Schmooblebuns' major senior moment.

My mom has competition:

The other night, Schmoobles put in a load of laundry in our washer. A minute later, I noticed that it sounded odd so I opened the doors to our washer/dryer nook and laughed. He had left the lid of the washer up while he ran a load of laundry, which explained why the machine sounded louder than usual. We giggled about it, I closed the lid and left it at that. Just now, he asks: "Did you notice anything else strange when the washer was making that weird sound the other day?" No, I said. I closed the lid. Schmoobs: "It was empty... because I put my dirty clothes in the dryer."

This is what happens when you date an older man, I guess. Hahaha.

LAST grade* school application sent.

Ever since I've gotten back to Texass, I've had nothing but uncomfortable, awkward anxiety dreams every night. Like dreaming that I am wearing stiletto heels and every surface that I try to walk on is slick so I keep falling on my ass. Those types. I can only attribute this to the fact that I now have only to sit and wait and perform sacrifices towards the musicology gods that I will be accepted to at least one program this Spring. And that that program will give me an assistantship so that I can actually afford to go.

Actually, I misspoke. I've had at least two non-anxiety dreams. A couple nights ago, I dreamt that I discovered this fabulous new type of mascara that, instead of being applied with a traditional mascara wand, was applied with something closer to a itty bitty flat paintbrush and made your lashes super long and fabulous. It was pretty cool. And then last night I dreamt that I uploaded all my California holiday pictures and posted them on this blog. So maybe I'll do that later today. Maybe.

Also: My first day of teaching this semester is next Wednesday, which means that I am down to three days left to, you know, prepare syllabi, course schedules, lecture materials, etc. etc. Bleh.


* I'm keeping that "e" typo because it is awesome and also very telling. Thanks Dan :D

Because I didn't want to be lame and post this on my Facebook.

...But I had to post it somewhere because I WANT MONEY. (Plus, hey I just saved $1 on a lottery ticket!)

"This year July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays & 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags. So copy this to your status & money will arrive within 4 days. Based on Chinese Feng Shui. The one who does not copy will be without money."


Alright! Shoooow meee the mooonnneeeeey!

Hey y'aaaallll! (ugh)

Well. Here I am back in Texas.

Pros:

1. The Schmoobeebla is reunited in full! Nope, Bela did not miss BB at all.
2. No more traveling for BB in the very immediate future, so no more nausea and wretching.
3. Every day here is another day closer to (HOOOOPEFULLYYY) getting in to a good PhD program and getting the hell out of dodge.
4. For Christmas, Schmoobeebla got Netflix, Airport Extreme AND Apple TV. Instant Avatar: The Last Airbender on our television!

Cons:

1. I am back in Texass.
2. It is cold as a mofo here. It snowed over the weekend and it has not all melted yet. And what has melted has just turned into a slick icy cover on everything. Particularly the steep staircase that leads from our third-floor condo down to the parking lot. Taking BB out for walks n' tinkles twice a day is like a battle to keep my life every single time. Also, I stayed warm last night only by sleeping under no less than two thick furry blankets and a comforter. The 6am wake ups when classes start again next week will be pure torture.
3. I have to re-acclimate myself to the limited food choices here again. Less than 24 hours back here, I found myself thinking, "I should go get something to eat. But it's past 9pm. And I don't want fast food. ...Oh well."
4. I miss my family and the readiness of friends already! But at least I have my Schmoobeebla.


Anyway, I have tons of holiday pictures to post. Someday.

Ok, how about just one for now:

So during my lat weekend in CA, my older brother called and asked if we'd be interested in meeting up in San Francisco for the day, which resulted in a fun spontaneous trip to the city with him, his girlfriend, my sister and her family and my mom! We went to the Walt Disney Family Museum (which was actually more interesting than a non-Disney-freak such as myself expected) and then dinner at Fisherman's Wharf. On the drive to dinner, my brother stopped at a light next to the Weinermobile. San Francisco and a giant hotdog shaped vehicle?? It's like a dream come true!

Back to Texass today.

...But maybe for the last time? (fingers, toes, earlobes, fallopian tubes, etc. crossed)

Operation: Anti-Bloat Face update.

Did you know that it is five days after New Year's and I still haven't had any fast food or soda (except for two sips of Coke last week when I had sushi with Schmoobs, my sister and her family because I am weak)? I am precisely four weeks clean! Go me.

My dear mother has been peer-pressuring me into going to Curves with her. She has been doing really well with her exercise regimen and is becoming noticably svelter (?) by the minute. I, in the meantime, can actually make my lungs seize up just by thinking about working out. However, after putting off our planned Curves field trip last night and then accidentally sleeping through our make-up Curves field trip this morning, I finally went ahead and made myself go on a 30 minute run (...walk...run...walk...walk some more...run for ten seconds...walk the rest of the way) outside in the frigid arctic tundra. Note: when it is 30+ degrees out, a sports bra plus three layers is NOT enough to contain the nipplage. Especially when you are wearing white. Just saying. Also, my chest only closed up once, about halfway through, which is good and I only had to spend about two minutes with a panicked, bug-eyed look along which may or may not have disturbed the drivers going past me on Highway 12. But I'm back home, safe and warm now. *reaches for steaming hot mug of coffee and arsenal of inhalers*

Also, speaking of my mommy, I met her and her friend/coworker Maria for a delicious Puerto Rican lunch yesterday. Sweet fried plantains FTW!

 Chicharron de pollo (that's "fried chicken" to you) and sweet plantains. NOM.

Sweet plantain stuffed with cheese and beef. NOM NOM.

Maria was awesome and reads my blahg (hi Maria!). And then we got coffee. And then we walked by Sift Cupcakes which, I found out an hour later, is going to be featured on the Food Network's Cupcake Wars next week. I kind of wish I hadn't decided to be a good Anti-Bloat Facer then and had a cupcake. Oh well. And then I went "window shopping" where I ended up getting a pair of skinny jeans, marked down from $60 to $2.99 and a cute little black cocktail dress, marked down from $48 to $2.99. Yea boiii!

Anyway, after a very brief 2 day visit back to Santa Rosa, it is back to Sacatomato for me today where I will be reunited with my puppy. Yayyy! BB stayed behind in Sac so as to avoid the nausea and extended wretching that always strike her from carsickness. Luckily, I left her in the loving and smothering good hands of Kat and Vanessa. I wonder if she and Xander are spooning yet? At least they can be in the same room without World War III erupting now.

Also: 4 8 15 16 23 42... 4 8 15 16 23 42... 4 8 15 16 23 42... 4 8 15 16 23 42...

Happy New Year!

Celebrated the night with a group of old friends. Friends who, in college, would not have started partying until probably eleven at night and ending at perhaps 4 in the morning. Sometimes when the sun came up. Ten years later, we were all counting down the minutes until midnight starting around 10pm and griping about wanting midnight to hurry up and get here so we could all go home and sleep. I guess we really all have grown up. But it was still a great time!

Note: The Shady Lady in mid-town Sacramento is awesome! A 1920s-themed speakeasy saloon with great food and lots of amazing drinks. One such drink involved gin, basil, egg whites ...and absinthe.

Dev: "Ys, what's in that drink?"
Ys: "...Asbenth..."
Tiff: "It's working!"

With our twelve-person party eating and drinking for five hours on New Year's Eve, our check at the end of the night came out to only $450! Needless to say, our waitress got a very generous tip from our table. Happy New Year for everyone!