a big salad and augustana do a body good

The world seems to be conspiring against me right now, as if it's secretly jealous that I'm leaving my life for a good 2 weeks and jetting to Europe. On the other hand, maybe all the stress of everything right now will make vacation just that much sweeter. Even my true love, Microsoft Excel, has been determined to make my life miserable right now. I could practically hear my coworkers... "Oh you're looking for Anneliese? She's over there in the corner, sobbing over her keyboard." Excel, you are a cruel mistress.

On the other hand, Glee! is on tonight, I have a huge green salad with about a pound of freshly grated parmesan (sans flesh) in it, and Augustana is filling my apartment with sweet, sweet songs. Oh and I might stop by Tuttimelon to ease the pain of life ;)

Quote of the day:
"When life sucks, ask for more."
-Diesel ad in the subway stations

Nolan: 2 days!
Europe: 6 days!

oily

Tonight's laundry night, and oh how I loathe walking down there in the cold, pushing my little rickety cart piled with all of Nolan's laundry from Fresno that he left here for me (love you too, babe!)...not to mention, all of my food was CLEANED OUT when I got home. So basically that thief robbed the rich and left all of the poor's dirty laundry.

My treat? Sitting in Starbucks while the laundry dries, reading a good book. It's like they say: a good cup of coffee covers a multitude of sins.

Quote of the day...via email chat:
"Ash: i'm feeling kind of oily
why is it
that i feel more gross after i take a shower
than after say, two days without a shower
do you know the answer to this question"

Nolan: 3 days!
Europe: 7 days!

here's...

I told you I had some news, and here it is. Meet John:

John will be living with Nolan and I for the short-term, and Milo will therefore have a new friend and someone to play with him while we're off gallivanting in Europe next week and beyond!

Quote of the day:
"Everywhere there's a little bunny, there's plenty of grass."
-Mom (she's so cute!)

Nolan: 4 days!
Europe: 8 days!

yowl

Milo always loves going places to visit: meeting new friends, hiding in interesting places, eating lots of food...

But as you can see, he hates the car ride there. He is usually pretty good, and just sits there and looks out the window. But today he decided to sit on my lap and stare at me and yowl to tell me just how upset he was at leaving Placerville. So Nate caught a picture of him doing what he does best.

Similarly, I caught a picture of ylehsa doing what she does best:

We checked out a new (to me) cafe in her 'hood with some really delicious coffee, and kind of a cool eclectic atmosphere. Complete with board games and a HUGE wine rack covered with fake moss.

Nolan ended up coming to San Francisco this weekend at the last minute with a classmate who was driving this way, and by the time he found out, I was already in Sacramento. BOO! As it turns out, I was COMPLETELY SAD because I was going to miss him by about half an hour when I got back in the city tonight, but his ride was late, and I got to see him for a full 20 minutes! SIGH OF CONTENTMENT.

Quote of the day:
"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."
-Mignon McLaughlin

Nolan: 5 days!
Europe: 9 days!

101!

Yep, that's supposed to be the temperature up in Placerville this weekend, where I'll be relaxing and visiting the fam. And to think that I have been overheating in SF where it's been 71...

It's amazing the secrets an audit will reveal. Today, for example. I found myself an extra $300. Happy Friday, indeed!

shed-jool

Between now and January 9, I only have 3 weekends free. How depressing is that! Of course, I won't be complaining that 2 of those busy weekends will be in Europe and 2 will be in Mexico, heh. But STILL!

Thought: Is social elitism prevalent in our common lives today? Who knows. I tend to think so, only because I can walk into a store in Union Square, and if my hair is greasy from the gym (or just greasy in general), the salesperson will snub me. Yet the next person in is a man in a suit, and they're all licking the tiles beneath his feet. Not that I'm a bitter member of the working-class, but this has miffed me lately. Especially since I find it to be VERY prevalent in certain circles I find myself in. I respect someone who has worked hard to be where they're at, but we're all just people. I kind of feel the same way with saints--people pray to saints, and yet they're just (dead) people. What makes them any different, really? There is a big difference between admiring someone's accomplishments or character, and treating them much differently than their/your peers. This is challenging in a city where I'm constantly trying to please those around/above me, and yet walking by crazy people on the streets who walk up and grab my arm and speak gibberish to me. Obviously I don't want to be grabbed by someone who smells like urine, but I'd like to think that doesn't have anything to do with the person, as much as it does with the stench. We're all just trying to get by, right? In our own way?

Granted, some are after different things than others, but it seems like I've noticed even more than usual the fierce drive of people after things that just don't matter. Myself included. Yikes. All this isn't to say the symbolic capital of some people doesn't make sense, but there is a difference between that and and social elitism based solely on possession or idolatry for one reason or another, and as we all know, too much of a good thing...We're hypocrites of our own creed, "We hold these things to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...", and I might add, "and remain equal despite our own strivings to set ourselves above others." Mission: study the Constitution.

Not to rant or anything, just a thought. This is probably the most confusing post ever.

On to infinitely more superficial things. I was sitting at my desk this morning, when an email pops up from my coworker. Subject Line: "MAN OVERBOARD!!!" So I open it, and saw this (click to enlarge):

I happen to really like this vest I'm wearing, AND have gotten many compliments on it. See?


If you can ignore the creepy Easter Bunny peeping over my left shoulder (wtf?!), you might notice that the vest, although very warm and cute looking, DOES actually resemble a life preserver. Hhh. My badge there is even like the little pull-cord to inflate it. Maybe I SHOULD have been a stewardess afterall.

I've also decided to resurrect the quote of the day. So here you are:
"Most people don't realize that two large pieces of coral painted brown and attached to the skull with common wood screws can make a child look like a deer."
-Jack Handey

Nolan: 8 days!
Europe: 12 days!

blueberry morning!

The best way an evening can be spent (almost): a huge salad with freshly GRATED parmesan, a big bowl of delicious blueberry morning cereal, and GLEE!

The only thing that would make it better is if my honey was here <3

And if he was giving me a foot massage. And maybe if Publisher's Clearing House knocked on the door.

Nolan!: 9 days
Europe!: 13 days

Amber Rose

Going out for drinks with coworkers to celebrate something is always fun, until you go to another event afterwards and say a little bit too loudly that you had two Amber Roses at the Indian restaurant when one probably would have been fine. And then you meet new people and all you can think is BEST FIRST IMPRESSION EVER. That and the time we played Loaded Questions with the new girls in our small group and I told a story involving college and poop. It's amazing I still have ANY friends.

And I'm sitting here blasting Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and wishing desperately that I had some decent cheese and crackers left. But for now Donny Osmond will have to soothe my senses. Poor, poor, Joseph.

I also hate the sensation of having fantastically curled hair all day...and then sitting at home late at night, running your fingers through your sprayed-stiff hair and thinking WHY did I think this was a good idea. Although ever since the tape/hair incident of '09, I guess I have given up on the hair. In fact, I think the last time I had it trimmed was sometime around the January/February timeframe.

Semi-News: A big change is coming to the Caldwell house! More to come...

Heartless

A movie that inspires you is one worth watching. So it happened yesterday with "Julie and Julia", which my mother MADE me go see (and it was totally worth it--thanks, Mom!). Within 2.5 hours I was instantly inspired to:

1. Move to France
2. Bone and bread a duck and then throw myself a giant party and serve it to my friends.
3. Be a better/cooler blogger
4. Listen to more cultural music.

Of these, I can so far say:

1. Visiting in 2 weeks will have to do.
2. Will most likely never happen.
3.
4. Pandora is the radio god's gift to me.

And since we've been sending these back and forth all morning on email, I'll just post here that my personality type has officially changed (thank you, God), and I am no longer a heartless, cold monster...according to Myers-Briggs. Here we are:

"As an ESTP, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion. Your secondary mode is internal, where you deal with things rationally and logically.
ESTPs are outgoing, straight-shooting types. Enthusiastic and excitable, ESTPs are "doers" who live in the world of action. Blunt, straight-forward risk-takers, they are willing to plunge right into things and get their hands dirty. They live in the here-and-now, and place little importance on introspection or theory. The look at the facts of a situation, quickly decide what should be done, execute the action, and move on to the next thing.
ESTPs have an uncanny ability to perceive people's attitudes and motivations. They pick up on little cues which go completely unnoticed by most other types, such as facial expressions and stance. They're typically a couple of steps ahead of the person they're interacting with. ESTPs use this ability to get what they want out of a situation. Rules and laws are seen as guidelines for behavior, rather than mandates. If the ESTP has decided that something needs to be done, then their "do it and get on with it" attitude takes precendence over the rules. However, the ESTP tends to have their own strong belief in what's right and what's wrong, and will doggedly stick to their principles. The Rules of the Establishment may hold little value to the ESTP, but their own integrity mandates that they will not under any circumstances do something which they feel to be wrong.
ESTPs have a strong flair for drama and style. They're fast-moving, fast-talking people who have an appreciation for the finer things in life. They may be gamblers or spendthrifts. They're usually very good at story telling and improvising. They typically makes things up as they go along, rather than following a plan. They love to have fun, and are fun people to be around. They can sometimes be hurtful to others without being aware of it, as they generally do not know and may not care about the effect their words have on others. It's not that they don't care about people, it's that their decision-making process does not involve taking people's feelings into account. They make decisions based on facts and logic.
ESTP's least developed area is their intuitive side. They are impatient with theory, and see little use for it in their quest to "get things done". An ESTP will occasionally have strong intuitions which are often way off-base, but sometimes very lucid and positive. The ESTP does not trust their instincts, and is suspicious of other people's intuition as well.
The ESTP often has trouble in school, especially higher education which moves into realms where theory is more important. The ESTP gets bored with classes in which they feel they gain no useful material which can be used to get things done. The ESTP may be brilliantly intelligent, but school will be a difficult chore for them.
The ESTP needs to keep moving, and so does well in careers where he or she is not restricted or confined. ESTPs make extremely good salespersons. They will become stifled and unhappy dealing with routine chores. ESTPs have a natural abundance of energy and enthusiasm, which makes them natural entrepreneurs. They get very excited about things, and have the ability to motivate others to excitement and action. The can sell anyone on any idea. They are action-oriented, and make decisions quickly. All-in-all, they have extraordinary talents for getting things started. They are not usually so good at following through, and might leave those tasks to others. Mastering the art of following through is something which ESTPs should pay special attention to.
ESTPs are practical, observant, fun-loving, spontaneous risk-takers with an excellent ability to quickly improvise an innovative solution to a problem. They're enthusiastic and fun to be with, and are great motivators. If an ESTP recognizes their real talents and operates within those realms, they can accomplish truly exciting things. "

Love Languages:

Giving:
1. Gifts
2. Acts of Service
3. Physical Touch
4. Words of Affirmation
5. Quality Time

Receiving:
1. Gifts
2. Physical Touch
3. Acts of Service
4. Words of Affirmation
5. Quality Time"

Take the Myers-Briggs test here, and see your description here...and if you're an ESTJ I'm sorry I called you a heartless, cold monster. See? I thought about your (possible) feelings! Proof that you can change your heartless ways!

gleeeee!

My new favourite show: Glee! If you haven't seen it, start watching! There are only 3 episodes so far, and they're all on Hulu. Just listening to the soundtrack made me kick my feet and spin around in my chair this morning at work.

In Remembrance of My Knuckle

Last night I tried to shave some parmesan for my salad, and pressed a little too hard...an hour later I am STILL trying to sop up the blood oozing from my thumb's knuckle, of which I unceremoniously grated off a 1/2 inch chunk deep enough that I could see white underneath, and big enough that there was a giant piece of flesh stuck in the grater. G R O S S. I'm still feeling squeamish about it. Thanks to Ash U. for mopping me up, I survived and didn't whine too much. Possibly the worst cut I've ever had.
Needless to say, I threw away that grater, lest I live in constant fear of having to grate cheese ever again. So today I ran to Crate and Barrel, because I happened to know that they stocked the following:

A grater that has NO CONTACT with one's skin, and produces a fine little pile of delicious shavings. Easy to use, easy to clean, no sharp edges. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Tonight I'm nailing down our Paris schedule, and am that much closer to strolling the streets of old Paree with my best friend. I have a whole bag full of travel stuff that I've been adding to each day, so I'm set for anything from brushing my teeth to doing laundry over there, to ending up in a bathroom with no tp. Faaaaaabulous.

compelling

I often find myself doing things I'll regret, out of excess, mostly because it feels wrong to not do it. Like eating everything on my plate, which makes me feel sick and crappy afterwards. Or in this case, buying candy (which I should be avoiding anyway), and making myself eat all the bad flavours first. Then...I realize that as long as I enjoy the good flavours, I get what I paid for. So I just threw away half a bag of orange and yellow giant chewy Nerds, because they're disgusting and nobody is actually forcing me to eat them, and OH THE FREEDOM.

I'm also dreading the new year already, because just today, I remembered that I idiotically bought a gigantic 2009-2010 Twilight wall-calendar, and boy when I flip it to 2010...let me just say that nobody at the office will ever take me seriously again.

DONE!

My huge project = done! I'll have a life again! Cheers to that.

Speaking of cheer, this brought me some this weekend:

A couple weeks ago, my mom bequeathed me her ice cream maker and her bread maker (thanks, Mom!). So...I tested it out with some good old butter pecan ice cream! It's the creamiest, saltiest, most delicious frozenness ever.

More good news: our European Itinerary is almost done! I am thinking about posting it on here, since it took hours of work, and on the off-chance that some of you are debating going, I'll just go ahead and save you about 40 hours of planning! Whew!

I'll call this one right here, because my poor little guy stepped on the wrong side of a sticky note and is furiously shaking his paw to get rid of it. Hhh.

brain fart

...pretty much sums up the last few hours of my day. Alone in my cubicle earlier I may or may not have overdosed on sugar (via my huge "party-size" box of Twilight-themed conversation hearts) to try and get some (fake) energy to slog through my intense workload. Of course, since I haven't had candy in quite awhile, the sugar coursed immediately through my blood stream like it was in a vacuum. I then proceeded to throw myself my own little cubicle rave and host a private moshpit in my cube, and then I promptly crashed and contemplated throwing myself out the window. It's odd how sugar will make you go from headbanging to the Jonas Brothers in your cubicle to feeling like a semi just squashed you on the I-5. It was a doozy, let me tell you.

even more cheese and crackers

Asiago on water crackers may be one of the most addicting things on the planet, besides coffee OF COURSE. Equally addicting is planning our trip to Europe, WHICH: is all booked and paid for and planned. All we have to worry about is finding decent eats. Which shouldn't be a problem either. Now it's all about making a hard itinerary...which I did last week and dumped it into Excel, and then (can you see where this is going?) I turned it into an amazing pivot table. It shows EVERYTHING and I secretly just want you all to be impressed.

Today I spent a few hours with the fabulous girl I'm tutoring, and we've been reading Twilight together as a project. Twilight is kind of an...emo chick book (I can say that because ILOVEIT), and my learner has sass. So I guess it shouldn't surprise me when, in her one-page writing assignment about Twilight today, she referred to Edward Cullen as "Captain save a ho". If the shoe fits, I suppose...

cheese and crackers

Few things in this world compare to a really good salad. Or a really good cheese or chocolate. Or a good night's sleep. Tonight, I only have one of those left to check off, and tomorrow I'll wake up refreshed and feelin' fine. Though I have to temper it with one of the worst things I can imagine, finally becoming reality. I went to the dentist today, and he informed me that I do in fact have to get my wisdom teeth out. All 4. And they are all super far below the surface. SOBBBBBBBUH! That ranks right up there with the fear I have of sleeping in someone else's sheets and giving birth. Imagine.That. But on a brighter note, there is nothing else wrong with my mouth. No cavities, nada! I'll just have to grow a pair and sign the dotted line for my dentist to jack around in my jaw for a few hours and walk out a bloody mess. Methinks that will be my cue to use Nolan's doctor-ness and get some amazing meds for free.

The weekend in Placerville was one of the most fun and relaxing ones I have had in a long time. Just hanging out with my parents and Nolan and doing interesting things together and enjoying the perfect weather! The tail end of the weekend included rafting, a trip to Apple Hill, more ladderball (Nolan's a sucker for losing at that game, apparently), among other things. It's September, and I got a sweet tan last weekend, YES. The only proof of our weekend that I happen to have is as follows. Ahem:
This was posted on a building in Placerville, but I feel like it pretty much sums up all the town, all the time:

Or this one of my parents in the casino after dinner (gambling, GASP):


And this one for kicks, from the German cafe we went to in Apple Hill. Guten Tag!

The notebook

And the saga continues...I drove up to Placerville on Thursday night with Milo, since I was working from home on Friday anyway, and wanted to avoid the serious weekend traffic. When I got to Sacramento, it was about 10:30 at night, and all of a sudden my check engine light pops on, I look down, and the temp. gauge is WAY beyond the hot zone. Crrrrrap. So I take the next exit (Watt), where there just happens to be ZILCH as far as civilization goes, and pull onto a semi-lit street and park. I call my dad, who tells me I need water for my radiator to cool it off, but that I can't make it to a gas station or I might ruin the engine. So I walk up to the nearest house, see that the TV is on, and knock on the door (with my parents still on the line, because you just never know about these things, and it is a shady area). A woman answers, says "Of COURSE I'll help you!" and wakes up her husband to come help me, and they both run out in their pjs, introduce themselves, and immediately set to helping me with my car and cooing over Milo, who's huddled in the backseat with a panicked look on his face. Eventually their neighbour gets home too, and happens to know a lot about cars, and seriously: this man has just gotten off of his second job of the day, because he is paying off a wedding for one of his daughters, and meanwhile has 3 OTHER kids in college. He's tired. But he stops and enthusiastically helps all the same. They all stay until I am well taken-care of, the woman (who introduced herself and her husband as Ally and Noah...hence the title) is chatting to me the whole time, while her neighbour is showing me pictures of HIS cat on his cell phone, while cooling off my radiator with the other. They offered to follow me most of the way home, even, and waved goodbye when I drove home in my semi-fixed car. Let me just take a second to shout out to Noah and Ally and their neighbour whose name I didn't catch, and say that you have restored my faith in the human race and how genuinely good and nice people can be. Thanks.

Also of course a shout-out to my dad (and mom!) who stayed up waaaaayyy past their elderly bedtime (hah!), and coached me through it all on the phone, and stayed up until I got home. AND who are letting me switch back to using my original car, while my dad figures out if the one I've had is still okay to drive around. Lifesavers.

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here blogging while my parents nap, and Nolan "reads Harry Potter", aka while Nolan plays Mob Boss on his iPhone and pretends to read even though HE SHOULD BE SAVOURING HIS READING TIME that he normally doesn't get. I know he knows this, and I imagine that's why he's hiding it behind his Harry Potter book. AS IF I can't see. I think this picture sums up just how much I've missed him (originally intended to be a cute picture, but as fate would have it: no.):

See my face? That is my facial reaction to the thought, "sick!l" with what Nolan is doing. Although to be honest, I'm actually pretty impressed that we caught a burp like that one he's accidentally doing on camera.

Today was pure laziness and ladderball and Foster's Freeze ice cream and sunshine and sleeping in. Tonight we may or may not go to the casino (Europe money!) to take advantage of Nolan's card counting skillz, and then sit in the hot tub under the stars with some of my dad's wine. Tomorrow we're going rafting in the afternoon with the fam and ylehsa, and honestly after that I have no idea what we're doing for the next couple days. And you know, I don't really care.

little toes

After a nice, sweaty workout with Ash U. in my living room (Hello, Febreeze!), I found Milo half-asleep on the computer. Possibly the only time I can say "Milo...on the computer" in a sentence, since he is, as it turns out, not actually a person. So I took a picture to commemorate his sweetness while it lasted. Inevitably I'll be tossing him out the door in an hour when I'm trying to go to sleep with the covers pulled tight over my head for protection, and STILL feeling a probing little paw with claws outstretched, groping around in the darkness under there looking for me. Either that or feeling him trying to swallow strands of my hair while they are STILL CONNECTED TO MY HEAD. Gross. Anyway, as I was saying:

That almost makes me forget how he is most of the time. Speaking of his nasty little paws, what is going on with them there? It's like he's folded his hands in his lap like a person (again). Let's go in closer:

I personally don't prefer to sleep with a digit gruesomely stretched around the others and my nail hanging out. Whatever floats his boat, I guess.

J for today

...because I have a post starting with almost every letter of the alphabet, and J was one of the ones missing. I guess the Duggars have stolen every J I ever could have used, because I can't think of a good word even now.

I had a stupid picture that I was also going to post in here solely because I have nothing else exciting to say except that I get really into online conversations and sometimes get waaay too carried away. Fine. Here's the stupid picture:

That's what happens when I'm trying to be quiet but someone (YLEHSA) says something ridiculous, and because I'm immature, I can't handle it. And yes, I took that of myself to prove it. Hhhh, how embarrassing.

While I'm posting semi-embarrassing pictures, I might as well stick this one on here too, of my attempt at Indian last night on the fly. C'mon, give me credit!

I tossed some flour and water in a bowl and then slapped the result on a hot pan to get the (rock-hard) naan, microwaved some Trader Joe's Palak Paneer, and blended some TJ's nasty old yogurt with some freezer-burnt chunks of Mango (thanks, N, for not zipping the bag shut) and some (expired) mango juice for a mango lassi. The result: actually...not too bad. Though the mango lassi tasted a tad fermented. Sick.


ps- I woke up this morning to someone pounding on my door and I opened it and GUESS WHAT it was a giant iced white mocha. In other words, coffee's back. My trends don't last as long as the posts about them.