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Monday, July 6th, 2009
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9:24 pm
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I'll be flying out of the Springs airport at about 6:00a.m. on Friday morning. That afternoon, I'll be in Seattle. Woot!
If I'm good, I'll write up a big Seattle report when I return. As this is me, it probably won't really happen.
I already have all my outfits picked out and packed, and I'm gradually working on my packing list. Too many things that I can't pack until the last minute, but I'm getting there. I have the camera, ipod, and DS batteries all charged up and ready, I've picked out a book, good things like that.
I am pretty excited. I'm a total nerd, so I already have an itinerary planned out, down to the details of where I'll be eating each meal, and what I'll be doing on my free days after the AVMA convention.
Squee.
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| Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
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8:20 pm - Memes are fun and stuff.
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I should be getting my water turned on tomorrow. Thank goodness. I've been saved by some light rain, but hand-watering with a hose is still a pain in my arse. A big one.
Now if only I could get the garage door fixed, I'd be completely thrilled.
Yard is looking niiiice. Not perfect, but nice. Peonies are going to be up soon, and there's a lovely scent in the air as soon as I walk out my front door. Squee.
I'm up for some meme-stealing. ( Oh, yeah. )
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| Sunday, May 24th, 2009
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3:04 pm
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Oh, dag am I ever tired.
I had planned on doing yard work yesterday, but I got a little thrown off. I ended up staying up super late Friday night (about 3:30a.m.), and got back up at 6:30a.m. Hauled my tired ass up onto the roof to work on the swamp cooler. That seemed like a great idea - dead tired and my broken ankle still not really healed, walking around on a roof. Yep.
I fixed the broken panel latch and traded out the aspen pads. It turned out I'd purchased the wrong size, despite having measured them earlier this year. I tried to find the receipt, but had lost it. In the end, I remembered I still had a big roll of spare aspen padding, so I managed to cut some extra to cover the empty space and it all worked out. I didn't even fall off the roof or die or anything. After scrubbing the panels, changing the pads, and bringing the covers back down, my arms were so tired and I needed a nap, so I got no more yard work done. By the afternoon, I decided to run up to the Springs to visit Arwen (parents are off on vacation, so she's alone at the house, with my sister dropping in and out to feed/water her and the birds).
While I was there, I ran to the Korean market to get some instant curry, since I can't find it in town anywhere. Then up to the mall; I'd hoped to get some of those delicious coconut haystacks from the chocolate store, but the lady there spent ages talking on the phone with a customer who was apparently placing an order. When she finally finished with the phone, she flipped her hair back, then went straight to moving the chocolates around bare-handed. No hand washing between phone, hair, and chocolate. I got grossed out and left.
I did buy a few shirts and a couple shrugs at a relatively decent store there, then got Chick-fil-A and ran back to eat with Arwen for a while. On the way home, I stopped at Old Navy and it turned out they were having a big clearance sale. I got 8 pairs of trousers and a shirt for around $60, and ended up getting talked into signing up for an Old Navy card. I dunno, it was an extra 10% off, no annual fee. I'll probably cancel it eventually. There were a couple pair of trousers that weren't marked, and I ended up getting them for about $5 each, which was pretty awesome.
I got up early today, mowed the lawn, watered the front and back (water is still off to the sprinklers and I still can't figure how to get it on, and spread some grass seed in the bare areas in the back yard. I did a lot more cleaning up in the front yard, getting rid of the dead things, pulling up weeds, and pruning my sad, little rose bush. It really suffered from those evil elms. It's a lot smaller this year than last, but some flowers are blooming and there are a lot of buds getting ready, so I'm hoping it'll pull through.
I planted all my bulbs; I'm not sure how well they'll do, as it turns out they were already sprouting up. 17 lilies, 4 phlox, and 3 packets of morning glory seeds later, my arms are dead tired. Most of the bulbs needed holes about 6-12" deep, and it was a bloody lot of digging.
I found a bunch of bulbs in one area of the garden had worked their way to the surface; no idea what they are, just something that was already there. I don't know if they'll survive, but I tried reburying them, just in case. I also discovered 2 marbles and a plastic army man.
A shower and a big bottle of cold water were unbelievably nice after all that. Now here I am, cat in lap, kicking back.
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| Friday, May 22nd, 2009
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10:17 pm
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Very little yard work done today. I pulled a few weeds and some mini-trees, and that's about it. The fellow came back and installed my new valve at some point, but didn't turn the water on. I think I might try doing it myself so I don't have to go through the long weekend hand-watering. I'm a little worried I'll mess it up, though, but at least I know how to check for problems and cry for water company help if I'm forced.
There are crazy numbers of moths coming out today, and the cats are having a ball. I was coming in from the back yard, and right as I opened the screen door I got dive-bombed by about a half dozen of the buggers. Javert bolted straight out the door after a few of them and made it about half-way across the porch before he realized what he'd done. I had a moment of panic when I saw him run out, because he was going fast enough I didn't think I could catch him, but it was over in a split second. As soon as he realized he was out of the house, he froze and started crying when I picked him up. He couldn't get back into the house fast enough.
He's content with killing the moths that get inside the house, now.
Swiping from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) sugarcane_moon: ( Oh, memerific )
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| Thursday, May 21st, 2009
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10:01 pm
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| Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
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8:47 pm - Mala v Evil Trees: The Battle for the Back Yard
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| Sunday, May 17th, 2009
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9:04 pm - I am full of squee.
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| Sunday, April 26th, 2009
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10:43 am - Putting them down while I still rememeber.
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| Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
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4:56 pm
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| Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
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8:05 pm - Oh, work.
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I finally had my annual "meeting"/review at work today. I suppose it went as well as could be expected amid the recent upset at the clinic. I said my bit, defended what I thought... The bosses basically told me that I should be supporting them and not the front desk/technical staff, and while I can see their point, I don't feel that I should be expected to take their side if I don't agree. I made my opinions known, and I guess that's about it.
On the positive side, I was reassured that they've no intention of getting rid of me. They said they might have to get rid of at least one person with the upcoming recession, but I would be "the last person" they would consider letting go. They also asked if I was planning on sticking around, and I got a little "whee" with raised hands when I said yes. I take that as a fairly positive sign.
I got a 3% raise, which is pretty meager compared to previous years. The past two years, I've had an average of a 20% raise per year. That said, I wasn't really expecting it to continue forever. I started at a relatively low salary, so a big step up wasn't as big a deal initially, and at this point I'm getting a pretty good amount.
I've been keeping up with the teas, anyway. Mostly trying to finish up the big boxed set of Bentley's teas I started with. Tonight I tried my first try with a loose leaf herbal "tea". It's...quite fruity. A little overly so. I'll be sure to use less of the tea next time, make it a bit weaker.
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| Saturday, November 15th, 2008
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11:11 am
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( lololcats )
I got my teapot last night! It's smaller looking than I'd expected, although it does pretty much hold what they said it would. Small as it is, it's probably all I really need since I'm drinking tea by myself.
This morning I made the "honey ginger" green tea blend I got at the local shop. It's got a really great smell before brewing, which mostly holds up in the tea. Along with the smell, it's got a nice, clean flavour to it. Very...green, as silly as that sounds. It's not very bitter, and it doesn't leave as dry a feeling in my mouth as most green teas.
( In other, very important news... )
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| Friday, November 14th, 2008
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5:37 pm
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No Malafish today. I think I'm going to make some steaks. Mm.
I drove up to the Springs today. My mum's gone visiting her mother and has been worrying for weeks how her dogs will deal with being left alone. She's gone on vacations before, but this is the first time without Frodo, and he was sort of the leader of the bunch. I'd suggested I might visit, and she seemed pretty hopeful that I would. My sister is feeding them and all, but she doesn't tend to spend much more time with them than necessary.
I couldn't stay long, since I needed to get back to my own beasties, but they seemed fine. Arwen crawled in my lap and snuggled a lot.
I stopped by a little Korean market while I was in town, since we have nothing of the sort here, and I spent more than I should've. I did, however, get some eel, which I may make this weekend. I am hoping it is delicious. I also got some dumplings, some curry mix (I seriously cannot find that stuff here) and these really cute Hello Kitty strawberry marshmallow snacks. I wish I'd bought more, but I wasn't sure how they would be. They are delicious.
In nerdier news, I've been watching Soul Eater. It is good stuff.
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, November 13th, 2008
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4:11 pm - I so need a Manfred icon. Also, I am boring.
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Manfred von Beetle had his first bath today. It's kind of cold, not really the weather for it, but he was all spattered and gross looking, so I figured I'd put it off long enough. I wasn't really looking forward to it. I remember getting conned into washing my parents' cars back in the day; it was not one of my favourite chores.
Maybe it's because Manfred is so much smaller, or maybe it's just because he's so cute, but it really wasn't bad. Even going over and scrubbing him down entirely three times, it was very quick. It probably also helped that he's a convertible, so that cut down on a lot of surface area.
I went out and bought s'more teas today, along with some honey and raw sugar to use as sweetener, since I didn't have anything to use. I don't have any creamer, but I have some shelf-stable almond milk if I decide I need anything. I made some of the green tea from my tea bag set last night and some "English Breakfast" tea this morning, and I actually liked both of them quite a bit more than yesterday's not-very-peachy peach tea. My tea pot should be here tomorrow, so I'll be able to try out the loose leaf teas I bought today.
I am so thoroughly boring, but some day I will look back on this and think, "Hey, that's when I was just starting to drink tea; how ignorant I was." That or, "Oh, I remember trying tea...that didn't last long." Only time will tell.
Either way, Manfred is shiny and beautiful again. I'm making grilled mahi mahi tonight after it has a bit more time to sit in the teriyaki marinade.
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| Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
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2:11 pm - Tea. Teeeaaaaa.
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So I'm getting into tea. Or, at least, I'm trying.
I kept reading a lot about this or that tea and thought it sounded pretty good. I've never been a tea person, but I'm going to give it a shot.
I bought a cheap stove-top whistling kettle and I have a teapot on the way, though it isn't here yet. I bought a really cheap gift set of tea bags on Amazon, so I figured I'd try making tea in the cup for now. I have literally never, ever made tea of any sort, so this is still big for me.
I know, just bag tea, not as good as loose leaf or anything, but it was a cheap set with tons of teas and it came in a cute wooden box. And it was on sale. And I'm totally compulsive and I buy all kinds of shit. I've actually had this tea a while, I just never had a kettle or anything.
So, anyway, first attempt is a ceylon tea from the bag, peach tea. It has a really nice peachy smell to it, but the taste is merely okay. Granted, I'm not a tea drinker, really, so this is just a start.
I'm such a big nerdface, I actually had to use Google to research how to make bag tea. Srsly.
Oh, and in other news, Shaba's being cute. I left her out all night last night, for the first time. At one point, she, Javert and Daae were all sitting on me while I was on the couch, but only because Daae was asleep and didn't realize Shaba was there. She still hisses like made if she sees Shaba. At another point during the evening, Daae was sleeping under the throw I keep on the couch. Shaba jumped onto me, then started kneading her paws on the blanket right over Daae's head. I knew it would end in hissing (and it did) but it was still pretty adorable and hilarious while it lasted.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
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4:14 pm - Mala the Plumber
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| Monday, November 10th, 2008
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10:57 pm - Wait, wait, I'm a GIRL?
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So I was going to head out and pick up my license plates for my car this morning since I finally got the post card in the mail saying I could. I was planning on wearing this one grey shirt I have, but I had to throw it in the laundry first since it was dirty. While I was waiting around, I put on a pair of new OTK socks I got recently. Somehow it evolved into an entire outfit, complete with short skirt, OTK socks, semi-high heels and a turtleneck sweater. Srsly. I looked like a girl and everything.
( It went on from there. )
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| Sunday, November 9th, 2008
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3:24 pm - Mmm, delicious.
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I've decided I'm going to keep talking about the fish I make because I lead an exceedingly boring life.
I forgot to post about it, but I made some baked salmon with McCormick's "Sweet Citrus & Spice" salmon rub and it was quite tasty, but I probably used a bit too much of the rub and the flavour was on the strong side. Still, it came out flavourful and still moist, which is nice since I tend to err on the side of ohmygodIdon'twantfoodpoisoning and overcook my fish until it's a bit dry.
Today I pulled out the flounder. Now, I've never had flounder, so this may be obvious to people who have. Most of the packaged fish fillets I got come about two fillets to the bag. I could see that the flounder looked a bit thin, but I was still surprised to get seven fillets. I decided to go with the honey mustard seafood rub and I thought I put it on pretty thin, but I still managed to overpower the tiny, paper-thin fish. I had to scrape most of the rub off to make it edible, at which point the fish became bland. Oh, and it was dry. I made it with peas and biscuits. The side dishes were the high point. Note to self - no more flounder.
In other news, Shaba's gradually getting better with things. Javert just wants to steal her food, so he doesn't really care too much and he's been quite easygoing about sneaking into her bathroom when he gets a chance. His lack of interest has translated into a mutual tolerance between the two. As long as I'm around, she'll also put up with Genrou for a while. She prefers if he doesn't get overly excited, though, or the hissing begins. She still takes a swipe at him here and there after she gets sick of him. Daae is still displeased and the two of them go back and forth, but they keep a safe distance.
I'm still working on FFIV when I have time.
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| Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
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6:38 pm - Wait, what?
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| Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
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10:47 pm
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I am most pleased and I feel proud to have been involved in this election, even if only a little.
Which is to say - HELL YEAH, BITCHES.
...Or something along those lines.
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(comment on this)
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6:49 pm
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I voted today. First time voting ever. I felt pretty awesome.
I woke up an hour early, which was not easy for me since I kind of hate mornings. My voting location was only a couple blocks away, so I walked over. I saw my boss there; apparently he'd gone there a half-hour before voting even opened. In the end, it didn't take me much longer, in total, than it took him. I got there right at 7:00 and made it home at about 7:40, at which point I had to run off to work.
I wore my "I Voted" sticker all day. I was tired but oddly giddy the entire day. I've never even really cared much about politics before but I really got into it this year.
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