I just found out that today is Something on a Stick day.

First of all, how have I not known of this day MY WHOLE LIFE?! I love things on sticks… cotton candy, lollipops, candy apples, popsicles, etc.

Second, how come none of you people told me?! 😛

As per usual, the dog attempted to climb up me when I picked her up from daycare. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s ready for dinner, glad I came to get her or just her insanity, but it never fails… I get all sorts of love when I pick her up.

Today she was all wet.

While paying, I asked the girl if she had played in a pool, and commented that it seemed early for that.

Oh no, she said. Regina has a new best friend. He’s a lab puppy and they played all day!

I waited until I got into the car to smell my hands.

GAG.

I need to carry lysol wipes… blech.

It’s time for another fun installment of “what keyword searches bring people here?”!

I enjoy looking at these, simply because the number of people who search to find out if they need to refrigerate ketchup is MIND BOGGLING. But lately, the questions about refrigeration have expanded, and I am here to once again be the voice of knowledge. 😀

• should you refrigerate ketchup — no, it’s completely unnecessary and the bottle doesn’t say too
• self cleaning ovens odor — according to my Mom (the greatest cleaner alive), it’s supposed to smell like that, so leave the house for four hours.. however, if there is a lot of smoke, you probably dumped grease in there… like me 🙂
• refrigerate whey protein — um, if it’s a powder, I’m thinking no
• how long to refrigerate a omelet — after it’s totally cooked? I’d say no more than a week, but eggs freeze pretty well if you wrap them tight enough.
• how to catch and tame chipmunks — how the HELL did you come here? They like peanut butter and Cheetos, but they are a wild animal and you shouldn’t try to catch them or tame them.
• potato gun plans — excellent! shoot things 🙂
• do you have to refrigerate i can’t believe it’s not butter — I’m thinking yes, but check the container
• do you need to refrigerate butter? — no, but it’s stays fresher (particularly in warm climates)
• phone interviews — don’t listen in when your boyfriend has them.. you might get cranky.
• why do people refrigerate candy — because it’s hot where they live? Because cold chocolate is yummy and you don’t want it to melt? I dunno, really.

I really feel like I’m the voice of the don’t-refrigerate-ketchup generation. 🙂

So far the most interesting thing in DC has been our next door neighbors. We’re at a super cheap hotel (hi, I’m all about saving money) and the walls are quite thin, which means the massive fight that happened between the couple next door was highly entertaining.

Some gems:

My momma raised a WOMAN, she didn’t raise no bitch! – said multiple times, at around 5AM.

I don’t need you, when we get home, I’m through. JUST THROUGH. – also multiple times, last night and this morning.

You’re man enough to say you love me, sleep in my bed, put your dick in me, but still call me a bitch! – a personal favorite of mine (and Choppy’s)

I’m going to the shelter in the morning!

Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! – said in escalating bursts, similar to the “Head on! Apply directly to your forehead!” commercials.

The woman was the loudest, so while we heard the guy speaking in lower tones, it was her that came through loud and clear.

There’s really nothing like a batshit crazy couple less than two feet away to make you happy that you’re in a good relationship, LOL.

We’re heading home in a couple of hours, the interview went well (we won’t find out for a little while, they apparently have several other interviews this week) and the St. Paddy’s day drinking was great fun. 🙂

When I got up this morning, it was still dark out and I thought, hmm, maybe my clock is wrong. Sadly, no. I don’t think I’ve been up this early in months, and I don’t like it.

We’re off to the most interesting interview (and all sorts of drunken partying). Happy St. Patrick’s Day everybody!

As per usual, life around here is very… slow, lol. Aside from working, I spend quite a bit of time looking at homes in the D.C. area, as that is where Chop’s interview is next week. He had one today and another one earlier this week (that resulted in a 1-2 month-long contract job which will give us moving money, is necessary), but the most interesting one will be on Monday.

The fun thing about this is that I have college friends in D.C., so I’m not at all averse to the prospect of moving there. In fact, there’ll be all sorts of insanity happening on St. Patrick’s Day while we’re down there, which I am greatly anticipating.

While I’m trying not to plan too far ahead (Porkchop is probably laughing at that, as I’m a planner and am driving him bananas), I’ve started looking at places to live down there, so if anyone has suggestions, please let me know.

Granted, he might a) not get this job and b) want to take another job, but I’m still going to have contingency plans ready!

Driving to yoga tonight I ended up behind a tow truck, whose noxious fumes caused me to hold my breath and breathe through my mouth.

And suddenly my mind flashed back a dozen years, Kathy Troccoli was playing in my head, cold air was wrapping around my legs and the smell of exhaust annoyed my nose.

Then I started laughing, and debated calling my sister to see if she remembered our weekly bus trips to the mountains during the winter. (I’m sure you do, right?)

For a few years (I honestly can’t remember how many), my parents signed my sister and I up for weekly ski trips to the mountains. Our Dad would wake us up at 5AM on Saturdays, feed us breakfast (favorite being the refried bean and egg burritos, yum) and drive us to the bus pickup, where lots of other kids joined us to drive the two hours north.

We’d ski/snowboard for a few hours, have lunch up there and drink cocoa, ski some more, then pile back into the buses around 4PM, the smell of car exhaust and the cold being the predominant things I can recall.

I don’t remember enjoying it as much as I thought my sister did, but I was going through my try-to-be-the-best-Christian-possible-and-maybe-I’ll-actually-believe-it phase, so I didn’t talk to a lot of the other kids on the bus, tended to ski alone and wore my headphones on the rides to and fro (hence the memories of Kathy Troccoli, lol).

We finally stopped going sometime when I was in high school. It was always so early (for a Saturday, sheesh), and I think they finally trusted us to do what we wanted on the weekends… granted, that ended up involving jobs and boyfriends and late nights, but it was way more fun. 😉

Still, whenever I smell bus exhaust (particularly in the winter when it’s cold), I remember those trips and smile.

One of the things that attracted me to the Porkchop was his voice. He has a very nice voice.

That being said, this is the goddamn second phone interview I’ve heard him have with a female and WTF, they ALL FLIRT WITH HIM.

And he does his sexy laugh and I want to smack him upside the head. They all seem to think he’s funny and adorable. I mean granted, he is, but hello, wtf, professionalism anyone?

And I’m talking to BOTH of them. 😛

March, for us, was the cut-off date for only local job searching. While we live in an awesome place, it’s actually quite far from any good techie jobs (especially if you add in a commute to Boston), and when Chop was laid off, we decided that he’d search for six weeks within 50 miles, but after that, we’d expand.

I should probably say I decided, as my brain is the worry-about-everything half of the relationship, lol.

So this weekend we went out to dinner and discussed cities we’d be comfortable and happy moving to.

Granted, we’d prefer not moving for a few years (I’m kinda tired of it after last year’s fiascos), but I’m just not sure that will be possible.

We have some rules… there has to be an ocean close by (within an hour), a good music scene, low-ish cost of living (depends on salary), relatively good weather and the ability to easily get another job in our field if another one goes south.

So for now, he’s concentrating on three state capitals and two other big cities, on both sides of the country.

However, we are taking suggestions!