Bad blogger, BAD!

Good gravy! I haven't posted anything since the Day of Essure™? Wow.

Ok. In a nutshell:

I finally stopped bleeding. What a pain in the ass that was too. God I hate pads. (Sorry about the TMI, but some things just need to be said.) Now all I have to do is wait until the three months are up and go see if my tubes are all nice and blocked. I sure hope so - birth control pills are expensive!

Koroneburg Faire: It was a good time as always. We dressed as Gypsys and it was a whole lot more comfortable - and cooler! - than dressed as Pirates.

Nicky and Carlo came with us and that was fun. I almost had a heart attack when I didn't see the Pickle Lady where she usually is though! Fortunately, she had only changed location. Whew! Koroneburg would just not be the same without my pickle! I also found a sunscreen that is acceptable to me this year (That is, not sticky feeling or beach smelling) so for the first time in oh I don't know...EVER, I came home from faire without sunburned shoulders. So YAY! for that too.

Aquarium of the Pacific: We went there! We had an awesome time there too. I touched everything they would let me touch. Rays, sea anemones, starfishes, sea cucumbers, sharks......fricking LORIKEETS! (We got to feed them too! SWEET!)

It really was a lovely day. We watched a seal and sea lion presentation also which was really neat though not quite as exciting as the two seals we saw earlier in the day which were "hugging" LOL. Yea..."hugging".

Well, what else are ya gonna say when kids are present? HA!

THEN...Weasels Exist. At the Big Bear Lodge. Fun show. I was completely inappropriately dressed however. Note to self: hippy/semi-faire attire not good at a club full of people dressed all in black with sleeved arms and tattoos on their necks - and those were the girls!

Weasels also played recently at The Hyperion Tavern in Silverlake. By far my favorite club they have played in. The crowd was laid back and sorta artsy. Loved the chandeliers and legal encyclopedia stuffed bookshelves lining the walls. Neat. Note to self: Hoegaarden = YES.

Meh.

I really am terrible at updating this aren't I? Ah well. Between my sporadic postings and Dennis' sporadic postings to his blog, a fairly decent picture of what our life was like Back in the Day™ might just come into focus. Hmm. Perhaps we should start a joint blog that we both post to *whenever* so all those sporadic postings can be in one place.

*makes mental note to discuss this possibility*

Update on my very busy life:

I keep saying that I'm going to update this thing but I am so, so, LAZY. And busy. Either I've got nothing to write about or there is so much that I don't have time to do it when I'm in the middle of it or by the time I'm done, all I want to do is relax.

*sigh*

This past week was a little exciting though. I finally had my Essure procedure and I think it went well. It was painful as heck but I am not sure if it hurt more or less than I expected because *cough* the Valium.

They gave it to me to calm me down during the procedure and though it did in fact hurt, I was a leeetle bit loopy at the time. Dennis says that I was funny, cracking jokes and whatnot and singing along with the radio they had on for me. Sweet! At least I was entertaining. He said that they were mighty pleased with my radio station selection (Jack FM) too so there was much happiness and rejoicing all around and yay for that.

But all silliness aside, the cramps for the first half of the day were pretty extreme so I spent most of it knocked out on Vicodin. Needless to say, I did NOT attend work that day. I did go back the following day with nothing but some Ibuprofen to calm my cramps though and that seemed to work out well.

So. In three months or so, I ought to be sterile *whew*. Because 40 is sneaking up on me and babies really aren't something I see in my future. I am also getting very tired of taking birth control pills as they make me break out and seriously?

Women near 40 reeeeally shouldn't have to be buying pimple cream, ya know?

In other totally unrelated news...

I am thinking about taking a belly dance class. I was never happier with my body than when I was dancing all the time. It's probably really good for my back too. Dennis is fully supportive of this endeavor also because it means that I will be practicing at home and he can drum for me which is exactly how we met so that would be really neat for both of us. Huzzah!

Now, to find a suitable class...

Peep!

Hi there. Long time no see. *waves*

Quick fun story and then I'm off to do more stuff:

Katina was in the ghetto the other day when a lady came running in the room and handed her a box saying only that *they* told her that she would know what to do with it. So she opened here eyes wide and looked inside only to see this: A baby fricking sparrow! CUTE!

We named him Captain Peep Sparrow and he has been a member of our household for roughly a week. He has gotten bigger every single day since we got him (probably because for a while there he was eating every ten minutes or so for 12 hours out of the day - the glutton!) and we are confident that he will make it. We are also confident that he will never take flight outside which kind of makes me sad, yet glad in a way. It is quite an emotional quandary...

Anyways.

According to the Internet, single baby birds will always imprint on their human foster parents and this familiarity will cause problems if they are released out into the world. The last thing we want, of course, is for little Peep to be harmed because he thinks all humans out there are nice, friendly people - they are certainly not - and so he will be living in our home from now on.

And when I say "from now on"? I really mean 10 to 15 years into the future because that's how long the Internet says the little guy might be with us. Wow!

Cankle

So yea, I had a full blown cankle going on there for a minute. I'm not exactly sure how it happened either but I got this rash which turned into an itch-fest and *poof* my ankle swelled up and turned all red and it hurt to stand on it or walk around on it for to long.

It was majorly gross. EEEW. I totally should have taken a picture of it because really, why not? But of course, I didn't so there won't be any cankletasticness for the Internets today. Sorry.

Thankfully, with the help pf some hydrocortisone cream and the constant instruction from Dennis to "stop scratching," "stop scratching," "stop scratching!" "STOP SCRATCHING!!" the swelling has finally gone down and it no longer hurts to flex my foot. And it's not a minute too soon either because all that itchy was making me a little bit nuts!

Fun, fun, fun!

The last week has been somewhat of a blur. Dennis's family from Oregon came down to southern California and my sweetie has spent much of the week at The Disneyland Resort with them.

His dad is a high school band leader and his kids were performing at California Adventure so he spent a portion of the time wrangling teenagers which is always exciting but he had a fantastic time so the exhaustion was well worth the efforts. He even got to go swimming at their hotel pool which was a good time which was has by all as we has a very lovely and warm week.

I even got to join in the festivities on this past Friday. I took the whole day off at work to spend the day at the Land of Disney and at California Adventure - a place which I have really not been to except for a short jaunt through it a couple of weeks ago when I had the bejesus scared out of me on Sorin' Over California.

YIKES! that ride was just too much for the very afraid of heights me.

It was odd really. As I hung there on the hang glider apparatus with my eyes shut tight (except for the occasional peek) and my fingernails digging into Dennis's hand all I could think about was "What if my shoe falls off!!! Will I be able to retrieve it from the river/mountain top/field/etc.???"

Fear is an unusual and odd thing, that is for certain - especially an irrational one!

This time I stayed off of that ride and all was well. The surprise jewel of the afternoon (besides the high school band performance which I thought was very nice) was the Turtle Talk with Crush experience that Dennis's little brother Nate wanted to go on. It was totally interactive and hilarious! Must make note to go on that again the next time we visit the park! Dude!

All in all it was a fantastic day. I am not usually one to stop and watch the street performers but as we were with a very musical bunch we stopped and watched a number of them. It was very fun. We even managed to go on the Pirates ride twice which is always a good thing!

We ended the evening with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. My mahi mahi and coconut shrimp was divine (albeit a bit pricey)! We even managed to squeeze in a quick Cha Cha when the performers outside the restaurant broke into an appropriate tune while we were on our way in to be seated. Yay!

I was doing pretty good there with the blogging but then *poof* it was gone...

Sue me, I've been busy. HA!

But I have been busy. Very. Despite the fact that we are entirely broke, there has been a fair amount of fun going on - mostly stemming from the fact that two of our very best friends just recently announced their engagement.

Huzzah!

I swear, last weekend N. and I must have poured for hours over flowers and dresses and menus and OMG all things wedding, etc. Dennis didn't mind or even notice really because he and C., the groom-to-be, were busy playing Grand Theft Auto or something. (Nope, not a video game person. At. All.) But that was all good because neither one of them were terribly interested in the Girlie™ which was exploding accross the room as N. and I did our thing.

*Squee!!* Wedding Stuffs®!

In addition to all that happy madness, Dennis and I celebrated our three-year aniversary on the 24th so yay for us! Well, we didn't actually celebrate it until tonight since my sweetie has not been home for a few days. He has been off at school, preparing to take his 100 Ton Masters test so that he can become a captain, purchase us a house and buy me a beautiful ring.

He says he plans to make an honest woman out of me at some point...if it's ok with my dad. LOL

(Heh. I said "LOL". I do that in speaking sometimes too. Such is the Intarweb inspired Brave New World that we live in now-a-days.)

But we DID celebrate tonight in high style at our most favorite eating establishment, Beach City Grill. Mmmmmmmm, YUMMY! Honestly, Larry (the owner, who was waiting tables this evening - YAY! He is so fun!) makes the best most flavorful dishes ever. EVER! We even had the pleasure of enjoying some of his famous Cajun Sweet Potato Fries with feta dip, homemade katsup and the always giggle-inspiring "Panty Ripper" hot sauce in addition to our main courses. Tee hee!

So all in all, it has been busy and happy (and delicious) and more busy and yet even more happy. Life is good.

Ah, Valentine's Day...♥

Another lovely one with Dennis. Funny, how I've grown to take it so for granted that my Valentine's Day will always be special, even if all we do is stay in bed all morning, talking and *ahem* stuff.

We've been together now for almost three years. In fact, if will BE three years exactly in ten days on February 24th. I always forget the date (and so does he so I really don't feel too badly about that). Every time we talk about how long we have been together - usually on holidays such as this - neither one of us can remember the exact date "We" began. We both remember the moment it was official though...

I was down in the dumps and in need of a kind gesture or word or something...when he came to me bearing a gift (my green hookah) and stole my heart. We'd been flirtatious for a while already but...there really was no official commitment yet. But that day and that simple gift sealed it. And I've not been disappointed. The generosity and kindness Dennis has shown me over the last three years amazes me and I am so happy and grateful and tickled that he is in my life - every single day, not just Valentine's Day.

I can honestly say that I will love him forever.

(And that is a damn long time by the way and I am not one to make such grandiose and marvelous, fantastical statements on a regular basis!)

Our day was really nice. It started off sweet and steamy in the boudoir and meandered off in the direction of ordinary (laundry) and delicious (chocolates). We then set off to have breakfast at our favorite breakfast-type place: The Omelette & Waffle Shop. Yum. I had my usual, their cheddar and jalapeno waffle with a side of scrambled eggs. Heavenly.

And then, after we ate we set off on our way to our dance class. It was Foxtrot today, a very fun dance. We always have fun at our class though, regardless of the particular style. My sweetie is very talented and a super good lead!

And now I am back at home, waiting for him to get off work (folks do need to earn a dollar dontchaknow) but he ought to be home very soon and we will continue our day until it is time for me to fall asleep in his arms, just like I hope to every night for the rest of my life.

I truly am a very lucky girl. ♥

Island adventure!

I've been meaning to post about our most recent Catalina trip so since I have a minute here while my sweetie is doing the dishes, here ya go:

Last weekend, Dennis and I didn't have anything planned for Sunday so I suggested that we take a day trip to the island and see those Botanical Gardens we didn't make it to the last time we were in Avalon.

Remember that trip? The Great Drunken Disaster of 2008?

So anyways, I spent Saturday at work and then afterwards we went to a lovely birthday party for my nephew. My brother and his wife throw the best parties. Honestly, I can only hope to aspire to someday throwing parties as well as they do. I have no idea how they manage to pull of the shindigs they do, all the while wrangling children and mingling with guests. But they do, and it looks effortless. Amazing.

But back to Catalina...

On Sunday we had planned to hop on the 10:30 boat out of The Landing to Avalon which we would have been able to do without a problem, if there had in fact been a 10:30 boat! Turns out it was a 10:00 boat and by the time we got there at 10:10, it had already left. But no problem, we just got handed plenty of time to enjoy breakfast at the deli Dennis is always raving about. And he was right! Breakfast was delicious!

Fast forward a couple of hours...

The boat ride was wonderful. We saw a bunch of dolphins and even a couple of whales. Neat! Dennis got me some hot chocolate (since coffee is the Nectar of Satan™, according to my bladder lately) and we arrived on the island before we knew it.

We consulted our map to determine the way to the Gardens and set off. I'd walked it before in my younger days and did not recall the road being so long. Long it was though, miles even! Still, it was a lovely hike and there were nice things to look at along the way like The Nature Center at Avalon Canyon where we got to take a little rest and learn a little bit about The Catalina Island Conservancy's conservation efforts and native flora and fauna.

So after a long walk, we finally reached the Gardens, only to find out that they only take cash for admissions and alas, we had no cash! Only a debit card. D'oh! But the trolly bus guy who arrived not long after we did was kind enough to take us on a ride down to front street where we could use an ATM and procure our admission fee. He then took us back up to the Garden so we could get back to the business of visiting it, at long last.

It was beautiful. Even more so than I remembered when I'd first visited it previously. Of course, the day was colored by love.

We took a number of pictures, mostly of us in various places because hello! Vain like that!

After spending a terriffic afternoon walking about, we decided to get some dinner before boarding the boat back home. After careful consideration of the few places open for business (it is Winter, you know. Totally off-season!) we decided upon Topless Tacos where I think I had the best shrimp tacos EVER.

We then made our way back to the dock and boarded our boat back home. We even got to sit up in the Captain's Lounge as no one had booked it which was The Awesome since neither one of us was all that keen on watching to Superbowl and that was what was being watched on all of the other televisions on board.

We watched CSI: New York, I had more hot chocolate (damn evil bladder! Grrr!) and we got back to Long Beach in a flash. We then hopped on a bus and made our way back to our car over at The Queen Mary (free parking over there, yay!).

All in all, it was a lovely day with my sweetie. One of future thousands though, I am quite sure. ♥

The universe is funny sometimes.

Just a few days ago, while surfing the 'net, I wandered accross the webpage of someone I used to work with over a decade ago. J. seemed to be doing pretty well for himself so I decided to drop him a line and say "hello". A conversation ensued and my original determination was correct - he is indeed doing well both professionally and personally.

Splendid.

I love hearing about old friends who made good.

Here is the weird trip around the universe though: Not 5 hours later, my phone rings. OMG it's another person who used to work at the same shop as the guy I contacted previously, that I haven't heard from in over a decade either I think, calling me out of the blue to say "hello"! (By accident really since he was a tad bit in the intoxicated direction, but it was a random call from the same corner of my universe just the same.)

We had a nice little conversation, promised to keep in touch and meandered back to the paths we had originally been on prior to our random encounter. For him, it was back to the party he was attending. For me it was back to snoozing on the couch with my sweetie. ♥

The universe, she is an odd one. Just plain odd. But I love it!

Meh.

So yea, I keep saying to myself "I'm gonna blog today, I tell ya!" but alas...it just never comes to fruition.

*sigh*

And it makes me sad too because so many wonderful things are happening and I'll want to remember them when I'm *cough* old someday which incidentally will be at some point this year - specifically July 23rd - because that is going to be the day when I turn 40 and gray hair will spontaneously sprout from every pore in my body and my Alzheimers will begin to rear it's ugly, ugly head.

But there I'll sit, not being able to remember a God damn thing and I won't even have a blog to read about my Wonderful Life™ and all it's gloriousness.

Crap.

A brand New Year...2009

Ahhh...2009. New year, new (or not so new) dreams.

2008 was a great year, by and large. It saw my daughter finally come home; it also saw the relationship between Dennis and myself solidify to the point where I can sincerely see us together forever. There was always that hope there but it was just a little too grandiose and amazing and HUGE.

Dennis even made notice of the change when he told me the other day that he remembers the day that I couldn't look forward a month, let alone a year, let alone FOREVER. Oh, I was reveling in the moment, that is a fact. And I always had HOPES. But I just wasn't ready to risk jinxing the whole thing by setting the bar too high.

That day has passed.

At some point in 2009, probably in the Fall, we will Handfast and make our private commitment a public one. The details have not been worked out yet but they will be. All in good time. I won't be rushed or stressed about it, the most important part of the ceremony is LOVE and we already have plenty of that.♥

2008 also saw the financial ruin of America. *sigh* The odd thing is though, that my life really hasn't changed much because of it. I had to cut some extravagances out (like my trips to the salon) and create a budget that my household can stick to but really, that is just responsible spending - something I (and everyone else in the country) probably should have been doing all along. When folks live beyond their means, debt happens. Plain and simple. And when debt spirals out of control, *BOOM*, it is only a matter of time before the things it engulfs implode...

My bankruptcy, when I filed for it was actually in hindsight, the best decision I could have made. It freed me up from the past that I was unconsciously dragging around. I ignored the collections notices etc. for the most part but they and the debts behind them were still following me around, but no more. Good riddance to bad rubbish - once and for all.

2008 also nearly brought down General Motors which forced me to ask the question "do I jump ship now, or hope that I can weather the storm?". I chose to weather the storm and came to the comfortable conclusion that even if my job isn't here tomorrow, things will still be ok because I am a valuable commodity - a truly marketable individual who possesses skills which will still be needed in another industry in the event that my current industry fails. Knowledge (in the form of practical experience) really is power, and I have it.

OJ Simpson got his just desserts in 2008 too. FINALLY. More proof that Karma is The Awesome™.

Even Adam Walsh got his justice in 2008. Further proof that all dark deeds will come to light eventually.

We also elected ourselves an amazing new president in 2008. Barack Obama inherited probably the most monstrous mess in the history of all messes but he also ushered in a new era of HOPE. It will be a bumpy ride for him and I hope the American people can afford him a little patience because it is going to take a good long while to clean up this disaster. He is a smart man who surrounds himself with smart people. Thank the stars that 2009 will finally be the year that intelligence is "in" - we are sure gonna need it!

There is good and bad in every year really but I finally started to believe, really, truly, believe (as opposed to playing someone who does on the Internet) in 2008, that it is not what happens in any given year that defines us (or the year, for that matter) it is how we react to what happens to us.

2008 is the year that my inner pessimist was finally put in it's place. Somehow, someway, I think I finally found peace.

2009 will be the year that I will finally learn to keep it.

Happiest of holidays

Well. This past two weeks have been a bit of a blur, where to start...

First off I suppose I ought to mention Dennis and myself taking a trip to Oregon. We drove and actually had very little trouble with the trip despite the snow, ice and freezing rain which was in and of itself amazing considering that we chose the weekend of the worst winter storm in 5 years to take it! My little car was quite the trooper (YAY! Hyundai!) and we only required chains for a small stretch of time on our way out of Oregon.

It was gorgeous. And Dennis’s first meeting with his dad and paternal family went beautifully. Honestly, I think I may have felt more at home at first then he did as that side of his family is as loud and huge as mine is. And everyone was so lovely and friendly - and musical! There was even a jam session at one point in the evening with Dennis on bass, a cousin and younger brother on guitar and alternately his dad and youngest brother on drums. It was amazing. And grandma makes quite the Divinity and homemade caramels! Yum! We even had opportunity to taste a locally brewed holiday beer too, complements of another cousin I believe, which was delicious.

We also made it out to the Spruce Goose. It was in California for a while and Dennis has been wanting to see it for ages but as soon as he was old enough to go and see it himself, it was moved out of Long Beach and up to Oregon. D’oh! But now, finally, he has seen it. And TOUCHED IT! I’ve got proof - I took pictures!

And speaking of pictures, I have a ton of ‘em, period. I took more pictures of snow and us in it than are probably necessary but what the hell. You only go on your first vacation together once. ♥

A couple of road trip stories of note:

Olives!

On the way up, we saw a sign for The Olive Pit which advertised free olive tasting but we were in a bit of a rush to get to our hotel in Stockton and neither of us were very hungry, we decided not to stop and check it out however, seeing as it was dinnertime on the way back when we passed it, we stopped. The olives were delicious! And the garden burger I had topped with olive tapanade was scrumptious. We even purchased a magnet which says "Olive you" on it while we were there.

Sacramento. Oh, woe is you.

We were running out of gas and figured that Sacramento would be a great place to stop because it is a big city and ought to have Chevrons galore. Well, not so much. In fact, it took more than a mile of driving to come across a gas station, period and it was a Shell station. We filled up anyways though because we really needed the gas and then spent another 15-20 minutes trying to find an on ramp. Dennis says that the only reason Sacramento is our state capital is because people stopped there on their way to somewhere else and never figured out how to leave and he very probably may be right!

The saving grace of Sacramento turned out to be the Shell station attendant. He gave Dennis a free cup of coffee which was very nice because even though it was an old pot which was due to be dumped out soon, he still could have charged for it and we’d still have paid for it so it was very nice of him to be so generous. Way to go Shell station attendant! You single-handedly saved the capital city’s reputation in our minds.

Moving along to Christmas...

It was lovely. We spent the Eve at my brother’s house and after the initial shock of finding out that the meal prepared was seafood, my sweetie was a bit relieved to find out that swordfish was on the menu. After having such a great experience with it at The Express holiday party, he felt confident enough to try it again and found that it was not just a fluke - he really does like swordfish. Huzzah!

It was also fantastic to have Katina at our holiday celebration. She got a number of lovely gifts including my favorite which she received from my cousin. It was a bracelet with cinibar and other interesting beads interspersed with Chinese coins. It was a very thoughtful gift.

Dennis and I also got a number of gift cards to our favorite restaurants and movie passes for the local theater from my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. Sweet! And the cards were made out to both of us which was very nice. It would seem that they truly like him a lot.

Christmas day was spent with Dennis’s family and it was also very nice. We had the traditional brunch at Grandma’s house and also the traditional opening of the "what is it" gift. Sadly (for everyone else), Dennis guessed the first one before anyone else even had a chance to take a good look at it. I do believe that HE enjoyed it though!

Later, we had dinner at Dennis’s mom’s house. She was very sweet and prepared a tomato and mozzarella salad with basil in it for me as the rest of them were having prime rib. It was delicious (the tomato salad!) and we even got to take some of it home to enjoy the next day. Yay!

All in all, I must say that this was probably the best Christmas I can remember. The last few with Dennis have been lovely of course - he makes me so, so happy - but it was so wonderful to have Katina home and she was just the icing on the already beautiful and perfect cake.

Randomness and stuffs...

HUGE JOY!

And I can't believe that I didn't post anything about it until right this second!

The Daughter™ got PAROLED!

It's been a wild week since she got let out. First there was the hearing. Man, was that a nail-biter. Fortunately, that evil woman from the Board was not there. Thank the stars! Still, when the New and Improved Board recommended her release, I was still in a bit of shock. We'd been waiting for so long and it didn't feel real for a minute...

It sure felt real five hours later when they finally had her paperwork together and had finally reached the placement home though, because when she walked out the door to the facility she screamed a happy scream. WHEEE!

So she's been in the placement home since the 17th (she will be there for maybe 45 to 90 days?)and is doing really well. All of the ladies there are really nice and they seem to be looking out for her. Most of them are my age (or older) in fact which I guess is kinda good. Older people tend to be more mature and less apt to be unable to control themselves. Anyways, they all seem very nice. They even have the Internets which is very cool. I get emails frequently and I like that a lot. :-)

Awesomeness!

On the heels of The Daughter™'s release comes another very good thing:

Dennis and I can finally start planning our handfasting!

We are looking at Spring Ojai for the date and toying with the possibility of asking Gryphon to let us have it performed at their encampment. We are also thinking about colors and theme. I like the notion of using different blues and blue-greens and an ocean-esque/beach-y theme.

Calm. Peaceful. Serene. Loyalty. Fidelity. Truth. Openness. Endlessness. Romance. Forever. Blue says all of those things to me.

And the ocean is very important to my love - and to me too, really. While I don't necessarily desire to be on it like he does, I do enjoy being next to it and being able to see it, especially at sunrise and sunset or to be able to sit beside it on a warm evening and listen to the waves crash.

So much to do, not very much time to do it and even less money to do it with! Thank the gods that LOVE is free!

Good riddance.

The sweathog neighbor I was bitching and whining about a bunch of months ago? GONE! No more leaving her clothes in the washer for six hours, no more hanging out in the laundry room smoking, no more hanging with questionable people (mostly of the male persuasion) on the porch into the wee hours of the morning, no more piles of cigarette butts EVERYWHERE. YAY!!

Supposedly she left to go live with her boyfriend. I wonder how he's gonna feel when her other boyfriends are still calling her 24/7 for some Horizontal Lambada Action™? Oh well! Not my problem! *Squee!*

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

Every once in a while, I get one of those email forwards from someone that points out how old I am by reminding me of what has changed over time and this time, the sender was my mom. She was lovely enough to fire off one about what all has changed over the last 100 years and while most of the stuff on it was amusing, I must tell you that I was outright

:::HORRIFIED:::

to hear that 100 years ago, women washed their hair only ONE TIME A MONTH and that they generally did it with a little borax or perhaps an egg yolk.

Eeeew.

Anywho. I went out and got myself a new phone yesterday. An LG LG enV²®. Much to the dismay of my sweetie who absolutely lurves his Voyager and thought I ought to get one. Sadly though, I am just not as impressed with the shiny as he is and a touch screen is not the end-all in my mind.

I'm OLD. remember? Ha!

But I am really enjoying my new phone which according to the Verizon guy at the store is a "baby Voyager" since the only difference is the lack of touch screen and the web TV feature. TV? On my phone? Um...NO. I finally figured out how to answer it last night (since in all my days I've had a "flip" phone which only required opening it) and managed to get rid of that annoying ringback tone madness. The last thing I need to be doing is spending the next two weeks trying to decide which channel to watch on my lunch hour.

I am at the core, a total multitasker and technology does not scare me but I am pretty sure that I do not have time or need for THAT.

I Fight H8.

I know that I promised that after November 4th, I'd make a serious effort to get back into posting so I can look back on my life in 20 years and laugh, and that gods willing, Katina can read what her mom has been up to while she was away but DAMN IT!

I am still pissed off about Prop H8 and I cannot tear myself away from the protests, letter writing campaigns and boycotts.

*sigh*

I just can't sit back and do nothing. In my mind, this is a defining moment in history. A moment which will be scrutinized by the 5th graders of the future. A moment when I cannot simply sit idly by and hope that "they" will fix "their" problem, somehow.

I am not gay.

This proposition does not effect me directly.

My rights have not been compromised.

But like all of those people in the 1950's and 60's who refused to sit on the sidelines and watch, i feel that I must get involved SOMEHOW.

Now granted, given my unique situation with Katina, I really cannot afford to have my name listed on any police reports - not even as a witness - and I REALLY cannot afford to get myself arrested. And it saddens me that I am relegated to a non-visible protest of letter writing, email sending and boycotts of businesses which use their monies to promote hate and intolerance because I yearn to march and stand with signs and demand CHANGE in a loud voice.

But alas, that is not to be.

*SIGH*

So anyways...I'm still out here. Involved in a serious cause I believe in. Involved in politikery, far past the date I set for myself to be done with it. If feels good though, if not incredibly frustrating at times.

Necessary and positive change is afoot, and I am part of it.

Yes. We. Can.

Yea, so, I've been M.I.A.

I'm a politics junkie, what can I say. *shrug*

Pretty much, the last month, I've been glued to America Blog or Daisly Kos or The Huffington Post or *cough* Red State (pardon me while I wash the ick taste out of my mouth but damn it, a girls gotta keep one eye trained on her enemy), completely ENTRANCED by our political process and mesmerized, if I dare say, by the Unholy Train Wreck which is Sarah Palin.

I'll be back after November 4th, and I'm planning to gloat.

Because, you know, writing reviews for hot "new" nightspots is what I do.

Well, maybe not.

And the hot "new" nightspot isn't even new.

In fact? it's positively OLD. But nonetheless HOT.

So we finally made it out to The Sky Room and wow did we have a nice time. As expected, the food was super expensive (which would be why we didn't order any) but the drinks at the bar really weren't all that bad. They did have a $25 minimum - which upon closer inspection was not the actual bar minimum but the minimum if you were using a credit/debit card* and not actually a strait minimum - but for the two of us, that turned out to be four Guinness (served in tall pilsner glasses. Ooooh...CLASSY!) which really, is the expected on a night out anyways.

From the minute you enter the building, it is as though you have stepped back into a different era. The Art Deco decor is classic and lovely and the staff is attentive and pleasent. You are greeted at the elevator by a gentlemen in a top hat (and tails, if memory serves me - there was so much to take in, including Humphrey Bogart in a classic Casablanca stance standing guard in the ladies room!) who escorts you to the dining/dancing room and/or rooftop bar. We didn't actually make it to the rooftop bar on this particular foray but we fully intend to next time.

But on to the best part...

THE DANCING!

They've got a house band which plays "An Eclectic mix of Swing, Salsa, Rock, and Jazz" and play they do! It's definitely an adult establishment. You won't be blasted by any hip-hop nonsense there or be visually assaulted by a bunch of guys in pants slung at half mast (buisiness casual is the dresscode) and it is absolutely all about the dancing. Tables are situated so that you can watch the band and dance floor while you eat - or not eat, as was our case since we sat at a small table near the edge of the floor and sipped our Guinness instead. I think we cut a dozen and a half rugs last night and did a pretty accomplished job of it if I do say so my not all that unbiased self!

We even met a few people who go there regularly for dancing so next time, we may even be greeted by friends!

*Because since I filed for Bankrupcy last June, I no longer have any credit cards. *SIGH*

Par-tay.

So it's looking like we won't be making it to the first weekend of Ojai which is unfortunate - especially since we are the official poster children for the event. The reasoning behind it however, is magnificent:

My man was officially invited to a Family Event by my brother and sis-in-law.

As in: HIS NAME WAS ON THE INVITATION next to mine.

Huzzah!

And it's for my nephew's 5th birthday party which is brilliant because there will be much action and many kids about so the focus on the day will be them and not us which should allow for a relaxed afternoon. Assuming of course, that the Great Drunken Disaster of Summer 2008 is only brought up in jest once at the beginning of the day.

Fortunately, my family is not one to go overboard with the teasing so I honestly think that things will go just fine.

Schweet.

So far three people have called or come by the house to inform me that "OMG, you and your boyfriend ARE IN A MAGAZINE AD! Dressed like PIRATES! Did you know???"

Well, of course we do. In fact?

We've collected no less than three copies of the damn thing, taped it to the wall in the hallway and shared it with everyone we know. FORCIBLY.

And we've even posted it on the Intarnets.

W00t!!1!