The coffee date which lasted 6 hours.

So last night I decided to meet up with an old friend of mine whom I have been communicating with off and on for almost a year now off of a particular internet sight which will remain anonymous (rhymes with Thai Place lol). Lets call him, for lack of a better term, PSU Guy. We had always talked but never actually met which is very common which those sorts of relationships but I decided that I finally wanted to meet him face to face to see if we really did have as much in common as it seemed.
We met at Peet’s Coffee & Tea at 4pm in the pearl where we preceeded to talk and talk and talk until my stomach told me that if we were going to keep talking we would need to do it at a place where there was food. So from there we went and checked out the menu at this place right down the street from there but decided that it wasn’t what we were feeling like having at the moment. So we ended up down at this noodle place that was right atop of Blitz. After staring at the menu for a while he asked me what I was going to get to which I answered the Pad Thai. He smiled and said that was what he was going to get as well. So we sit down and I swear that that was the worst pad thai I have ever tasted period but I tried to eat it anyways (the chicken atop it was good at least) making a huge mess the whole time (bean sprouts were getting EVERYWHERE! Lol). So from there we decide that if we are going to be staying downtown any longer he was going to have to go and plug his meter so we start walking. He said he was parked “just a little ways away”. Ok, I really don’t mind walking, its actually quite refreshing and I hadn’t had a chance to make it downtown at all this semester so I was enjoying gazing at all the changes that had taken place since then. Somehow the city is always in metamorphosis. When we finally get the 12 blocks to his car we decide to head downtown to see if the parade is going or to see a movie. On the way I desperately needed a bathroom so I got use of my gym membership for the month and made a stop at the 24hr in the pearl. From there we make it downtown and decide to nix the parade in favor of a movie. I didn’t recognize any movies on the list and he was able to convince me to watch “Baby Mama” (I was pleasantly surprised to be honest in the quality of this film). So inside the theatre we went. At first we thought that we were going to get a private screening (it added fuel to my notion of it going to be a horrid movie) but it filled up quickly.
It is now after 10pm and we decide that its about time to get going. He walks me back to my car and I give him a ride to his car which is parked considerably further away. All in all it was a good experience. I am thinking I will see him again, but there is a little something…. That I think will be cleared up after date #2.

A Bissell Little Green saved my doggies Life. How? Oh you will see.

After gazing at the most precious, cutest little puppy below, could you imagine my ever even thinking about wishing her harm?
One wouldn’t think so…..
….. until you have seen the havoc she has unleashed on my apartment.
Most currently I thought that I was going to have to hang her from the balcony for sure when I woke up the other morning to see her snow white fur on her legs was ebony black. What in the world is on your char-char??
I looked around my bedroom…
Nothing
Walked out into the hall….
Nothing (aside from the spot of carpet that she decided one day she was going to eat up)
One glance into the living room and you could hear my scream.
Charlotte knew she was going to be in trouble and was already cowering in her kennel for what she had done this time was what I thought to be unforgivable.
Like I had mentioned before, she had already ruined a part of the carpet in the hallway (but I’m pretty sure I can fix it before I leave) and when I was in Hawaii she decided she was going to rip up some of the linoleum in the bathroom (a square foot in fact). And I am sure you all know about what she likes to do with my huge rolls of toilet paper. But when I looked into the living room and saw that she had split an entire bottle of India ink in the middle of the room I about had it with her.
I don’t know how she got a hold of the bottle, but apparently the rubber topper tasted good because that was how she opened it… and then it looked as if she had the bottle in her mouth and decided to jump in a circle because there were spots of ink all over the place in a cascading pattern.
I took E to school and decided to deal with it later.
I used every single washcloth and not so nice towel I had and had to take a break to wash them but it was looking promising.
After the wash/dry I proceeded to continue with the sopping but there was so much ink I didn’t think I would ever finish.
That was when K came over and told me to go buy a Bissell right away. Ok… well lets go see how much they cost. So we go to the store that I hate because I really don’t have the money to be wasting on spot cleaners and after going over all the choices decided on the Bissell Little Green.
This little machine didn’t look like a miracle machine but when I got it home and it sucked up all of the ink out of the carpet and just when I thought I was done it would find more down in the padding and suck that up as well. I had to stop before long because it was too late to continue (and my arm was tired lol) but it was the best $68 I ever spent. I finished with the carpet yesterday and moved on to the couch. Now I just need an extension cord so I can do my car! Never before have I been so inspired… hahaha

Deli Annoyances

Something that really bothers me about deli’s…
Why is it that whenever I order something from a deli, no matter where it is I go, if I ask for a half a pound I always, inevitably, get 2/3 lbs unless I raise a fuss when they say:
“ooop, I went over, is that ok?”
“is it a half a pound?”
“no, it’s a little over..”
“well didn’t I ask for a half a pound? Can you please make it a half a pound?”
Then I get a look of disgust as they take whatever it is (typically jo-jos for e) out of the bag. Come on, when you weighed it the first time it was at 1/3lbs… Why then would you put that same amount in the bag on the second scoop? That boy does not need to eat 2/3 lb of jo-jo's no matter how skinny he is.

I am thinking that I am going to start ordering 1/3 lb and when they “accidentally” go over, because I am thinking that they are told to always go over the amount people actually want to get rid of more food, I will actually get the amount I really want. Its kinda like if you are wanting me to be somewhere at 5:30 its prob best to tell me 5:20 lol

Down memory lane with Charlotte aka "Char-Char" le belle

Here are a couple of pictures (both courtesy of K) of my little Charlotte the day after I got her (put her at around 7 weeks) and a couple of weeks later(7weeks)

(couple of weeks later)

You can see how much she has grown when you compare them to her one year photo :)

Denied.

Somehow I always want what I cannot have.
I know it’s not because I cannot have it that I want it because when I had it before I wanted it all the same. In this situation, however, I really don’t think that I will ever have it again. I feel as if I am saying the same things, over and over and they are not being heard. They are not even acknowledged.
To open up your heart and bare your soul to a person and then for them to just walk away is one of the greatest sources of hurt I have ever known.

If what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger then I am going to be one of the strongest women on the planet after this is finally done and thru.

Ms. Char-Char's Birthday!

Today, May 23rd, is a special day................................
............................................................It is my little puppies birthday!


So in honor of this momentous event I decided to bake her some yummy cupcakes to celebrate. hehe. Not to say that I always bake dog’s cakes for their birthday's... but she is a special doggie :)

And I am back.

After 14 days of pretty much doing nothing, I am back to the grind of my typical routine. I got up at 5:10am this morning and actually ended up leaving the house early enough to be a little bit early for work today (very unplanned, let me tell you).
I keep finding myself humming a tune for no reason what so ever
and I have actually been.............. Smiling!
I am sure this is just temporary, but I am basking in the moment :)

Kauai, An overview

I cannot even start to describe how wonderful it was on that little 552 square mile island better known as Kauai.
I was able to relax and soak in the island atmosphere.
I was mistaken as a local on many occasions which made me feel much at home, and like I actually fit into the culture.

We got there on Sunday evening and since I didnt know whether or not we were even going to make it there on that day I decided to not book the hotel until I arrived. Like I do in every other city that I go to I like to drive around and find my hotel by location, not just off the internet. This works generally well being that there is generally a selection of hotels to choose from. Kauai, however, is different. When I was told that I was going to experience a taste of true island life I really didnt know what to expect. I did not see one building on this island that was higher than 3 stories, and the hotels were actually few and far between. After an exhausting search, we ended up staying near the airport (which is actually near everything since the island is so small) at a quaint little, locally owned hotel. It was very cute and I was able to get a very good rate from the owner due to the fact that it was almost closing time (and I tend to get what I want when I smile a little.... hehe).

One thing I discovered very quickly was the fact that when people say that there is a little chicken problem* there they are vastly under exaggerating the issue. I was awaken at 5am by the cawing of roosters each. and. every. day. This did allow me to see the sunrise on the beach on each of those occasions but as all of you know, I am NOT a morning person which made me quite bitter towards those damn chickens, er, roosters to be more precise.
I did everything that I wanted to on this trip, I explored the jungles, hiked the canyons, laid on the beach, mingled with locals, tasted fresh, local pineapple (and has thus been ruined when it comes to eating it in the future), found a new love of snorkeling, and basked in the local Hawaiian culture.
The weather was wonderful there, 80's and sunny almost the whole time, on the whole island.

I have a couple of pictures to share (from my cell phone), my actual pictures of the trip are posted on my myspace if you would like to see them...

*They say these chickens are roaming free due to the fact that during a hurricane a chicken farm was destroyed and this is now the result... well I say start laying traps! Its one thing if they were indigenous to the area but they are not! A few chickens, ok. The amount they have is really quite disgusting.

Bowling with the Boys

Crosly's Bowling Alley.
6:00pm
1 lane.
8 shoes.
4 balls (plus the ball that inadvertently went down the gutter on the lane beside us = 5 balls).
2 energetic boys
2 happy and cheerful girls
1 Nachos with everything
1 plate of tator tots

8:45pm
1 darkened lane
7 shoes back on the counter
Who knows what happened to the balls
2 boys crying that they didn’t win
2 headaches
1 empty plate of tator tots
1 half devoured plate of nachos with everything

And a stout resolution that the next time C and I go out the boys are staying home!! Haha

Two days.......

This is where we are going to go Snorkeling....
Hanalei Bay :) :)
Oh is it getting me thru my morning!

2 days left.... 2 days left.... 2 days left.... 2 days left.... 2 days left....

A Change.

Since when is it necessary for change to happen is it required to relocate to an entirely different city? Why does it always seem that my advice meant to apply to one situation is always inevitably used to my detriment in the end? One of these days I will learn to keep my mouth shut.
Although, as will be discovered, when the thing you are running from is yourself it doesn’t matter how far you run, where you go, where you hide; it will always find you. You cannot escape yourself.

Titanium Alloy Man just doesn’t quite ring right, does it?

I am going to state right off that I am not a comic book fan.
I have never seen Spiderman 2 from start to finish (don’t even ask me the plot of Spiderman 3), the only reason I know the characters of Batman is because of E and aside from Superman (who’s latest movie I didn’t even feel the slightest desire to rent when it came out) those are pretty much the only comic book hero’s that I could name right now (well, aside from Wonder Woman but I know about her, or more specifically her costume, for reasons other than comic books or movies hehe).
So when I roped myself into going and seeing Iron Man last night I thought that it was going to be yet another Spiderwick Chronicles experience with me sitting there making a list for all the groceries I needed from the grocery store the next day.
Not so.
Surprisingly, I was engrossed from the opening scene.

I came into the movie knowing nothing about it whatsoever. The only reason I even knew it was coming out was due to a poster I saw at the theatre a couple of days ago when I was trying to come up with something I could bride E with to not get his name on the board at school. That and after seeing the initial flight scene in the film it brought back memories of a guy at work forcing me to watch the trailer on the big screen in the office:
“you have GOT to see this!! No!! You HAVE to!!” …..(trailer rolling)…."ok, lets watch it again!”
(I’m not making this up).
I don’t typically take movie-going advice from the guys that I work with tho, being that in their opinion “Mr. Woodcock” is a 10/10.

The plot was witty and fun but most importantly it was there. There really were not too many surprises, despite the attempt at a major plot twist (I am sorry, but I know that I was not the only one to see that coming; proof of this coming from the guy sitting in the seat beside me who said, “the writers really thought they were going to get a gasp out of us with that one, didn’t they?”). I really liked the special effects, and the costumes but I think what I liked the most about the film was Robert Downey Jrs performance. I really feel that he made the film. Even the scenes with him interacting solely with his robotics it were still very interesting to behold.
I have a feeling that I will probably not like the second or the third one (when they inevitably will come out) as much as I did this one because what I found interesting was the process of coming up with the design and exploring new ideas. I thought it was great for E to see that with imagination, dedication and hard work (and multi-millions at your disposal of course) anything is possible.
Regrettfully, I missed the "Bonus Scene" that I found out was after the credits when searching for a good iron man picture. After searching a little more however, I found that that scene would have probably not meant a thing to me being that I know very little about comic book heros and from reading what the scene was it would have been lost on me.

I would like to conclude with a heartfelt thank you to my little boy who, for being good, allowed me to have those 2 hours to escape from my reality and enjoy a good film. If it wasnt for that, and the fact that I keep my word, I wouldn't have gone and seen this and thus not felt at peace. Its been a while since I have had such a clear, quiet mind. Least for those 2 hours.

Kauai, HI - the formation of a plan

I am thinking that I am going to need to go and buy some new hiking shoes for the next adventure that I have coming my way….
Kauai, Hawaii
[May 11-14]
I decided today that I really, really do need a vacation and even though I will be missing two days of my astronomy class next term it will most definitely be worth it. The fact that I was able to find positive space (ie confirmed seats) home on Wednesday pretty much made my decision for me.
So now I am sitting here, with an itinerary of things that there is no way I could do in a week, let alone four days. Everyone around me is trying to be helpful telling me that I have to have the shrimp at this restaurant in Princeville. That I have to go on the tour of the Fern Grotto. That I have to go snorkeling in Hanalei Bay. I want to go hiking in Waimea Canyon (what Mark Twain penned as the grand canyon of the Pacific)… I want to lay on the beach in Poipu... I would love to find some black sand beaches if they have them on this island... but the last thing I want is any stress. And you all know how I plan my vacations lol. I have the rental car booked, we’ll see about the hotel. I’m half temped on staying in different places each night… I've even been intrigued with the idea of camping out one of the nights...... ha ha. Hey, if the weather is right, and I feel like the area is safe why not?? It would definately be an experience and would save me a good $150. So... We’ll see when we get there :)

...a little blip on my not so happy day...

We all need something that will act as a pick-me-up every once in a while and I got that today in the form of a 29/30 on my Cognition exam :)
I was needing a 28 or higher to keep my A and not get a lowly A- so you can see why this would help lift my mood.. at least there is one aspect of my life that I can do things right in. Some would say that this is the more important aspect anyways because it is what truly counts.
Now I am just waiting to see what I got on my essay I wrote about how I believe that Globalization is just a perpetual world take over in disguise...

Oh, and another thing that made me smile today was the fact that my starbucks guy gave me an extra shot in my triple grande nonfat honey latte today - for free - thank you lol. Now I need to run because I left said latte in the car and I am really wanting a sip.

If anyone is curious, I am headed downtown. Today is my last day of freedom for a while.......