Stupid Ways i am Overly Cautious

Menu of the Day:

Wine: a rather boring roussane i picked up a Costco. Novelty Hill . But then again it might be because the pad thai makes it taste different. First glass, probably last. I know, i know, hard to believe. 

Music: Codeine  by Jason Isbell. I can play this over and over and still not wear it out. 

Book: The Year We all Left Home.  I bought quite a few books already, getting ready for my summer vacation. Has anyone read the book Wild ? It's the book with the hiking boot on the cover. I bought that one too. 

Odd Moment: I had it just now. Our staff  had our end of year lunch (hence the pad thai leftover for dinner) and i got home at 3:30. Because of those damn menopausal night sweats i was so tired I went straight to bed. I woke up three hours later,  forgot where i was, and thought it was time to get ready for work. 

Other Oddness: Our staff going to lunch as a group. It's just one of those awkward things i would rather avoid. Do y'all have this where you work? I can get along with each of them separately and consider two of them friends, but we as a group don't make a very good team. It kind of makes me sad because i used to know the family connection of the office in past work years. (Yay! only one more year!!!!!) 

Best Movie I've watched lately: Julie (jj here) told me about 10 Items or Less and i blogged about that as a subject line but only watched the movie earlier this week. What a great little indie film. Morgan Freeman plays an actor in the part, pretty much playing himself, and Paz Vega (the gal from Spanglish) is his counterpart. She's adorable. 

Why i liked it: I wish that kind of thing happened more often, where you make a real solid connection with someone you just met. 

Ok, on with the Stupid Cautious Stuff....

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1. I sleep with a pair of shoes under my bed. A long time ago i read that you should do this in case of an earthquake in the middle of the night. You need to protect your feet as you get out of the rubble....Assuming you are alive. 

2. I sleep with a baseball bat that is stored in my hamper in the closet. I think it's for two reasons: in case of an intruder...especially when i am home alone...but that's just stupid. When i played softball i was aterrible at bat! 

We actually put it there when our condos had an arsonist a few years back. (It even made the news, they never caught the person, though i think it was someone who lived here.) Anyway, I thought we might need it to break out the bedroom window. 

3. And in spite of living in only 1000 square feet we also installed two extra smoke alarms, so now when Brian cooks we can have all three going off at the same time!

4. Actually #3 was Brian's caution. (He's as bad as I am. )

Oh! funny, in the movie 10 Items or Less there is a great scene where Paz and Morgan are driving around L.A. and the song Duncan by Paul Simon came on. And just now typing the above that song  came on the playlist that i randomly chose. I love this song. It's not as well known. Great lyrics and for some odd reason i know every one of them, except one:.... (see below.)

My father was a fisherman
My mama was the fisherman's friend
And I was born in the boredom
And the chowder

 I never knew he was saying BOREDOM in the 'born in the boredom and the chowder". I doesn't even make sense!  Glad i got that cleared up. The only reason i found out is that we couldn't understand Paz sometimes so we put up the subtitles.... hahaha. 

Oops...i digress. 

5. I always open a bottle of champagne with a towel over the cork. You could poke an eye out! You know if i ever poked an eye out (i actually know someone who did this gardening!) I would lie about how it happened and say it was champagne. (And i dont' even like champagne.) 

6. I keep a pair of running shoes in the trunk of my car in case it breaks down. Even though my car has only 20,000 miles on it! 

7. Brian bought me a battery charger and put it in my trunk in case my battery ever died. But i'm too responsible and cautious and would never leave my lights on. 

8. Plus i don't think i would even know how to use it. 

9. I check my online banking once a day since i had that checking account fraud a few months back.

10. I open all junk mail, in case it isn't. 

11. When i drive away from home if i can't remember putting down the garage door i turn the car around and go look. And it's ALWAYS down. Always. Always. Always. Not once have i left it up. But still, i keep finding myself turning around because i can't remember. 

12. I finally bought flat irons that turn themselves off so i never worry about those anymore. 

Oops...i actually have more, but i just saw how very long this post was! What are your idiocyncracies about being cautious? (That spelling is wrong, but i don't know how to correct it and i'm too lazy to look it up.)

13. I lied about the wine. I just poured another glass. 

It's Thursday. I'm drinking chardonnay. I got stuff on my mind.

Menu of the Day:

Music: YouTube of Ryan Adams doing an acoustic cover of New York New York. (Do not confuse this with the Sinatra version. Which i love, by the way.

Drinking: Some really fat chardonnay. It's so buttery it's like drinking a liquid croissant!

The Best Thing this week: Connecting with my friend Karie. We started running together last Monday and plan to keep doing it. She's a good runner and we run for an hour and it seems like no time passed at all.

The Other Best Thing: in our union office we have tapped into and organized a new group of folks who i love being around. We've been organizing phone banks around our Gubernatorial primary. And this group that we went out and handpicked is so awesome. Not only did they all show up, our completed calls last night were nearly double (and triple in some cases), surpassing every other  union offices around our state. The leaders in headquarters are calling us, asking us how we do it.

The Answer: Gummi bear prizes! (That's what i tell them!)

Why this is cool: Our office is one of the lowest staffed and least funded offices and we are normally always behind.

OK... on with the stuff:

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1. I want to be working on Obama's campaign.  But i know i won't have the kind of time to focus on both. And the Governor race is important to my livelihood, given how we are vilifying unions these days. I've already done two rounds of phone banking and most of my work day is spent recruiting people to help. (It's not easy work. EVERYONE hates the phone!)

2. Me, most of all. (I use that as a recruitment tool.)

3. Which brings me to my rant:
Gawddamit. Why are we hating on unions and public schools? Why aren't we going after that Fuckwad from Chase Bank who blew a $2 billion trading deal ? Or the BP oil company who nearly killed off the Gulf of Mexico? Or all those other banks and the mortgage shit that we are going to be living with for years and have put so many middle class people out of work?

3. The reason i'm not crazy about working the Governor race is because i don't think he's towing a hard Democrat line. He's playing it a little too safe, dodging some of the issues. But i really REALLY don't like the other guy and i'm afraid we will end up like Wisconsin if the Republican candidate gets in.

4. Too bad Island pearl isn't posting anymore. I would welcome her response.

5. Republicans NEVER pander and I wish that Democrats would quit doing it.

6. And i wish they would quit calling me.

7. Different subject. Gawdamn menopause. I'm having the worst night sweats since my doctor took me off the birth control pills )which used to help). Every single night I wake up like i wet the bed and i have to change my shirt 2 or 3 times. When is was taking those hormones i was only doing that about once or twice a week the past year, which was an improvement, but not anymore.

8. Father's Day is Sunday. I hate Father's Day. I like my dad more than i like my mom,  but because she won't let us take my dad out to his favorite bar down the street without her like we did last year, I'm just going to drop off a present and have a beer with him at his house. He's gotten so thin this past year that i wonder if he will be around next year. He's only 76 years old but he probably shouldn't be alive at all since he smokes about 3 packs a day, eats red meat probably 4 times a week, and on the grill at that. And he drinks Coors Lite like it's oxygen.

9. I bought him the new Cronkite book and i'm going to bring him T-Bone steaks (his favorite) and a case of Coors Lite, because my mom will hate it. She even hates it when he reads. So it's the perfect gift.

I think i'm going to end on #9.

A most amazing book. Another Product Endorsement. And a Milestone.

The Book: The Art of Fielding. I think this is going to be my favorite book this year. Cutting for Stone was my last favorite book. I started the book on Friday and finished it this afternoon.
The characters will stay with me for awhile. The author reminds me a bit of John Irving, Jonathan Franzen and maybe even Richard Russo. Some of my favorite authors.

Great writing. Great characters. And yes, it's about baseball. But it's also more than that.The worst thing about finishing a book this good is knowing that i will never be with these folks again.

Product endorsement: I am done buying super expensive mascaras. I used to spend over $30 on Chanel or Lancome products that were just clumpy messes and they never seemed to last very long. My last mascara was about five bucks and it's the best by far. It's Define a Lash by Mabelline. If you go looking for it Target or Walgreens, it's in a bright green neon tube.

Milestone: I had 51 page views today, it hasn't been that many in awhile. (Maybe because some folks have gotten used to me changing this thing on Sunday?) The milestone is that  i'm nearly at the 30,000 page views all time. (Right now it says 29,954).

Running: I'm still running longer on the weekends. 45-50 minutes during the weekdays and nearly an hour on the weekends. It's been nice and easy. I'm going to try and keep it up. My friend Karie and i are going to start running the park together on Mondays. She's a good runner and likes to go an hour. I like that kind of motivation.

What's Scary: My doctor just took me off birth control pills. I only take them for night sweats and to keep my moods in line. (Some folks might say they aren't working!)  I didn't really want to because i think i'm going to feel the effects. I think I already feel more cranky and i made Brian feel my t-shirt this morning that i had to change. It was still solidly wet hours later. It's only been 5 days.

She wants me to see if i can go without because of the risks of HRTs. I told her it wouldn't matter if i dodge getting breast cancer because i forgo the hormones, i am very likely to be murdered without my estrogen.

We shall see. If you don't see me posting for awhile.... haha.

What I'm procrastinating about: I have a nice bottle of wine and a card for one of our pool friends Cas, whose husband recently died. I haven't seen her regularly since Dorothy died, but she's still someone i care about. I keep saying i'm going to bring it over and then i don't. I don't even know why i'm putting it off.

My husband's soup: He's at band practice right now and he put another one of his soups on before he left. It's actually a soup i like, but it's stinking up the whole house. You know how old towels smell? That's how it smells.

What i would like to be doing: It's 68 degrees outside and sunny and i would like to go over to the pool but i think those screamie meemies are back. They are so loud over there. So i think i'll go sit outside on the patio instead with my iPod.


It seemed like i had something else, but i can't remember. So this is it for now.

Stuff I like that most other people don't like.

1.  I like Howard Stern. I never watched America's Got Talent until last week by accident. (It was the episode with the guy lifting weight with his eyelids...eewwwww...I couldn't watch.) I was channel surfing (one of my top favorite hobbies) and just started watching. I also liked Don Imus too and even had a Letter to the Editor printed about him that i wrote after he was fired.


2. Disclaimer: I don't like everything they say or do. I just like that they unabashedly put themselves out there saying stuff that many other people are already thinking.  I tend to be attracted to be people who are not that polite. (My husband is the exception, he's a very nice man. But then i need someone to rein me in sometimes so nobody murders me.)


3. I like cleaning stuff. I like putting things in order.... putting stuff back where it belongs. I like dusting and vacuuming. And when i had a lawn, i also like mowing it.


4. Disclaimer: I hate washing my car though. (And putting away clothes.)


5. It's no secret how much i love balancing my checkbook. I post about it often.


6. Disclaimer: I hate writing out the check to pay the bills.


7.  I like cooking. What's weird is i like cooking a new recipe the most. Especially when company is coming over. Why this is weird is because i tend to gravitate towards what is familiar and not embrace new things.


8. Disclaimer: I hate cooking for high maintenance eaters. VEGANS. Doesn't mean i can't be friends with people who are vegans, i can, i just don't like cooking for them.


9. Though i have to admit, i don't think i could be married to a vegan. It might even be a deal breaker for me, like someone who does drugs or smokes. 


9. I can't say that i really love running, cause i don't, and i live for my non-running days. What i love most is the feeling i have when i am done. And how i feel about setting goals and keeping that commitment. (Truth is, for me it's not about the running at all. My goal is to keep it up at least until i am 60 years old.)


8. I like getting things fixed even if it means i have to pay for it. I recently paid a over a couple of hundred dollars to have the cabinet makers come out and put new hinges on my cabinet doors so they could close all the way. Nobody else would notice, but i do. I don't mind spending money to fix things that bug me even if i am the only one who knows.


9. I like raw oysters. And i would never disguise the taste with cocktail sauce. That ruins it!


10. I like anchovies on my pizza too but have yet to meet anyone who will eat a pizza with anchovies. 


11. I like always knowing well ahead of time what i am going to do. And the directions on how to get where i am going. This is because i really hate being lost. (It's  almost a phobia with me, probably has something to do with my childhood.) Probably other people are like this too, but i think most people like more adventure. 


12. I like staying indoors.


13. I like some Neil Diamond songs. (I'll post which ones later.)


14. I like asking personal and provocative questions.


15. Disclaimer: i wish more people were comfortable with this.


16. I like writing. I loved writing book reports in high school. Mine were probably always longer than anyone else's in class. (I know, probably not hard to believe!)


Maybe i will think of some more.