Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Ok, apparently I was wrong on all counts about my candy order from Japan.

Even though I specifically asked that they hold my entire order until everything was in, they sent part of my order early. That is why I have had two conformations from the company. At least it better be the case because the candy I originally wanted to order, the special, delicious candy that had to be special ordered, wasn't in the box that came today!

I will give you some advice. If you ever decide to order candy through the mail, don't order anything gummi or chocolate during warm months. I wasn't thinking about that when I placed my order, so some of my candy was completely melted when it got to me. BOO! I'm still going to eat it, damnit! I'll use a spoon if I have to! I'm not proud!

Of course, I'll be doing my regular candy reviews as soon as I can, but they will have to wait until the melty stuff solidifies again.
RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I hate screws! Yesterday I had some very good intentions of fixing the signs on one of the exhibits on the museum floor. I'd been putting it off for a while, but realized I had to eventually get off the pot if I was ever going to get the thing fixed. I went downstairs and began to remove the screws from the sign frames (there are two that have to be replaced) and on each frame there is one screw that will NOT COME OFF! I stood there, hunched over the barrier, trying to unscrew the darned things, but they would not budge. I thought I was going to be able to get the things apart and upstairs in just a few minutes, but I ended up taking way longer than I needed and having to screw the stupid things back down again until I could scrounge up some tools that will allow me to hold the nut still while I turn the screw. How come Mr. Harris' shop class didn't prepare me for this frustration?! :) Meh, well, I at least learned to arc weld, so it wasn't a complete waste of time!

2) I almost passed out at my desk yesterday! Sometimes if I stretch a certain way, I think I pinch a nerve in my neck or something, because I get that "tingly face" and tunnel vision feeling that means things are about to go dark. Normally if I just sit still for a minute, I'm fine. Yesterday, however, I was dizzy and tingly for a long time after that. When things didn't get better right away, I thought maybe I was having a low blood sugar issue, so I ended up eating several of those embarrassingly-shaped Hannah Montana gummis that I had hidden in my desk, but that didn't work either. It took about two hours for me to feel normal again. I still don't know what was going on, but I hope that doesn't ever happen again! No, I'm not pregnant, so don't ask!

3) Scarlett Johannson, bless your heart. Stop singing. Seriously. I normally would never say something like that to anyone, but I'm trying to help you out.

4) I think I'm going to have a moral dilemma soon, and I need advice. I don't know what's going on at this point, so I'm not sure if I'll actually have the dilemma or not, but this is just in case. It's not serious, so don't get scared. OK, a couple of weeks ago I placed an order for some candy from a company in Japan. Shut up, it is candy you can't find anywhere in the US and even in Japan it has to be specially ordered from some region I've never heard of. I had a jones for it. Anyways, when they ran my credit card the first time, it was declined either because I had forgotten to add "SE" to the end of my billing address, or because it was an unusual transaction. They sent me a message about it, and I told them that I still wanted the order to be processed and asked what I should do to make it happen. I had already gone in and fixed the problem with my address, so I didn't think anything of it when I got another message on May 20th saying that my order had been processed and was being shipped. Me = Glad. A day later I got a message confirming that the box was being shipped and would be shipped to me (hopefully) in 7 to 10 days. Again, Me = Glad. So color me surprised when I got an identical message this morning saying that my order (same order #) is being processed and shipped. I thought maybe something from my original order had to be shipped separately from the first box, but then I remembered that the reason it's been taking so long to have it shipped in the first place is because they were waiting for part of my order to come in before they shipped in the first place. So I went to my account information on their website. In the order history, it shows the steps they take to get the package out of their hands, like, "We have packaged your order" and "We have printed a shipping label and mailed your package." I now have that same series of things entered twice on the same order history. At this point, I've got three different ideas about this: A) I don't know if I've been processed for two different orders, charged twice and am being sent two separate orders of the same things. B) I have been charged only once, but am possibly getting two separate orders of the same things. C) It's possible that the two different order conformations I got is a mistake and for some reason they sent my conformation again for the same package that they supposedly sent last week, or my original order wasn't actually shipped until today and the first set of conformation e-mails were sent by mistake.

Here is my possible dilemma: If "B" is the case and I do get the two packages, but wasn't charged for one of them, do I contact the company and see about sending one of the packages back, or do I keep it because it was not my mistake? On one hand, it's kind of a pain to deal with their customer service because we are 14 hours apart, and it can take up to two days to get any kind of answer from them if you have questions about anything. Even then, you usually get an automatic message of some kind instead of an actual reply. If "C" is the case, I'm afraid if I contact them at this point and tell them to cancel that second order, it's going to somehow screw up my original order, so I don't want to say anything until I know for sure what's going on. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'll feel right keeping something that I didn't pay for. If it wasn't for the huge pain in the butt that comes with shipping a package internationally (and the almost surety that some, if not all, of the candy will ruined by the heat if they are shipped around for too long) it wouldn't even be an issue. However, who doesn't love free candy? I need some people to sit on one shoulder or another and tell me what they think I should do.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Oy.

Seriously, I had the hardest time waking up this morning. I think I hit the snooze button 42 times before I had to force myself out of bed. I didn't stay up very late or anything, so it must be that I'm getting old. :( I knew it would happen one of these days.

I was *ahem* given the day off yesterday. I offered to come in, because that whole "getting paid" thing is fun for me, but my boss told me to stay home and have a holiday. I was nice, although not nearly as productive as I had hoped. Well, we did do some laundry, mowed the lawn and planted a tree (which I'm afraid I might have killed) but we spent the rest of the day watching old Dr. Who episodes and taking naps! I've also got a game of the Sims 2 going, and it had taken over my PC for a while. Quite frankly, I enjoyed the laziness of it all!

I think I actually had something to write about this morning, but I can't remember what it was at the moment. I'll be back later when I remember, or rather if I do. Maybe. This getting old thing is rough. :)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I need a new pair of shoes.

The other day I ordered a dress online, and I didn't realize at the time that I didn't have a suitable pair of shoes to match it! Ok, well, that's not completely the truth. I do have a pair of shoes that look fine with the dress, but they don't want to stay on my feet. I literally have to tie them on, and they aren't the kind of shoes with laces! I actually have to find a ribbon or something to attach around the back of the strap and tie that around my ankle, and I STILL wobble around like a new born giraffe. It's not at all graceful.

You know, I have misshapen, Ewok feet, and trying to find decent shoes that I can wear is a nightmare. It isn't that I can't find shoes that fit exactly, but I need shoes that won't pitch me over sideways or deform my toes for life. A) I can't wear pointy toed shoes. Not only are they ugly, my toes are almost all the same length, so my actual foot stops way before the end of the shoe, and therefore I have all this extra shoe to trip over when I walk. B) I can't wear narrow shoes, because my feet are too wide for them. C) I can't have super skinny heels on my shoes because I have no balance and I have actually snapped the heels off of a pair I really liked just by standing on them. D) I can't wear really high heels, because let's face it, I'm not a dainty woman. That would be like making a hippo walk on it's tip-toes. It might be able to walk a few feet like that, but it isn't something that she'd want to do for any length of time.

So, what I was looking for was a reasonable sized heel, dark brown, relatively comfortable shoe that would not look weird with my dress. That shouldn't be that hard to find, right?

I went to DSW to look for them because I figured that in an entire "warehouse" of shoes, I'd be able to find something easily. I had never been there before, so I was actually dazzled by the number of shoes on display. However, it wasn't long before I realized that most of the shoes weren't for me. In fact, I'm not sure those shoes were really suitable for anyone. I mean, sure, there were sneakers, flip-flops and sandals, but the dress shoes were kind of ridiculous. Seriously, I think shoes can say a lot about a person, but the majority of the shoes I saw either said:
I spank people for a living!

or

THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't want to come across as either type of person, so I was out of luck.

I wondered through the aisles for about 45 minutes, looking and re-looking at different things until I found something that even remotely looked like something I could wear. You know what? They didn't have my size. Not only that, but I couldn't even find an employee to ask if maybe they had some in the back. BONED! So I walked out of a giant shoe store sans shoes.

I'm sure I'll find something at some point, but thus far I'm not impressed by this season's offerings of shoes. If not, I'm just going to have to find color coordinated bungee cords to strap my other shoes onto my feet. Sexy.

Monday, May 18, 2009

MONDAY'S RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

Note: I know that there have been a lot of the "Random Acts" lately, but my life has become less dynamic of late. I'm not just being lazy! :)

1) It's official, I'm socially retarded. Last night we had 2 Mormon guys visit our church during the evening service. I'm not exactly sure why they were there, but since I saw them give one of their Temple cards to an elderly member of our church, I doubt they were there to be converted. However, I digress. I was feeling rather welcoming, so during our shaking-hands-time, I walked over to tell them hello. The first guy shook my hand and said "How's it going?" Instead of saying "fine" or "good" I just put on my big smile and said, "HI!" I don't know why my brain decided to lock up then, but I didn't have time to say anything other than that before I got to the other guy to shake his hand. I'm sure they didn't realize I felt like an idiot, but I was embarrassed. After church, I just happened to be standing near them before I walked out of the sanctuary, and I decided to make up for my earlier gaffe. I walked over and said, "I'm really glad you could be here." and one of the guys shook my hand and said thank you. Then I said "I hope you have a good weeken... Oh, wait, I almost said weekend, but that's over. Have a good week, I mean." They just smiled and I took that opportunity to walk away. My guess is that as I walked away they were wondering why someone let the special-needs chick off of her harness. Ugh. I'm never speaking to strangers again.

2) I also embarrassed myself this morning at the gas station. When I pulled up to the pump, I realized that I had somehow parked on the wrong side of where my gas tank is. I never do that anymore. Seriously, I've had the car forever, and I think I really only had that problem when I first got the car a couple of years ago! So I got back in and pulled over to another tank, and when I got out, I was STILL parked with the wrong side of the car facing the pump. In a fit of frustration, I jumped up and down and let out a string of what I can only describe as Yosemite Sam type mumblings, and then I looked up to see a man peering at me over the pump. "Park on the wrong side?" he says. I babbled something and jumped into the car again to finally get to a pump on the right side of my car. This time I made it. So, not only did I embarrass myself in front of a random stranger, I also parked at a pump on the wrong side of my car, not once but twice. This doesn't bode well for the rest of my Monday!

3) I went to see "Star Trek" with Kenny and Lauren on Friday night! We had a great time. Well, at least I did, anyways. They are both much too polite to say they didn't have fun, so I'm going to speak for us all and assume that we did! :) Kenny and I have gone together to see all of the Star Trek movies that have come out since we met (except for Nemesis, but it sucked so neither of us count it) so we were carrying on with our tradition. Lauren had never been with us before, so she got to experience the sheer power of our combined dorkatude when we see a Trek movie together. The movie was much easier to see on a regular screen, and I didn't feel like vomiting this time due to the motion of the ships in the battle scenes. Good times!

More later. Maybe.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

CHARMING

Prologue: I wore my old charm bracelet on Sunday for the first time in many years. I don't know if I've even worn it since I've been married, which may be why Steve asked me about one of my charms. It reminded me of this story.

When I was in the 10th grade, I was voted "Class Favorite" and also voted in as a class officer (I don't remember which one, though.) These were mainly honorary titles that didn't matter very much except that you got your picture in the yearbook on the opening page for your grade section. At the time, I was thrilled, of course, because who wouldn't want to be everyone's favorite?! I was also kind of confused. Seriously, normally I wasn't the kind of person to have been voted anything, except maybe for class weirdo. I'm not kidding. Go ask my classmates, I'll wait...

*waits patiently*

See? Told ya.

Anyways, later that year for my birthday or Christmas, my mom got me two charms for my charm bracelet that had those two uh...achievements (probably not the best word, but you get what I'm trying to say) engraved on them. I was tickled over it all, and I wore them proudly, as only an adolescent and rather naive girl could do. It's not that I flaunted the fact that I was apparently secretly loved by my classmates, but I didn't mind being reminded of that fact myself. Shut up! :)

I didn't wear my bracelet often, because I'm clumsy and I break things. Since the bracelet originally belonged to my mother when she was a teenager, I didn't want to destroy it, so I usually only wore it on special occasions. When I became a senior and began to dress up more often (can't remember why that was) the bracelet became something I wore more often.

One day while I was wearing it, and talking to one of my classmates, he took notice of the charms and we started talking about them. When we got to those two charms, I happened to mention that I had no idea how or why I was voted as a class favorite or class officer, because I didn't become "popular" and I had even heard someone once say "how did SHE get voted as THAT?" (Yeah, nice, right?) The guy I was talking to kind of looked embarrassed and admitted to me that in the 10th grade he had a crush on me, and since he was asked to help count votes he fixed the numbers so that I came out the winner.

Oof. Yeah, humble pie is incredibly bitter. :)

I have to admit that it was an incredibly sweet gesture, but it would have been nicer never to have known that the whole thing wasn't real. I mean, I appreciated his honesty, but I was left feeling kind of dumb. Even now I feel slightly guilty that, even though in reality they were stupid, meaningless titles to hold, that the person who really deserved it got cheated. For me it was an unexpected surprise, for some of those other girls it was probably way more important.

So there it is the story of the mysterious, discordant charms on my bracelet, and my one shining moment of "popularity!"

Monday, May 11, 2009

EVEN MORE RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) Mother's day went well this year. I had bought her a gift that I realized too late would be hard for Mom to "get", so as a secondary gift we got her a really beautiful purple-blue hydrangea plant. Well, it was beautiful when we bought it, it was beautiful on Saturday, however, on Sunday it was all floopy. Seriously, I can't even babysit a plant for two days without harming it. I hope she's able to make it unfloopy! This was also the first time we had seen her new house since it was all finished, and it was really nice! I liked it very much, but it hasn't reached the "homey" stage yet. It's a lot smaller than the other house, but I'm sure she'll be glad not to have to clean as much.

2) I had to go have blood drawn this morning for a doctor's appointment later this month. That was lots and lots of fun, let me tell you. It wasn't that the lab visit was complicated or anything, but I hate being pierced with needles. When the nurse stuck me with the needle, it felt like it went directly into my spinal cord. How can a needle that was placed in my inner elbow reach all the way to my spine? I don't know, but that nurse managed to do it. Yipes. She also wrapped my arm so tight that it cut circulation off to my hand. When I managed to rip the bandage off (quite a chore) it left a hickey-looking thing on the inside of my arm. Very attractive! :)

3) My boss is still rearranging my office, and I still don't know why. He said it was so that I would have more room to manuver, but it's my belief that he is just a bit OCD or something. Granted, my office looks nicer, but it's a pain not to know where some of my stuff is. It's like someone coming into your bedroom and cleaning it for you. I mean, it's nice that someone else took the time to do it, but then you realize they've thrown something important away, or broken your expensive bottle of perfume and then it's not so nice. Hopefully his fever has passed for a bit.

Friday, May 08, 2009

Operation Low Maintenance isn't going so well for me as of yet. :)

You know I'm not a dainty person. I mean, I wish I was, but God had other plans for me in that department. However, ever since I was in the 6th grade and my parents let me start wearing makeup, I've always liked getting up in the morning and getting ready to go places. I know that sounds disgustingly girly, but it's just how I roll.

Anyways, I've been trying to streamline my getting-ready situation lately because A) who do I really have to impress up here and B) Steve and I carpool almost every day, and it sucks for him when I'm running behind. Since I've gotten my new haircut, I've realized I don't have to fuss with it as much as I did my longer hair. In fact, yesterday I didn't even blow dry it! It looked fine without the extra work! I thought that things would be much easier! By the time my hair dried completely, I realized something bad about my hair. My father had curly hair growing up, and even though I inherited stick-straight Native American hair from his side of the family, I also inherited one patch of hair that curls straight outward in what I've come to regard as a "bird." When my hair is long, no problem. However, now that it's much shorter, if I don't blow-dry or curl the bird into submission, it looks like my hair is trying to take off. *SIGH*

So, until I can figure out how to tame the bird on my head, I'm not going to be as streamlined as I had hoped. Oh well...I'll just have to muddle through being girly. :)


Thursday, May 07, 2009

A QUICKIE:

When I was 17, my date for the prom bailed on me about a month before the dance. I was so upset that I ate an entire barbecued chicken.

I had totally forgotten about that until just now. How funny!

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

MORE RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I hate oysters. I hate them. They taste bad and they feel weird when your chewing them. If you ever see me out someplace, thoroughly enjoying a big platter of oysters, it's probably a pod person and you should kill it with fire!

2) I got invited to my old high school's annual FFA banquet! It'll be great to see Mr. and Mrs. Harris again. I haven't seen them in about 3 years or more. I believe he'll be retiring next year, so I'm going to try and make it out there. I just hope that I'm not expected to wear my official dress. I dare say it would be a tight squeeze! It's a shame, of course, because I look good in National Blue corduroy! Don't laugh, you know I do! :)

3) This morning I had Greek yogurt and honey for breakfast, and it was really delicious! I was a little scared I'd hate it and wind up hungry all morning, but happily I was wrong. If you like yogurt, I advise you to try it Greek style. It's far better than any other kind I've ever had!

4) I wish I was at the beach right now. I'd settle for being there even if I couldn't swim or if it were rainy. I need a change of scenery! Yeah, I know, I just went to Texas, but to be fair...every place in the south looks pretty much the same!

5) I'm currently listening to a Jodi Picoult (?) book called "19 Minutes" and it's very good. It's about a Columbine style school shooting and the events that led to it as well as the aftermath. I'm not that far into it yet, but it's really a good book. If you like to read fiction, I recommend this one.

6) Oh, and speaking of reading fiction! If you know me well at all, you know my favorite author is Stephen King. Granted, his more recent books haven't been as scary as they once were, but I'm giving the guy a pass on that because he almost died. I'm pretty sure being run over by a van is a lot scarier than a sewer monster! Anyways, I think that I have finally found the creepiest part of any book he has ever written! I can't really explain it here, because I'd basically have to write it word for word, but if you ever pick up "Pet Semetary," read the part where the old neighbor, Mr. Crandall, tells about the soldier that was killed in action and buried in the cursed ground beyond the pet cemetery. I've read almost every book by King, and that one particular story is the one that STILL scares me every time!

Monday, May 04, 2009

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I got to see the test run of Star Trek last night! I really, really liked it! It wasn't what I was expecting, and I'm fairly sure that a lot of the more serious Trek fans will commit seppuku when they see it, but if you can see it for what it is (a reboot of the original story) I think you'd enjoy it! I do have one word of advice, if you are going to see it in IMAX, specifically an IMAX Dome, the first 10 minutes or so are kind of vomitus, so be careful. There is a lot of J.J. Abrams trademark "shaky-cam" shots. After the initial battle scene, it gets easier to focus. It was also funny in parts, and the writing was very clever. It was really good! Two thumbs up! I'll definately see it again!

2) It rained in our offices again last night, but luckily (or unluckily if you work on the other end of the hall from me) the water stayed out of my office. It DID leak on the other side of my wall and also in my boss' office, but my supplies live to fight another day! They have a carpet dryer in front of my office door, and it's driving me insane because it's so loud. Imagine sitting behind an airplane engine and trying to work!

3) Speaking of rain, we got over 5 inches this weekend and I think our dogs are mildewed. Every time we'd let them out for even a little while, the rain would start back up again. I don't think they've been properly dry since last Thursday, even after being in the house a lot during the weekend. Butler's fur looked like Rod Stewart's hair this morning because it was all spiked up. Bear has shorter fur, so he only had spikes on his head. Poor boys. I'm hoping the rain will hold off for a while today so that they can dry off a bit and pee in peace!

4) Speaking of hair! I got my hair chopped off yesterday. I've never tried Mastercuts (shut up, they're cheap!) on a Sunday, and I don't think I'll try it again. It wasn't a terrible wait, but it was much longer than I'm used to. The poor girl who cut my hair had a migraine, and she was barely able to stand. I was scared when she told me about her headache, because I know from experience that a migraine will freak your stuff up. I kept imagining her vision blurring and me walking out with a mohawk or something (I pity the fool!). Surprisingly, my hair turned out good, or so people are telling me. It's possible they are just being nice, I guess. It's shorter than I thought it would be, but that's my own fault for the hairstyle I picked out. It's called an angled bob and the back is shorter than the front. I've had a very similar haircut before, but this one is much shorter. It feels weird in the back. Also, when I tuck the longer front bits behind my ears, I look even more like Velma from Scooby Doo than usual. Jinkies, Y'all! I'm hoping I get used to it in the next few days.

5) Mom and Grant moved into their new house this past weekend. I'm excited about seeing it with carpet, furniture and light fixtures. They picked a really lovely place to build it. I'm going to miss visiting the house I grew up in, though. Oh well. We've all got to move on at some point, right? I was just hoping I'd be in my 80's before that was necessary! :)