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So I asked Scott to come to my house this year for New Years, because even though the house has only been 10% cleaned since school ended I just don't want to spend another New Year's Eve with his housemates. I want to be happy and loud and silly and laughing all night, and it's too quiet with his housemates. And there's no drunkeness or silliness, just a lot of quiet and serious discussions. And... I just want Scott to myself to enjoy our SIX YEAR ANNIVERSARY - whaaaAAAATTT??

Hahahah... no wonder the writing has gotten so boring, who wants to read about happiness?
:)

So tomorrow Buffy will be babysitting for her grandmother and Spike will be... probably sorely disappointed that he can't have a party here when he discovers I'm staying home, haha. But I bet he'll throw something in the garage anyway, and then I get to feed off his energy too. I like being around my kids, I don't really like spending any holidays without them.

So for dinner tomorrow I'm going to make some Greek quesadillas (pitas filled with feta, cucumbers, chopped olives, tomatoes, etc, and fried like a Mexican quesadilla) kind of for an appetizer. Then for dinner, from my new soup cookbook of course, I'm thinking mulligatawny soup, as it has chicken and raisins and should be filling.

But what for dessert? What is a good idea for a dessert like food that we can have later on? Any ideas? Maybe chocolate strawberries? Hmmmmm. I'll have to think. Any ideas?

My plan is to watch movies and maybe play games, but definitely have some alcohol and stay up til midnight. Then sleep in my NICE SOFT WARM bed (the opposite of his bed) and wake up in the morning happy and rested. Go to Starbucks for coffee and books. And maybe a movie later. Yayyyy. I like this idea much better than going to his house, even if it does mean I have to clean my room.
:-D

Friday I do go to his house for the weekend, but I am really happy with the idea of two extra days with my kids, and sleeping in my nice SOFT WARM bed, and hanging out at my house with my cats and everyone I love.

So send in your dessert ideas please! I know everyone is on vacation from blogs during the holiday season, but if you think of something good, let me know!

AND I bought tickets to see "Chicago" at the Center for Performing Arts in January! One of my very favorite musicals!

You're Hired!

Spike was officially promoted from "Holiday Help" at Circuit City to "Real Employee", Yayyy!

In response to Ipek's question, my kids bought my Britney shirt at a store in the mall called Workmen's Balance, or something like that. I finally found their website here: http://www.workmens.com/

I don't think they would normally head to that store to buy something for me, but TWO of Buffy's friends had told her there was a Britney shirt there that her mother would love. I laughed when Buff told me this, and asked how they knew I would like that shirt. "Mom, all my friends know you're OBSESSED with Britney Spears." Well, why wouldn't they think I would want a pretty Britney shirt? "Mom. I don't see... I don't think you would wear a pretty Britney shirt."

And she's right. Appropriate or not, I love the shirt they gave me.

Sweeney Todd - the Movie

I don't even know what to say about this movie. How do you ruin a movie with a singing Johnny Depp???
Snoozaroonie.

Why not

I think I'm going to keep our little Japanese dollar store Christmas tree up all year. It's just too cute to put away.

"Sounds like something this family would do," muttered Buffy.

But I know she secretly loves the idea.

I sat on the couch this morning drinking coffee and watching House Bunny on DVD. I always thought it looked cute so I wanted to see it no matter what the reviews said.

Well, it was cute, but it was also dumb. Dumb and kind of poorly made; the direction and editing were really amateurish - not that the story was any big brain boggler, but still.

I won't bother reviewing it, cuz you probably already saw it or decided you won't, I was just disappointed and wanted to say so. I still think it was a cute idea, and they were on the right track, they just needed to rise above things a little more. Like, it was almost at the level of a kid's (pre-teen) movie, and could have even worked as a kid's movie, but then there was a bunch of trashy stuff thrown in too, and it went just a little too far with it. So you have an amateurish movie that's too adult for kids, and then you're left with this disappointing mess.

Did anyone else see it? What did you think?

Next on my list (of movies I would never be assigned as a school project): Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Yeah, I know, if I lower myself to watching these types of movies and reading these types of books, I'm setting myself up for disappointment, hah. I just need to clear my head of Homer and Dante and Milton and it's going to take a lot of trash to clean it all out before I can get to that middle ground. I'm getting there though!

There's been a lot going on and a lot of nothing going on at the same time. Haven't been ready to sit and write yet, but Christmas was very nice.

Now Buffy and I and her friend are off to see the Nutcracker Suite by the San Jose Ballet. She informed me this year that she had always wanted to go see it, so here we go.

Gotta brush my teeth now. I'll post pics on Flickr if I get a chance.

What better present for me from my kids?

We have our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree that I have done up with enough ornaments that pretty much looks adorable enough to eat.
Buffy ran to the drug store and bought three cheapo stockings since we haven't dug out any Christmas bins. They're hanging by the fireplace with care.
The little Charlie Brown tree is half obscured by all the presents stacked around it.
Buffy is making one batch of cookies right now, our Hickory Farms cheese and sausage are waiting with some herbed crackers, bean dip and Ruffles are ready to go, we have egg nog and sparkling cider and there's a fresh bloody mary by my side.
The kids are in their rooms wrapping presents they bought for me and when they're done then Spike is going to make homemade pizza (his effort to take over my mother's traditions).

And as soon as that's done, it will be Christmas! There's not one official decoration in the house, but we're ready and happy. NEXT year we'll have our acts together. (Right?) THIS year we're making do like always and we're ready to open presents!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

So we still don't have a tree up.

We've used a pretty nice fake tree since our house burned down, but this year Buffy asked for a real tree and I figured... why not. But we've been running around so much (for instance driving all morning to pick up her car yesterday) that we haven't had time. So today, Buffy said she didn't really want to drag out the Christmas decorations just for a few days, so she went and bought a three foot high fake tree. Good grief. Can you get any sadder than that. We're going to have a three foot tall plastic tree from the Japanese $1.50 store... and no decorations? hahaha...
I think I'll pick some up at the drug store tonight.

But I did get a lot of shopping done today, including a giant box of Hickory Farms sausage and cheese. I'm assuming that since I work tomorrow there will be no time for homemade cookies either. So maybe I can pick up some boxed peanut brittle at the drug store too. Erm.

The only thing to make up for my Christmas slackeriness (it's not really my fault if I was at school until the 18th, right?) is the presents. We spent way less this year, like most people. About 80% less actually, but there are still lots of presents. Spike only has a few, but 18 year old boys tend to ask for presents that cost a whole lot more, whereas 16 year old girls love mittens and eye shadow.

Still, tomorrow I'll be at Target by 8am trying to finish up, and then hopefully run through the grocery store where I can maybe find either some good bakery cookies (not likely) or something really easy that Buffy can cook up while I'm at work.

Oh yeah, and the only things wrapped so far are what I bought at Barnes & Noble today.

This Christmas seems to have gone backwards in my efforts to come close to my mother's Christmases, heh, but luckily my depressive state ended last week, so now I can just laugh at the mess that is an undecorated Japanese dollar store plastic tree with store-bought snacks.

Because like I knew as I watched my house burn down six years ago, all that matters is that we have each other. We don't have everyone, but we have the three of us and we have presents and we'll find a way to make it a happy time just like we always do.

You guys are awesome, thanks to everyone who gave suggestions to fix the password problem - and TADAAAAH! Problem is gone! I never would have found the problem myself, so thank you Very Very much!

Also, we picked up the car.

It's gorgeous. And Buffy loves it, and I thought it was a fantastic deal for the $3900 we paid for it, but it wasn't fulfilling my own personal Mercedes dreams. So I am going to give it to her when she gets her license. This way I not only didn't waste any money, but I saved a lot of money, as I never could have found her a nice car like this for that amount. Her brother's car cost over $7000. Granted, we've only had it a day, but the drive to our house was 70 miles long, and it drove beautifully. I feel really really good about letting her have it, and no longer embarrassed to tell Scott because now I know I made a good (accidental) choice.

And Buffy gets a Mercedes for her first car.

Away to get my new car

We're all taking off now to pick up the Mercedes. We'll be back around noon.
I still feel more stupid than excited about buying the car, but hopefully when I see it and drive it I'll feel better.

Or when I get up the nerve to let Scott know that I accidentally bought a car. Then I can relax and be happy about it if he doesn't kill me, hahahah.

Okay, I give up.

Is there anyone who might know how to get rid of the password prompt on this blog? It's not supposed to be locked up, and obviously you can just click cancel and it goes away. But I don't want it to show up at all, it's ANNOYING ME.
Does anyone have any ideas?

Second, My running blog needs a makeover. I have a picture I want to use, does anyone know how to make a very very very simple layout with just one picture?

Thank you my smart little minions.

Scott and I saw "Slumdog Millionaire" today and it was beautiful.
If it's playing anywhere near you, you should see it too.

I'm in Aptos for the weekend with Scott. We're going to relax and read and watch TV and tomorrow we're going to see "Slumdog Millionaires".

No school!

Theatre Arts

So I registered at the community college and signed up for the Backstage Assistant class which is one night a week in the evenings.
Then I signed up for Piano but there's a waiting list so I might not get in.
I did not sign up for the History of American Musical Theatre class, because it might involve actual school work or paper writing, and I'm REALLY trying to stay away from anything remotely like actual school.
So if I get into Piano then I do, if I don't then I'll do it another time.

The best news is our community college has a program where they let high school kids take classes to earn credits for high school. And my daughter and her friend (the international model from her movie) are both going to take the Theater Arts class with me!

That fulfills many purposes:
1. They get to earn more school credits
2. I get to spend fun time with my daughter
3. She doesn't get left alone to her own devices while I'm at school.

So now I'm really excited and happy, and... actually learning to relax. A little.
Baby steps into real life, haha.

I need to find some way to get the password prompt off this blog!!! I don't understand why it's doing that!

...officially a University Graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature.

I am off to my very last class. When I return I will be a university graduate.

My daughter made her video for school.
There's also a blooper reel at the end!

Sooo...

I'm going to sign up for some classes at the JR college next semester. I want to fill up some of my time. I want to take:

Backstage Assistant (Theatre Arts): there are many areas of assisting in their Spring production, including directing and publicity. I think my English degree could serve me well here AND I may even get some writing for my portfolio.

Then I have a choice of:

Piano: the only instrument that I want to play that I don't know how to play. And now I have a piano.
or:
History of American Musical Theatre: I just think this sounds really interesting. The kids want me to take piano, and so do I, but I also really want this class.

So what do you all think? Which one should I take along with Backstage Assistant?

My first day with no school...

...goes like this:

1am - go to bed. As usual, I can't get to sleep before this time.

4am - woken up by son coming through the front door. He "passed out" at his friend's house.

6am - woken up by daughter who says she is "feeling weak" and can't go to school.

7am - find a clogged kitchen drain when I get up to make coffee.

8am - cannot get into my easy-read chick-lit book AT ALL. School has ruined my easy-reading habits.

9am - loving my new pair of shoes makes things a little better.

I turned in the last two papers of my undergraduate life today.
Actually the last one paper of my undergraduate life,
and my first graduate paper of my graduate life.

I am not 100% proud of either paper, but they are good enough, and certainly good enough to pass the classes and graduate.

At the moment, my brain is fried and I am very run down. I am in need of a lot of rest.

I still have one presentation to do on Thursday, but it's a 10 minute presentation with four other people. So like... I just have to show up.

So that's it, I survived, after 4-1/2 years I am a university graduate, and now it's time for a rest.

24 hours left.
8 pages left to research and type.
Then I can give my brain a rest.

Finished Paper #1, turned in Wednesday morning.
1/2 done wtih Paper #2.
Will be writing all 15 pages of Paper #3 over the weekend.
Also studying and taking notes for presentation on Thursday.

But the papers are due on Monday.

TYPING TYPING TYPING TYPING TYPING TYPING TYPING TYPING

Feeling better today, just getting run down. The stress level is raising, but I write the best papers under those conditions, haha.

I can't believe I only have two more classes to attend before I'm a graduate. WHAT the HECK!!!

But first: two more papers and one very short presentation.

It's the last week of school, so we all know what THAT means, RIGHT?

I have the flu.

I go wrap myself in a blanket and continue writing my papers now. *sniff*

You never can tell how Buffy will react when I spend money on something. Sometimes she's all for it, many times she screams and complains about it coming out of her "college fund" or whatever fund she thinks might have her name on it.

So I was a little nervous about telling her that I accidentally bought a car today (I mean... who DOES that? accidentally buys a CAR???). Especially after Spike's initial reaction was "It looks old" though that was soon followed by "We get to share it, right?"

So when she came home tonight I asked her to come to the computer where I had the picture of it up, and right away she caught her breath and said "OOOOOOH, that's PRETTTTY!!!"

"Really?" I said.

"YES! Omigod, are you gonna get it mom? are you going to get it for ME? Are we? Are we going to get it????"

"Did you win it Mom?" asked Spike from the kitchen.

"OMIGOD, YOU BOUGHT IT?????"

I looked at Buffy and I swear she was about to dance right out of her skin. She was doing a happy dance like I had just bought her a 2009 Mercedes convertible with Edward Cullen riding shotgun. Her hair was flopping all over the place as she jumped up and down.

"YOU BOUGHT IT??? YOU BOUGHT IT!!! YOU BOUGHT IT!!! IT'S BEAUTIFUL OMIGOD IT'S BEAUTIFUL, YOU REALLY BOUGHT IT!!!!"

So... Like that's how I would have reacted had I actually PLANNED to buy the stupid thing, haha. So deeeeeeep inside me I feel the same way, but it's hard to shake the reeealllly stupid feeling of buying a car accidentally. But her reaction makes me feel better.

I have the money, so it's not like I just did a REALLY stupid thing. And I always wanted one, so there's that. And I think it's a good price. I just wasn't expecting to have it... today. Heh. But anyway I'm really happy that Buffy is happy, and I told her I wasn't sure if I was going to let her have it or not, since there may be some mechanical problems down the road, but all she could do was jump up and down and dance and yell "OMIGOD I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GOT IT IT'S BEAUTIFUL OMIGOD I GET TO DRIVE IT I GET TO DRIVE A CONVERTIBLE AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL AND OMIGOD...!!!"

So sometimes it's fun having a 16 year old girl in the house. They bring joy in... every so often.

We'll probably go pick it up on the 21st or 22nd. Pictures then.

Next time I should just go out and ride my bike

So.

So I've been writing my papers all weekend, but really hate it, so Saturday I also spent a lot of time online ordering Christmas presents. And this morning, I decided there was NO WAY I was going to spend any more money at Macy's. So I typed and typed and typed.

And then I got bored.
So I surfed over to eBay.
And decided to check on convertible Mercedes.
And found one, in Pacific Grove.
And it was still at a really low price, and it was ending today, so I figured...

$3-thousand-something for a convertible Mercedes is probably a pretty good deal, so I'll just put a bid on it and probably not win it because SURELY someone has already placed a higher bid, so what's the harm?

But my bid was the high bid.
And it continued to be the high bid.
Until the auction ended.

And now, having not spent a dime at Macys today, I instead own a 1982 Mercedes-Benz Roadster.
Because I was bored writing my essays.

And it's not as if I don't WANT a Mercedes-Benz Roadster, and not that it's not a beautiful car, cuz it is, and I LOVE it. I just wasn't expecting, you know, to be buying a car today.

Heh.

So I can't decide whether I want to keep it as my graduation present, or give it to Buffy when it's time to get her a car. I don't really think a 1982 vehicle is best for her though.

Or I might be able to sell it, later, maybe for a little more even.

After I've gotten tired of driving it, of course.

(I HAVE A MERCEDES CONVERTIBLE!!!!!!!!!)

Work is over for the week, and now I begin writing my final essays for my Bachelors Degree. I'll be hunkered down over the keyboard for the next two weeks writine and writing and writing.

Hopefully you won't be hearing much from me, because I REALLY need to just get these final papers done.

See ya when I'm a University Graduate.

Britney's new Circus video.

You have to admit, *cough*, it's pretty awesome.

Happy Graduation in 15 days!

I received my graduation announcements in the mail today, and happily stuffed and addressed them.

I'm wondering if I should send one to my unemployed "Boo Hoo I'm going to lose my house" Ex-husband?

You never know, he might be happy for me.

Okay, school did nothing for making me nicer, sweeter or less evil. But it did give me a degree!
WHOOOPEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

New clothes

So I'm walking to class today and hitching up my jeans as I walk, only I immediately have to hitch them up again, and I realize that the entire butt/stomach/hip area of my jeans is totally baggy and they're hanging off my hips and ready to fall down.

My new jeans. My new, two for price of one, pair of jeans. Are too big.

After a week.

On the one hand, I'm thrilled that results are starting to become very noticeable.
On the other hand, I JUST BOUGHT NEW CLOTHES. I don't want to buy a new set of clothes every two weeks!! I mean, I have at least sixty pounds to lose, minimum, that's a lot of new clothes to go through.

On the other hand... I'm losing weight. It's a rough thing to complain about, it really is. I mean, no one wants to hear you complain "OMIGOD, I lost so much weight!"

I'm going to have to buy some belts, quickly. That might extend the life of my pants a couple more weeks for each size change. Because I'm certainly not going to GAIN weight just so my pants will fit.

In better news, my boobs do not appear to have shrunk this week.
:-D

15 days to graduation!

Just received my graduation announcements in the mail!

I just shelled out way too much money for four tickets to go see Britney Spears in concert at the HP Pavilion in April. I have no idea why.

I'm taking Buffy and two of her friends. We all know I only did this so *I* could see her, right?
Feel free to laugh your asses off. I'm ashamed of myself, haha.

The great thing about working from home is that I can RIDE MY BIKE ON MY BREAK!!!

3.22 miles all over parks and lawns and trails and sidewalks, up to the college and back.
Fun Fun Fun!

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