Just call me Chef Blaze

I grew up in a family where the men cook. Both my grandfathers cooked and my dad cooked. Somewhere along the line, my father got tired of cooking and we all just ate fast food. I then ventured into the realm of "out of the box" cooking. And sometimes that didn't even fare well; like when I would put the topping packet in instead of the sauce packet. Past roommates have known that if didn't come all in a box, I didn't make it.

Well, since marriage I have started to really cook. Going into the marriage, I thought I would make a couple of feeble attempts at cooking and then Dave would take it over. It turns out that I actually like cooking. This baffles me!

So to brag on my accomplishments I'm going to list what I've made. So far, things have turned out edible!

• Enchiladas
• Pizza (I cheat and buy the dough already cooked and made)
• Pork chops (We had those yesterday, not too bad)
• Asparagus
• Humus
• Tacos

That's all I can think of for now. It's not a long list, but I'm pretty damn proud of it!

Weekend Update

This weekend I had two dogs. Bullock the unloved boxer, and of course Bailey. I got Bullock Saturday morning and dropped him off at my house so I could go to the pool. The pool was so necessary this weekend. The weather was hot enough to really enjoy being in the water and the beer tasted great. That was until the deaf security pool guard told us that we're not supposed to have drinks by the pool. We did read the pool rules and there was nothing about not having drinks near the water. It did say no glass, but we were drinking out of cans. It was determined she was just on a power trip and wanted to prove herself.

Had a bit too much beer and sun and needed a nap except that I had to get ready for a wedding that night. The nap won and I made it to the reception along with everyone else. The reception was fun with the girls. Dave was in Vegas this weekend so the dogs and I stayed the night with Rachel and Matt. The dogs really wanted to have a sleep over with Bleu and Lola.

Sunday was a lazy day. I didn't leave Matt and Rachel's until about noon. And then laid around and got caught up on my DVR and did loads of laundry.

Not the most exciting weekend, but I got to pool and a reception with free alcohol.

I'm It!

Jackie tagged me so...

Six quirky things about me:

1. I read all forwards, but most of them that you're supposed to fill out, I fill out then delete rather than send. Mainly because I change all the questions around and fill in my own answer. Then when I'm done, I think that wasn't fun and hit delete. It basically happens every time.
2. I'm allergic to the cold. If I get too cold, I break out in hives. It starts on the knees and elbows and works its way out.
3. I sing to my dog. I sing songs and switch out words with her name. She really enjoys it.
4. I can rewatch any television show (mostly reality tv) that I enjoy. It doesn't matter if I've seen the whole season and know who wins. I'll rewatch it and still enjoy it.
5. I hate bugs. I'm so scared of them, especially if they fly or jump. My hell would be in a room surrounded by bugs that flew or jumped. I truly believe they are my biggest fear.
6. I can't stand using any hanger than a white plastic one. They all match and it makes me a happier person because of it.

I tag...

Rachel

Andrea

Jessie

...and yes, you have to.

The Reveal

Remember the before? Well, here it is! The newly painted-but not really decorated bathroom. I know some of the pictures look awfully pink, but it's more beige and taupe which neutralized the pink and green tiles.

Thank you for all of your suggestions. They were so helpful. Now I just need to figure out what pictures to put on two walls.

We ended up taking down the shower door, frame and all. The shower curtain hides the tub and the pink tiles so it was a huge help. We replaced the knobs, hinges, and door knob which updated the entire bathroom. While pink tiles and green fixtures would not be what I would have picked out, I hope it looks on purpose and not just what we had. Hopefully when I we get some pictures up it'll tie the whole thing together.

I promise to never take my AC for granted

I have AC!! Thank you to the wonderful AC man who figured out that we had multiple problems and fixed them.

Work is busy but going super well today. Disaster last week is now smoothed over and everything is hunky dory!

Oh! Remember Denise Richards she's gone. Her last day was yesterday. But she's now dating the CEO's husband's brother. She was still married as of yesterday. He was living with his girlfriend and her son. I have no updates on if the marriage is over and if he has moved out of the girlfriend's place. I guess we'll just have to make up our own version. My superpowers still work. I believe I like everybody I work with for now...but they better not cross me!!

Weekend Update

• Still no A/C. Hasn't been too bad because of the rain, but seriously, I need A/C. Even if I don't use it, I want to know I can. The repair people should be coming between 11 and 2 tomorrow.
• I got a Washer and Dryer!! My dad got it for us on Saturday!

Things I learned from getting my new washer and dryer.

1. If you buy an electrical dryer, you must also buy a plug for it and a dryer tube to lead to the outside exhaust.
2. You must install your dryer plug-in. Easy to do, but I had to install, un-install about 5 times for various reasons.
3. If you buy an electric dryer make sure your plug is not for a range stove. Because mine was. Which according to Home Depot people is a fire hazard. Oh and your "dryer plug-in" will not fit into a "range plug." That created a lot of curse words until we found it we didn't do anything wrong. The previous home owner did.
4. Dave and I installed an actual dryer plug. There was some moaning, bitching, and cursing, but nobody got hurt. We did turn off all breakers in the house to perform this task. We weren't actually sure which breaker was the dryer even though the Home Depot man told us which one to look for.
5. Do not transport your Washer on its side. The warning on the box is real. Ours makes a ridiculous loud noise and we must call a repair man to fix it. But it works and I don't care about the noise as long as my clothes get washed. And its under warranty so whatever.

I got a massage on Saturday. Actually, Dave, Matt, Rachel, and I all did. But not in the same room. I think I'm in love my massage therapist. I would like to bring her home and have her rub my back all day long. Sigh. I need another massage. Go to Aquarian Age on Cherry Street. Ask for Stephanie. She's tiny but has a lot of muscle behind her. Love her.

I got a lot done this weekend. The bathroom is almost done. I've honestly been working on it, but just in little pieces so its taking me forever to get it done!!

Oh and I think my dog is depressed. She has been down all day Sunday since we left Matt and Rachel's house (we borrowed their A/C over the weekend). She wouldn't even come to the door to greet me or say goodbye. She also spent several hours in a room by herself. So unlike her. I have a feeling Dave and I are going to need to get another dog so Bailey has a friend. That or put her on puppy prozac.

In no particular order...

The A/C went out. I'm blaming the alien attack from last night.

Also, I'm only using the blackberry phone. So if you don't have that number let me know.

And Banana Republic is having a sale. I'm going after work. Anyone want to join me? I hear White House Black Market is also having a sale.

Oh and I killed two mutated crickets last night. See Rachel I can be your island buddy and kill bugs. I just won't pick them up afterwards. Also, flea spray kills mutated crickets in case you need to know.

I didn't believe in Alien Invasion until last night

Dave and I got to bed around 11pm since I decided I needed to talk to Rachel outside of Los Cabos until 10pm. I hadn't seen her all weekend and things always go crazy when we don't see each other. This time sh*t actually happened to her. So around 11pm, lights turned off, we're in bed, I'm facing the window and all of the sudden a huge blue-green light is flashing outside of our window. Just a bright, blue-green light that takes up well more than our window. I immediately think someone is trying to break in so they're cutting our electrical and it's going crazy. Dave jumps up and pulls up the blind to see whats going on. I on the other hand slink further down under the covers and try to hide. Dave said he didn't see anything. But he did go to the front of the house to see if he could see more. I stayed in bed.
So Dave crawls back into bed. I'm still a bit freaked, but am getting over it until it happens again! It wasn't quite as big this time. Now I'm thinking some electrical thing is trying to explode right outside of our window. I get my phone to call PSO and Dave tells me not to because he doesn't think its anything they can do.
Again, I try to sleep while being conscious of any funny smells, like smoke. Then around 1:50am(?) I wake up to Dave and I kicking the covers off and realize we have NO POWER! Again I go back to initial thought of someone trying to break in. Dave gets up checks the house and decides to sleep in the living room since it would be cooler. Then I hear a sawing sound. I'm freaked out. Seriously, in my head a serial killer has chosen my house and is going to kill me by sawing my body into bits. So I get up. I figure if I'm going to die, I might as well be brave about it. I did have my phone with me in case I could call an emergency number before he saws all of me. I get to where the noise is and its a city tree cutting company sawing my neighbors tree at 2am.
I'm guessing lighting struck it, which hit a line? So they needed to get to the line and needed the tree out of the way? Those are my thoughts. I did not go outside to see what really happened, or why they were sawing my neighbors tree. I was safe and therefore could fall back asleep. Our power came back on and at some point Dave came back to the bedroom.
So the only other logical conclusion is aliens tried to attack last night, causing the blue-green glow. But our weird lighting scared them away. It couldn't have been a transformer blowing...

Fireworks & Trucker's hat equals America

The lake was super fun. We basically parked at Party Cove and chilled for most of the day on both days. The firework show was amazing. It felt like we were right beneath them. And it went on for about 15 minutes. Crazy and super fun.

We had a super fun drink. It was half apple flavored Smirnoff and half beer. Sounds gross but it was very good. We also had it with a Raspberry flavor. Yummy.

Mich also dressed himself as white trash. Thus, the trucker's hat, beer, and tats in the water. His b-day was July 4th so we made him a flag cake. There was also a balloon guy walking around before the firework shows so we had him make Mich a Trucker's hat. I think I could've done a better job.

All in all it was a great weekend. Definitely needed it. I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!

Today - in Haiku

I am so sleepy.
and the caffeine won't kick in
4 hours of work left.

My house is a mess
boys are coming over to eat
i just want to sleep

Grand Lake this weekend
boating, skiing, tubing, yeah!
Need rest before tomorrow