Talk Thursday - Hot Summer Nights July 2, 2008

I had a BLAST and a half at work (at the restaurant) last night. It’s Music Fest this weekend, and that means live, free music Thursday through Sunday and lots of people milling around town. We seated people for a half hour longer past closing, and we threw a disco dance party at 9 p.m.  Well, you know what happened after I was no longer needed in the dining room. Yep, I was out there dancing on the deck at the party. Actually, my services were still needed in the dining room, but I refrained from the party…until they played “Love Shack.” That I cannot resist.

I was between clearing tables and done seating people.  I had had 2 homemade, pineapple tequila shots.  Then, I drank a beer…fast…while I danced.  So, a former line cook showed up for the party.  We’ll call him Gian, and he pulled me onto the deck to dance with him (and the 4, 60-year-olds dancing on the deck.)  Oh. my. and one of the 60-year-old guys knew all the words to Prince’s songs.  I thought I would die…and steal him away as my new dance party partner.  

One of the waitresses that I work with was cocktail waitressing after her dining room shift.  She and I have had a private dance party at the restaurant before.  So, she was there and dancing and getting drinks and just being her hot, fun self.  Anyway, we danced and danced.  I excused myself periodically for the first half-hour to clear tables, until I was excused from my duties.  Party time! 

The bartender would join us for the good songs.  She’s way fun, too.  I tried to get EVERYONE to dance - as usual.  Call me the Morale Committee.  I had some success.  I even got the chef to get down for a few seconds.  I will cherish that moment for the rest of the year.  This Friday’s his birthday, so I’m hoping that it might happen again.  He plans to drink and sleep at the restaurant, so I never know what to expect with those conditions.  Maybe it will be 10 seconds this week.  I think that my job as the one-person Morale Committee involves getting others to drink in order for them to lose their inhibitions enough to boogie.  I left with one broken promise from a cook who said he would dance and a headache knocking on my window in the morning.  

It was a hot, summer night topping 50 degrees when I got to my car at 12:13 a.m.  My nights don’t get much hotter or more fun than this one.  

 

 

Zen Sarcasms June 30, 2008

I received these from a friend who only forwards worthy emails.  They made me laugh, and I needed that, so I thought I’d share.  Sorry, I’ve been a little MIA lately in the blog world.  Lots going on.  Busy with all 4 jobs (yay!), and I have an interview tomorrow to write procedures for a local company.  I’m nervous, excited, and eating non-stop.  I made Rice Krispie treats today.  I’ll probably make more tomorrow and have a drinky-drink after it’s all over.  

Zen Sarcasms:

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.  Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.  Do not walk beside me, either.  Just pretty much leave me alone.  

2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt or a leaky tire. 

3. It’s always darkest before dawn, so if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it. 

4. Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted. 

5. Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else. 

6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet. 

7. If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments. 

8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes. 

9. If at first you don’t succeed…… skydiving is not for you.

10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day. 

11. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. 

12. Some days you’re the bug. Some days you’re the windshield. 

13. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. 

14. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put back in your pocket. 

15. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

16. Duct tape is like ‘The Force’. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together. 

17. There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither one works. 

18. Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving. 

19. Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it. 

20. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

Silly Question of the Day June 17, 2008

Does anyone else think Rihanna has a strange voice both singing and speaking?  I just wondered if I’m all alone with this one.  It’s weirder than Britney Spears’ singing voice.  

Don’t get me wrong.  I like a good beat, and I could listen to “Please Don’t Stop the Music” every day.  I don’t own it, so I don’t listen to it daily, unless it comes on satellite radio, and I happen to listen to that on consecutive days.  Can a beat that makes you move your body overpower a nasal, throaty voice?  

Oh my stars, I don’t believe it.  Guess what just came on satellite radio.  Rihanna’s “Please Don’t Stop the Music.”  I may comment first on my very own blog.  Must. Get. Up. And. Dance.

Cute Little Words June 16, 2008

I hear the cutest interpretations of words every day.  I’d like to share a few of Little Guy’s.

“new-nose” = noodles

“toe-toes” = tomatoes or potatoes

“grubbies” = berries

“one, two, fwee” = 1,2,3

“sickle” = bicycle

“nana” = banana

“pwease” = please (Oh, that one just melts me with his sweet little voice.)

“nem” = M&M

“skit-o” = Skittle

“jammuhs” = pajamas

“hewp” = help (sounds like “help” with a “w” instead of an “l”)

“nuffeen” = nothing

“down-dares” = downstairs

“Yah-ter” = water

“sell fowers” = smell flowers

“puh-poh” = purple

 

 

Two Wine Reviews in One June 16, 2008

First, here’s a review of Yellow Tail Cabernet.  Blossom had just mentioned hers, so I didn’t want to be redundant.  I drank that one last week.  Here it is: It tastes like blackberries, spice like cinnamon, vanilla & oak finish.  It has a dark burgundy color and a smoothness to its flavor.  It tastes fruity but not sweet.

Tonight I have opened Ercavio Tempranillo Roble, a wine from Spain that I bought at Costco for $7-8.  When I poured this wine, my first thought was “purpley.”  It has a purple, metal topper on it, and 7 purple grapeprints on the label.  Its color is so dark red in the glass that it passes for purple.  It has a smooth taste and no after-bite.  It doesn’t taste sweet, but it’s a little fruity, mellow and a little oakey.  It is a young wine, aged in oak barrels for 6 months, and in the glass, it shows a thicker white line around it at the top.  

If you’re in a purpley mood, you would enjoy this wine.

 

Talk Thursday - In Your Room June 14, 2008

I turn right to enter your room.  Centered against the milk-chocolate brown wall rests a fluffy bed on a woven platform. You have dressed the bed in soft, white sheets and a white, cotton blanket.  Tri-folded on the end of the bed lies a down comforter enveloped in a tan suede duvet, the color of deer hide.  The other walls look like the color of froth in a latte, creamy with a touch of coffee mixed in.  Bright blue daylight comes through the open window framed in Chinese silk, green curtains.  The breeze makes them float like loose bamboo stems.  I take a deep breath, and another.  I feel calm and energized at the same time.  Two long and low, blue, dusty dressers sit on either side of the bed with a white lamp on each side.  Each lamp has a glossy ceramic base, fuller at the bottom, tapering to the top and a sunflower yellow, linen lampshade.  A picture of me sits on your side.  A picture of you sits on my side.  Half-read books sit on each dresser.  I walk across the polished, wood floor and lie down to stare at the ceiling and contemplate my day.  It is so quiet and still, except for the occasional wind, that I fall into a deep, restful sleep.  

Firsts June 10, 2008

I bartended for the first time a couple weeks ago.  It feels like a couple weeks, but I think it has been less than 2.  I don’t want to say too much, so I’ll just say that I got home at 3:30 a.m. and had two pots of boiling hot water to deal with: one at home and one at the restaurant.  I have been well cooked.  I make a good bartender as far as making drinks goes!  

Last Thursday morning, I had my first guitar lesson.  It went well, and I have practiced every day since then, except Friday because I’m not home at all on Fridays and Saturday because I chose to talk to my mom during my available time in the evening.  My left fingertips feel sore and numb, more sore right after I practice and more numb the other 23 hours and 30 minutes of the day.  I’ve learned 4 notes, forgotten 1, and can strum.  

I’ve talked about learning guitar for years now, and it excites me to take it on.  I took piano and flute lessons (not by choice) as a kid.  I appreciate the knowledge that I have about music.  I wish I knew more.  I didn’t have the interest then like I do now.  I’m taking advantage of that positive change!  

I look forward most to having a small instrument so that I can play and sing my favorite songs.  I have wanted to include music in my son’s life.  I cherish the memories I have of singing along to either of my parents playing the piano or organ and singing with me.  Ever since I had Little Guy, I have wanted to bring a piano into the house, since I already knew how to play one.  I would just have to practice to get good enough to sight-read again.  A piano doesn’t excite me.  The guitar does.  Learning a new instrument appeals to me.  Anyway, I’ll keep you posted.   And yes, I’m aware that this adds one more thing to my already hectic schedule, but this is for me, and all it costs me is the time to plan and teach a weekly Spanish lesson in trade.  And as a bonus, I get two hours with a friend, outside from any workplace, and free from the curious Little Guy, who can barely hold still for 3 seconds when I play my borrowed “itar.”  (guitar)  No more practicing while he’s awake!

Chipmunk Update June 10, 2008

The baby chipmunks were gone from their box yesterday morning.  We assume the mom found them and moved them.  I didn’t see any evidence of another animal around the box.  I caught a big chipmunk tearing into another box yesterday afternoon and chased it off.  

Separation vs. Reconciliation June 9, 2008

It seems that separation and divorce have been in the air lately among the people I know.  I got an email from a friend who got divorced in February.  She has reconciled with her ex-husband, and they will remarry.  He’s relocating back to her area.  

It got me thinking that if divorce and separation are in the air, then reconciliation is in the air, too.  Yin for a yang.  Balance.  Maybe separation is a reconciliation in a different way, a reconciliation to be apart from a partner.  What happened to make it possible for a couple to be together after divorcing each other, and what makes another couple not be able to do the same thing?  Not that reconciliation to be together is the right choice for every couple.    For these two, it felt right to read the good news this afternoon.  

No, I’m not separating from Husband, in case you were wondering.  I was just thinking about people and the ceremonies we have created and in which we partake (or don’t.)  Ah, the choices we make and their consequences.  That has been the theme for me in the last week and a half.  

Before I choose this comfy couch again, I will force myself to do all the dishes…unless another thought pops in my head, which they seem to do when I try to do the dishes at night and listen to my headphones.  PJ Harvey’s on my ears tonight.  She’s so moody and passionate and a little dark.   

Separation vs. Reconciliation Part 2 is on its way, but I haven’t nailed down the right words and thoughts yet.  

Snow, Chipmunks, and Chicken June 8, 2008

It’s Husband’s birthday today.  We woke up to a dusting of snow.  This does not a cheerful husband make.  It was a chilly June day with a high in the 40s and a cold north wind. 

I worked around the house all day on my day off, went to the grocery store for cake mix and cocoa powder for frosting.  Husband watched tv and then worked on some work and cleaned out the garage, so that he could keep working on some work.  While cleaning the garage, he heard a scratching noise from some of the boxes.  Yes, the boxes that we still haven’t unpacked after 3 years in this house.  He located the box, opened it up and saw gutted, stuffed animals inside.  He kept digging through it, now with gloves on, and found 6 baby chipmunks.  Then, the Mama Chipmunk jumped out of the box at Husband and ran to a corner.  Husband screamed like he’d seen a mountain lion.  Just kidding.  The Mama made him jump back a little.  Husband fetched me from the house to show me the baby chipmunks.  Their eyes hadn’t opened yet, and their bodies measured no more than 2 inches, not including tails.  I thought human baby hands were tiny, but their little paws and itty-bitty claws on the ends were the tiniest I had ever seen.  Husband set down the box in the garage for the Mama to reclaim her family.  

We have a dog, a large one, with wispy golden fur and intense curiosity in the outdoors.  His presence did not encourage the Mama to run back to that box.  The dog, Sam, discovered the box’s contents and had his nose in it, but couldn’t find the source of the interesting smell.  Sam ran back and forth between the box and Husband, until Husband excused himself from a phone call and showed the dog the babies.  Sam got so excited that he stuck his nose on the babies and licked them.  Cute, but ew.  Husband sent the dog inside to behave himself while the babies got relocated.  We won’t know until morning if the Mama has found her family.  Husband thinks this may teach Chipmunks to stay. out. of. the. garage.  I have realistic ideas about that notion.  

I made a fabulous birthday dinner which consisted of mashed potatoes and teriyaki shrimp for Husband, the vegetarian except for his shrimp, and teriyaki chicken for me.  Little Guy won’t eat meat, so I served him a bowl of mashed potatoes.  He doesn’t usually like those either, but it’s not his birthday, so it’s not my problem if he chooses not to eat mashed potatoes.  I cooked 2 cakes before dinner, in case you were wondering.  Back to the dinner table.  Little Guy saw me cutting up my chicken and asked me for a piece.  I gave him a little bit of chicken and expected him to push it around, taste it, make a face, and spit it out.  Guess what.  He ate it, enjoyed the marinade flavor on it, and then he asked for another morsel!  He has not eaten meat with me since he was a baby.  At daycare, he will eat anything his provider cooks for him.  Fish on Fridays.  Hamburgers on Thursdays.  He eats it all!  I ended up sharing quite a bit of my chicken with him tonight, saving the last bites for him.  He ate it all and asked for even more!  This is a breakthrough!  His mashed potatoes remained untouched, but he told me they tasted good when I asked him.  

I fell asleep on the couch after dinner.  Husband put Little Guy to bed.  I got up and put Husband’s gifts on the table for him and started making frosting.  Husband opened his gifts (2 CDs) and ran upstairs to listen to the Dead Kennedys while he showered.  I had a forward flash of our life with Little Guy in about 10 years or less while I heard garbled punk rock fuzzing its way through thin subfloor above me.  What a happy man he was!  I wouldn’t trade that reaction for anything.  

I frosted the cake and cleaned up the kitchen.  After hanging out on the couch while I typed and he watched tv, cake time arrived.  Vanilla cake was a nice change.  I don’t know what kind I want for my birthday in two months.  Yes, I will spend time deciding between now and then.  I plan everything in my life, or try to, from what sandwich I will eat during my day shift to what outfit I’ll wear to what I’ll make for dinner every night for a week to whether or not I’ll celebrate my birthday this year.  Some days I try to go with the flow like a fish in the Blue River.  Today is not that day.  Today, Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting sounds good for my birthday.