Thursday Blurbs

1. In case no one noticed I was on vacation last weekend! Well, a virtual vacation anyway. My friend surprised me on Friday with a text that said "on my way to Vegas!" What? She didn't tell me she was going to Vegas. I wanted to go. So? I decided to go with her virtually. I had a blast! I sat by the pool and sipped cocktails, I went out to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, I... um. Well there was a bit of a blank for about 12 hours there, so I'm not sure exactly what I did after that. Whatever it was I'm sure it wasn't laundry, cleaning my kitchen or grocery shopping because those are things someone, who isn't in Vegas for the weekend, does.

2. I got the bill for my speeding ticket in the mail today and almost fainted. I did feel a little lightheaded, no joke. I got "speed trapped" a couple of weeks ago downtown on my way home from work. I was going 40 in a 25. I thought for sure it was going to be a $50-60 ticket. I was even prepared for $75. Anything more than that I didn't even think was possible. I opened up the mail this morning and it is a $244 fine! Omg. I don't have $244 for a f#*%&^ ticket! How can this city possibly be broke if they are handing out $244 citations? Even better? If I want to go to traffic school it is $287! What?

3. I went to the dentist on Monday. I love my hygienist, at least I think I do, but I only see her every six months so I always seem to forget two things about my semi annual visits. The first thing I forget is that she likes to talk. She is a constant chatter box who never leaves a moment's pause go without filling in the silence. And with me as a captive audience, why not? Today we she discussed the "hot" weather in Santa Cruz, how she went to the beach yesterday but couldn't get a parking spot and how she woke up at 5 am (because it was to hot and she doesn't have a/c). She spent the morning cooking beans and ham hocks. She threw in some peppers from her garden a little garlic and is "so good for you." Before she knew it she had missed the last mass of the day because she gets all messed up with the time when she wakes up that early. She is also having some work done on her roof. The roofers used the wrong size nails and were nailing through to her ceiling so they had to start using a smaller size nail. She talked about her Thanksgiving plans, her daughter, her sister (whose daughter had a baby last Thanksgiving), oh and the doctor there at the office just had a baby two months ago. He brought the baby in about a month ago but she didn't get to hold her because she was talking working. My head was about to explode from all this information she was force feeding me.

4. The other thing that I forgot about my hygienist is that she is a violent flosser. She grabs that floss and goes to town on my poor sensitive teeth and gums. It hurts more than the cleaning and the scraping. I have no idea what she was chatting about (probably her ex husband at that point) while she was flossing because I was focusing on the pain and if I could just make it through the next couple of minutes I could get up and rinse.  I'm going to suggest some calming music next time or maybe inquire about getting my gums numbed before the flossing. Ouch.

5. Alex (my oldest) has just read my Body Snatchers post and thinks I should post it on Facebook.  He thought it was good and was not offended (because it is the TRUTH) unlike his brother, Jacob. He already posted it on his Facebook page where all his friends could see.... LOL! Some of them even commented (on FB). Alex will not be suing me for publishing this post, unlike Jacob, who is apparently still offended. Sorry Boo Boo.


6. I was telling my friends and co-workers Victoria and Jennifer the story of my cats and I remembered that I had written a post, er, two posts (a two parter) years ago about their story. It is a really special story so I would like to share it (again) here: Part 1 and Part 2. Enjoy!

7. I apologize for being vague in my Writer's Workshop post yesterday about #22 (I have had my dog kidnapped) Some commenters were asking whether I got him back and the answer is YES! It was a long and involved story that took place (of all days) on Mother's Day a few months ago. For all the (very long winded) details of that day please click here (part 1), here (part 2), here (part 3) and here (part 4). Yes there are 4 parts. It really was a horrible, horrible day.