Mandy's Dirty Little Secret

Mandy does a bunch of things that are super cute. She does a lot of things that I once found cute and now, not so much. And she does one thing that I find simply disgusting.....so that is why I am sharing it with you! Is it her penchant for leaping onto my shoulders from the kitchen counter? Nope. Or maybe her desire to be "bitey" and "scratchy"? No, I wish. It's not even her endless supply of nocturnal energy.

I was cleaning out my closet over the weekend and Mandy was in there with me doing whatever she does while she is in there. I see her go towards her favorite corner, but she stops at the pile of dirty laundry. And then she rolls in some dirty underwear! (I told you it was gross!!!!) I picked her up later to give her a kiss and this one spot by her neck and shoulder reaked!!! It's almost like a fetish or something. I just don't understand why my cute little girl would do something so disgusting! It is now Tuesday morning and she FINALLY smells good again. Or at least the stench is gone from that spot.

SoCal - Epilogue

I forgot this great tidbit of info from my trip.....I find out that my brother will be coming to Vegas in two weeks with his girlfriend. The purpose of the trip? One of my brother's friend's is hosting their fantasy baseball league draft. And I guess my brother's girlfriend decided to tag-along on the trip to Vegas. No other wives/girlfriends are coming to the "draft." I was told, "oh, by the way, you will be entertaining Heather that day while I'm at the draft. And she isn't good with self-entertainment." Great. I've met her twice: once at Christmas the other year and once in DC while my brother was visiting her (she lives in Virginia.) I was hoping television and the internet would be enough for her. It's enough for me and my immediate family! Well, I wouldn't mind some Diet Coke thrown in the mix and I'm sure others wouldn't mind beer. But at least we are capable of entertaining ourselves! It's not like I know his girlfriend that well and it's not like she has tried to get to know me. She sends my mom emails for some reason. That's nice. My mom has a daughter - a darned good one too if I say so myself!! And my brother even makes it sound like taking the girlfriend to lunch and a movie will be a task. From what I gather she will want to go see some ultra chick flick while I want to see the latest Ah-nold movie or something. She's only one year older than me yet she somehow had her head in the whole during the 1980s because she gets practically zero pop culture references. I guess I should be more open-minded since she is probably going to be my sister-in-law in the next year or so. Ay carumba!

SoCal

This past weekend I went to the OC to visit my brother. My mom also was there - she flew down from Seattle. The main purpose of our trip was to help get my bro a little organized in his office. His office assisatant sounds like she pretty much sucks (as in she doesn't do a darned thing) and I think my brother is too nice to fire her. ANyway, mom got there THursday and was put to work right away. I drove out on Friday. The drive was actually really nice and went by fairly fast. It was the first time I drove out to California by myself.

After I got to California, my mom met me at our hotel - there is no way in hell we would ever stay at my brother's apartment. Then we drove back over to my brother's office. My duties included printing mailing labels and putting postage on envelopes. We had an early dinner at Black Angus. Since all I had previously in the day was basically coffe, coffee, and more coffee, I was more than able to down the 12 oz. prime rib I ordered!! After dinner we took a drive to Huntington Beach, walked out on the pier, and then grabbed a drink at a bar. Yes, even I had a drink! Originally I wasn't going to since I had a couple the night before, but I figured with the big dinner I just ate, there'd be no problem!

me and my bro

my mom and my bro

View of Huntington Beach at sunset

Saturday was another day, or rather morning, at the office. My brother only put us to work until noon when the Husky basketball game started. He went back to his place while my mom and I went shopping. Later in the afternoon we met up and headed north to Culver City to visit my cousin and his wife and son. We had a great evening visiting with them. Unfortunately we had to cut the night short since I had to get back to get a decent amount of sleep since I was leaving early Sunday. I dropped my mom off at the airport in Long Beach around 6:30am. I took the wrong on ramp to the 405 and instead of going south, I was heading north. I just wanted to turn around but the stupid GPS wanted to take me some other convoluted route. I was getting really frustrated. Finally I saw a sign for the Long Beach airport again and just retraced my steps to the 405, this time getting on the correct ramp! I decided to stop at McDonalds near where we stayed so I would at least eat something that morning. Otherwise it would be another day of Starbucks coffee until I got home! The drive out of Cali was great! There was barely anyone on the roads. I made good time and rolled into my garage at 11:21am. After unloading everything and getting the laundry going, I got in bed to take a nap. Then my friend called which delayed my nap, but for a good cause! The rest of my afternoon was spent in bed dozing while watching vH1 reality shows.

Me, my cousin, and my brother

I Really Love My Mom & Dad!!!!

WARNING: what I am about to share is sad story my mom shared with me. It's a little heart breaking too, so take a second and go grab a kleenex!

On Sunday my parents were settling down to watch The Oscars when a stray dog showed up at the backdoor. The thing was really old and just didn't look well. My parents had never seen her before and they walk their dogs enough to know their canine (and human) neighbors. So they took the old gal inside since it was cold and let her stay the night in the laundry room where she could be kept from the other dogs. She ate and drank some water. My dad even placed a notice on craigslist hoping that someone out there loved this dog enough to miss it. I guess on Monday morning though the dog had thrown up and had diarrhea and just was not doing well at all. I know my parents would have liked to keep her but they couldn't. So my dad did the tough thing and took her to the humane society where she will or has already been put to sleep. (sorry, gotta take a second and get a kleenex myself!) My parents did admit that it did seem like it was time for this dog to go. If it had been their dog, they would have been agonizing over the decision to put them to sleep. Their guess is that someone just dropped the dog off on the road somewhere instead of doing the humane thing. How disgusting.

The touching thing to me is that this dog was lucky enough to find my parents and spend at least a few hours with caring people. She didn't have to die alone in the woods. She was able to die with dignity, like every living creature deserves. And I don't think it is a coincidence that this dog found my parents. Their house is a mecca of sorts for the nieghborhood dogs. It's as if the other dogs told her to go to my parents and she'd find two very caring people willing to do what they could. So I am thankful for all the people in this world like my parents who take that extra effort to be kind to someone or something in need. I wish more people were like them.

Dare to be Different

Lunch today took us once again to the Strip Shop! Today it was myself, Diane, and Dallas. All three of us failed to bring lunch. I took that as a sign from above that we were to go to the Strip Shop, especially since Dallas missed our last trip and I had cash in my wallet. (The SS is a cash only establishment.)

The usual order is of course the Chef's Salad with either ranch (me) or Thousand Island (Diane and Dallas). But today I dared to be different!! I ordered a hot sandwich. I had the Italian sandwich and added provolone cheese. It came with red peppers. Boy was it good!!

Betty Crocker in da House!

Once again I brought treats into the office. Hey, I'm single, no kids, and like to cook/bake for people. So my co-workers are the ones who end up benefitting...or suffering. It depends how you look at it! Today's treat was caramel brownies and I would like to think they were a success. It was the first time I made the brownies so I was a little nervouse about how they came out. Poor Carol had no choice but to look at the brownies since they sit out in front of her desk. I seriously don't mean to bring treats in to tempt people! It just makes me feel good knowing people like my baking. Here are a few examples of our co-workers' reactions:

Most brownies one admitted to eating before 11am: 3
Requests for recipes: 1

Qutoes: "This is the best thing I've ever had in my life."

I also heard that someone referred to the brownies as being "wicked good."

Anyway, I'm glad everyone liked the brownies! You can also thank/blame raine_days since I got the recipe from her!!

Famous Last Words???

What do you think of me? I know, I know -do I really want to know the answer to that question? I ask because today at work Dallas described me as "outgoing." Now I have been called many things - good and bad - but I have never been called outgoing. I shared this my mom and I think she even laughed a little! I would always describe myself as shy or reserved. Or that I even seem mean or cold because I don't say much to people when I first meet them. I have to be comfortable with or get to know people before I truly open up. But even then, in a group I am usually the quiet one. Maybe I have turned over a new leaf, so to speak, here in Las Vegas? Actually, writing that last sentence made me remember something that might be connected. This is pretty lame, but about 4 years ago while at Quantico for intel school, someone told me that I was a shrinking violet waiting to bloom. Or something to that effect. I can't believe the person actually said what they did. I feel like that is something my grandmother would say - not a 30 something year old man in law enforcement!!! I even feel stupid even typing it! But maybe I have finally blossomed! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!