'Em
- I finally uploaded my photos from Chinese New Year. There are a few I'm really proud of, but most are just OK. More than a few seem to be just a second behind the action I was trying to capture. I'd like to blame my camera, but I think I really just need to practice holding the shutter halfway until I get the perfect shot.
- Last weekend's scrapbooking retreat was relaxing and productive. I didn't get everything done that I had planned, but I spent a lot of time chit-chatting and sharing with everyone. And really, that's the whole point of going. I can be creative here in my own space, but it's not very social. I have to say, even with all the crafty goodness, my twenty minutes in the massage chair might have been the highlight of the entire trip.
- I haven't mentioned my birthday yet, which was terribly indulgent. I had waffles at our company's February birthday breakfast the Friday before last and it all seemed to go downhill from there. I wanted a low key birthday, so Jon took me to Pizzaria Uno for deep dish pizza on Wednesday. We followed it up with homemade carrot cake (my favorite). He also gave me dies for my Cuttlebug and made me a card with his squirrel stamp. The card said to "go nuts" and was filled with cash to use for the retreat. Thursday was my lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with my coworkers where I nearly overloaded on White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Cheesecake. So. Rich. And perfect for birthdays.
- Silly has a new trick. She has learned to take tissues out of the box. She must have practiced for hours on Friday because when I woke up there was a giant pile of tissues next to the bed and a half-empty tissue box. The little scamp. Not so cute is her taste for tender crocus shoots.
Posted by criminal at 11:38 PM | Comments (1)
March 1, 2007
Earworms
I can't get these songs out of my head. I find myself singing them in the shower, tapping them out in meetings, and humming them while trying to fall asleep. It's bad. So now they're in yours:
- Sly - Cat Empire
- Dear God - XTC (ignore the silly youtube video)
- O Valencia - The Decemberists
- New Shoes - Paolo Nutini
Posted by criminal at 2:19 PM | Comments (0)