Monday, February 26, 2007

Fried Chicken

One of my favorite foods is friend chicken – but I never was a big fan of the way my mom fixed it (it was okay, just not my favorite). Last week I found a recipe in the Willams-Sonoma catalogue I got in the mail, so I decided to give it a try. Knowing this might not turn out as well as I hoped, I only bought 4 chicken thighs (decided to keep it as cheap as possible). I must say, the process went really well until I got to the deep frying part. I was having trouble keeping the oil at the right temperature. The first piece was BLACK because the oil was too hot and cooked the outside much faster than the inside. The second piece was okay, but still a little over done and that was also the case with pieces three and four. I’m thinking unless I get a Fry Daddy or something, KFC might have market on fried chicken in my household. PLUS my house smells awful. I cannot get rid of the smell. It might have to be a spring-time, open the house up, kind of meal. =o)
P.S. This is the way mine was supposed to look...it didn't!!!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Laugh for the Day

This cartoon cracked (no pun intended) me up for some odd reason. Enjoy!

Monday, February 19, 2007

Love is in the Air

At least if you’re three it is. There was some serious flirting going on in my Bible class yesterday. The most obvious was Chase and Meg. They kept going off by themselves in the classroom, holding hands, whispering in each other’s ear. My favorite was when I heard Chase say “I like your dress. It’s very pretty.” It was too cute (too bad they grow out of that by time they’re actually old enough to date.) Oh to be three and in love again. Of course, when I was three, the only boys in my bible class were my cousins (though I was convinced I would marry Aaron someday.). Kindergarten expanded my horizons considerably.

Creepy

This is somewhat creepy, but when the wind blows outside, the rafters in our building (like most buildings) creak a lot. Thing is, its louder in my office than anywhere for some reason. It’s kind of creepy sometimes because it sounds like the ceiling is going to fall in on top of me, but I’ve gotten used to it and don’t usually notice it. But today, Andy was in my office and was really thrown by it. Because he noticed it, I’m noticing it more today and it’s making me nervous.

Though I don’t really remember it happening, I’m told that as a child, twice I had near misses with the ceiling falling in on me. It was the house my parents bought when I was little. The first time, it happened in my bedroom – right before my mom took me in to lay me down for my nap. The second time it was my parent’s bedroom just a few days later. I had just been in there (and they thought I still was) when it happened. You know how there are those people who just randomly have the same accident numerous times in their lives (like being struck by lightning). I hope ceilings crashing in isn’t the “random accident” attracted to me.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Final Thoughts for the Week

It's Friday (thank goodness) and here are are my two biggest epiphanies for the end of week:

First, if it weren't for Anna Nicole Smith, Entertainment Tonight would have absolutely nothing to run on their show. For weeks (if not months) they have done nothing but talk about all the scandal following the death of her son, the birth of her daughter, and now the death of her. The did an interview with her recently and they have gotten more mileage out of that interview. For someone who respectively did nothing of value with her life, she sure is getting a lot media coverage.

Second, men are pigs. I know this isn't news to many of you, but I was reminded of this fact in a major way twice this week. First incident was the guy from Quill Office Supply who came to try to get us to start using their company. The entire time I was explaining why we could not use their company, he kept staring at my chest. He's look me in the eye for a few seconds at a time and that was it. I wanted to tell him "seriously dude, there's nothing there." I was starting to get paranoid that there was something on my shirt...there wasn't. Second incident was today in the Arby's drive-thru. The man in front of me kept staring at me through his mirror. At first I just thought it looked that way, then I thought maybe it was someone I know (it wasn't), then he started doing the Joey from "Friends" head nod how you doing thing. I might have been flattered if it wasn't for the wedding ring. Plllleeeaaassseee!

So, that's all I have this fine Friday afternoon. Seven more minutes and I get to go HOME!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Really?

I’ve always been taught it is wrong to stereotype people, yet it’s been happening to me a lot lately. Recently some comments have been made to me that just make me shake my head. Here are just a few examples…

The other day, one of the guys I work with was helping me take something out to my car. My lock on my trunk has been having issues and he was making fun of the fact that I had to pop the trunk from the inside of the car. I told him it really just needed some graphite, but I just hadn’t had time to take care of it. His comment... “I didn’t know girls knew what graphite was and what to do with it.” He genuinely looked surprised.

This last weekend when I had people over to my house for dinner, some of the guys saw my flooring sitting in a corner of the dining room and asked who was going to install it. I told them I was and you would have thought I dropped some sort of bomb shell. I told them I put up my own chair rail, the flooring couldn’t be any more difficult. One of the guys had to get up and go inspect my chair rail like he somehow doubted I did it (he was impressed by the way). Figuring out how to take the safety pin out of the miter saw was the hardest part (That was pretty funny!)

Then Monday, I was carrying a big container into the office and our office manager made some comment about my ability to carry it. It really wasn’t THAT heavy and I didn’t feel like waiting around for someone else to do it for me. And the women in my office are just as bad. All freaked out that Jamie and I were moving directory boxes by ourselves (there was no one else around to do it).

So here is my response to such comments (and I actually told the guy who made the “graphite” comment this). I am a single female, who has lived on her own for the last twelve years, now owns a house, who doesn’t have a dad to call on for such repairs, and all male relatives live too far away for day to day assistance. If I don’t do it myself, it probably won’t get done. But even I know my limitations and will call on assistance when necessary. But I have to say, you can learn a lot from the Internet. Do-it-Yourself.com has become my best friend.

This is by no means one of those women’s lib, who-needs-a-man, type posts. I just got a crash course in “you're on your own if you want things done” several years ago and frankly, it’s been liberating. It gives you a great sense of accomplishment to sit back and realize you’ve accomplished something you never thought you could. I highly recommend everyone (male and female) give it a try. Start small and work your way up. The key is to read the directions (hard for some men – and even me more often than I should admit), and take your time.

Now get out there and do something productive!!!!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

My Sentiments Exactly!

I could not have said this better myself. Go here and read this article. I'm not bitter about the holiday, I just have issue with a holiday that has the tendency (in one way or another) to make people feel rejected. Why should you wait for a particular day to show someone how much you care or feel pressured into celebrating sentiments that may not exist yet (if at all).

Friday, February 02, 2007

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today, I have been at my current job for nine years. Amazing since I only planned to be here for 6 months. Oh well. As many know, I have been looking to make a career change for quite a while, but I’m starting to reconsider that. I found out yesterday that according to our policy book, when you’ve been here for 10 years, you get 3 weeks vacation instead of 2!!! That might be worth holding out for (then again a job that paid enough that I could do something fun with the two weeks I already have would be better.) I might have to save up and take a two week vacation somewhere to celebrate my 10 years. Since my 10 years is during the winter months, a tropical island might be fun. Okay, I better stop there. I’m just going to get my hopes up.