Woo Hoo!

When I became a Gold Card Member a few weeks ago I was bummed because my birthday had passed and I'd figured I'd have to wait almost a year for my free drink. And then I received this postcard in the mail yesterday and promptly used it this morning. Happy last day of birthday month to me!!!! BTW, it doesn't expire until 4/30/09. What GCM would wait that long to use it?!

More Influential than Oprah!

Things Rachel Made Me Do:

First there was acupuncture, and now...
Massage Envy - $39 introductory 1 hour massage! You know you want to go too!

It's a good thing Rachel is a good egg, otherwise I'd be in trouble!

BRRR!

After bowling 12 games today (and 9 yesterday) Striker played a double header in softball. Apparently someone forgot to tell all of us that it was going to be freaking COLD and windy. We arrived in flip flops with sweatshirts (we do live in So Cal) and left to go get Fuggs and pants and sleeves for Striker. We're now on our 2nd hot chocolates and still freezing!

Lake Time?

Oskar's ready! However, Oskar is offended that his life jacket's tag indicated that it's not designed for breeds with short legs, ahem. The purpose of a life jacket is to keep him afloat...as long as it stays on him it'll do its job!

Striker's Gift....

...to KFuj. Phrases uttered while painting: this is gonna suck. I am terrible at this. I look like I am painting with my left foot. I really hope I don't have a daughter, I might have to do this again. I hate my cuticles. I'm not going to have any signs of this at bowling tonight am I?

Science Experiment: Jenn Ann Style

I am admittedly getting a little tired of being a science experiment, but kinda like all of the random things I've learned about how my body works. I could live quite happily if I never heard a medical professional utter "that's odd" while looking at one of my body parts or lab results again!

This most recently occurred at the dentist last week when he noticed that not only had a filling cracked (and it could not be more than 4 years old as I had NEVER had a cavity before that), but that I had a pin prick sized cavity forming on the top of a molar, no where near a crack or crevice.

In case you've lost track of my "that's odd" medical moments, here's a quick run down: ruptured appendix at 10, scoliosis, chiari malformation, amenorrhea, PCOS, and unexplained infertility. My body has the uncanny ability to adapt to these oddities and doctors are often baffled because I don't present the "usual" symptoms. This has led to my regular Googling of various symptoms to self-diagnose...this often pays off as I learn cause and effect for various things like caffeine and sugar.

Moral of this story is that I will be sacrificing caffeine and sugar, sticking to my super strict diet for those of us that are insulin resistant, and exercising more for at least the next month. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday to the Queen!

I could attempt to write a tribute to the Queen as nice as the one she wrote for me on my birthday, but I am busy writing birthday haikus for tomorrow night's Striker & the Hot Chicks: Birthday Edition at 7:00 PM Pacific. It's extremely critical that EVERYONE calls in to wish her a happy birthday, because my goal is for her to have 22 callers. Now, I know that we have many followers who remain anonymous and never call or comment, but what a better occasion to join our insanity than to make your debut on the Queen's birthday show? Bonus points if you share a birthday haiku! (Haiku rules can be found here.)

The best parts about today are that it is World Water Day (and raining in Southern California, much to Striker's pleasure - just don't ask him to explain transboundary water) and that it signals the end of the Queen's March Madness. Now please set a good example and get back to blogging! :)

New Addiction Alert!

Yesterday Rachel and I went to El Pollo Loco for lunch. There were two things noteworthy on this trip. The first is that I have a new beverage OBSESSION! Bigelow unsweetened raspberry iced tea, which is herbal and therefore non-caffeinated, is AMAZING!!!! Now I just need to find out where else I can find it or I may have to resort to making it myself.

The second noteable is that they have smart cash registers that pull your name off your card so you not only don't have to give them your name, but they spell it correctly! And you don't have to remember your order number!

Spring Cleaning

Since today is the first day of Spring, and I feel like taking inspiration (and procrastination avoidance tips) from the Queen, I am posting for all the world to see (and nag, poke, prod, and generally hold me accountable to) the list of things I want to accomplish before April 6th:

• Clean out and organize closets and cabinets (including Master closet, which is 50% completed)
• Clean out and organize my home "office". Currently a room full of crap, and no, I will not be taking a before photo. :)
• Clean out and organize the garage. We have empty cabinets and stuff stacked everywhere. It's been 2 years, it's time!

Wish me luck!

A Little Birdie....

...left me a present. Good thing my car isn't clean! A car wash is definitely on the weekend agenda!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you had a green beer too!

More Signs of Recession

All of the trash cans in the parking structure at Disneyland were full at 9:30 in the morning!

When KT gets crafty...

She turns into a rule FOLLOWER!!!!

Today at KFuj's Card Club several things happened:
We got to meet Diane! (Who is also crafty) Come back and visit soon!

We got to unite both Kim Thomas' in KFuj's life (I really hope someone has a picture!)

We got to eat tasty food. Thanks KFuj!

We made several birthday and baby cards.

We learned that Kim is really beginning to like this crafty stuff and her OCD makes for some very entertaining rule following! She takes her art very seriously!

We decided how Kim will provide Sydney's age once she's more than 12 months without saying 13 months, 14 months, etc.

We learned that the KFuj's need a baby gate at the top of their stairs.

I officially took off the training wheels and was able to successfully tie all of my knots and bows by myself!

Sydney had a play date and we all got to experience what it'd be like to have twins. She was super good and let her mommy make several cards relatively uninterrupted.

It was super fun and I can't wait for next month!

Animal Mom

Update on Oskar:
All symptoms are gone, except for a grudge that he is holding against me. He refused to sleep next to me and cuddle last night (like he does every night), and instead slept by my feet. Apparently he has not yet forgiven me for forcing benadryl down his throat. However, his Daddy, who took him to get the shot, and assisted with the benadryl, is in the clear. Whatever!

C (aka Chaz, Chuck, Jack) is obsessed with ribbon, rubber bands, and plastic. He finds the stuff everywhere no matter how hard we try to keep it out of his reach. Apparently he ate some curling ribbon, because last night while we were dealing with Puff Doggy, we were also playing "clean up C's puke" (let us know if you ever want to play, we'd be happy to have you over!)

Puff Doggy

Oskar got his rabies shot today. The first two times he got it, he was fine. Third time's the charm. I looked over at him while watching 24 season 5 1:00 PM, and saw that his face was all puffy. I immediately referred to the instructions provided by the vet and found "Swelling of the face or ears" and "Hives or significant itching" listed under the section titled "Rarely, Pets may experience more serious conditions soon after vaccination including:" Clearly NOT good!

I called the pet hospital and they suggested I try giving him some Children's Benadryl. I immediately headed for Walgreens and returned home in record time, pondering the whole way home how I was going to get Oskar to swallow a teaspoon of syrup. I was crossing my fingers that he'd like it.

Sadly, he was SO not into. I tried getting him to lick it off my fingers, no luck. No eye droppers in house, crap. Eureka! Syringe! (most of you know why I have a large supply of syringes on hand. For those of you that don't, no, I am not a drug addict.) I bolt up the stairs with Oskar under my arm and decide to position us in the bath tub to minimize the sticky cherry syrup from getting everywhere, as I was already covered in a good amount.

Eventually, with a little help from the hubby, I was successful and his face began to deflate. His hives are now gone. He's still ignoring me, but with a little coaxing, I can get him to give me kisses. And now we can resume 24. :)

Happy Birthday to ME continued...

Why I love being a Wilson Creek Wine Club Member # 333:

I received a "Happy Birthday" email from them with all sorts of discounts and specialness. :)

KFuj when are we going this month?

One of the Most Happy Days of the Year!

Annual Performance Appraisals have now officially been completed for my team!!!! I vow to be a better blogger - I have several topics lined up on my "things to blog" list.

I was comparing rating systems with a certain Kim1Champ last week and we agreed that neither system really helps you understand how you rank...especially when everyone typically falls within 2 numbers.

Excellent 4
Very Good 3
Good 2
Marginal 1
Unacceptable 0

5 distinguished
4 exceptional
3 successful
2 partially successful
1 unsuccessful


I much more prefer the blog rating system. I'm sure Andrea Braun will agree with me :)

Signs of the Economy

Burger King has cut back on their sauce allowance. Note the little pieces of paper changing the count from 2 to 1.

Happy Birthday to ME! (2009)

Thank you to everyone for all of the birthday wishes, gifts, and fun! Since everyone always asks what I got for my birthday, here you go:

• Flowers from Striker
• Edible Arrangement from my sister
• Cash from mom, in-laws, and aunt & uncle (to be used towards my new dining room table)
• Ikea gift cards from Rachel and my team at work (dining room table)
• Ann Taylor Loft gift card from Pickle
• Lunch with Rachel, Kim, and Pickle
• Wine Fridge from Mr & Mrs KFuj, also known as my partner in wine tasting/buying crime
• Borders gift card and Twilight DVD when it is released on 3/21 from my counterparts
• Birthday wishes from KFuj and Paula on Striker & the Hot Chicks, as well as 3 birthday Haikus
• And from Queen B, this post and a card to fulfill her New Years' Resolution and probably procrastinate on some sort of school work.

The Queen was generous enough to provide me list of 10 things she hoped that I accomplished today...oddly it was a list of 10 and not 3 or 22, or even 19:

1. Get b-day kisses from the furries - check
   
2. Visit Starbucks - check
   
3. Let your phone go straight to voicemail - check
   
4. Eat a cupcake that someone else made for you - double check!
   
5. Fire someone (call me for suggestions) - sadly no, but I thought about several potentials
   
6. Have Olive Garden dinner - did that on Saturday
   
7. Drink wine - added to collection...have a bottle in the fridge for Friday...was too full from food fest today
   
8. Host radio show - did that yesterday
   
9. Get card from Queen B - um, duh? Check
   
10. Have a very happy birthday! - CHECK!
    

All and all it's been a great birthday so far...I just could have lived with out the blood being drawn at 7:30 this morning and the double mega dose injections this evening...sigh. I hope that the medical mystery that is me is solved while I'm still 28.

Results from today's birthday edition of FFSU coming tomorrow...it's my birthday and I'll judge if I want to!

Another Alternative Career

The Queen and I spend a good portion of time contemplating alternative careers, as evidenced both here and here. Recently we've added "customer service critic" to our lists.

First there was Sprint, then Michaels, then Sirius, and now we have Circus Circus.

Twice this month I have stayed at Circus Circus in Vegas because: 1) they were a sponsor of the tournaments that the hubby bowled, 2) it's the closest hotel to the Cashman Center where he bowled other than the Stratosphere and downtown, and 3) it's super cheap.

Yes, I am aware that you generally get what you pay for when it comes to hotels. However, I didn't pick the hotel. ;)

The first time we went, I was less than thrilled with our view. The rooms were kinda dingy, but the beds were okay.
This time, we had a view of the Adventuredome, the rooms was newer/nicer, but the BEDS WERE TERRIBLE!!!! We literally felt every single spring in the mattress. We've never been happier to get back to our own bed last night!

I made Striker promise that we'd NEVER stay at Circus Circus again!

Redundancy?

Would you want to be the 2nd 2nd Assistant Director? How about Co 2nd 2nd Assistant Director? What exactly do they do? I'm sure KT would take this job because it's on 24, but seriously?!

Like Peas and Carrots

What goes together better than Donuts and Chinese Food?