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Something Borrowed

This weekend I went to see "Something Borrowed." I was really excited about it because it looked cute and had John Krasinski and Kate Hudson in it. I generally like the comedy they do, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. To a certain extent, I was correct. It was funny. It had it's moments. Krasinski was 100%. Hudson understood her role and there couldn't have been a better choice for her part.

I was totally sold with the leading man, Dex, until there was a scene where Rachel and Dex are facing each other. Dex reaches over to move a piece of Rachel's hair, but instead of touching her face it seems like he does everything possible to only touch her hair. He practically had his pinky up. A man in love wants to touch his lover's face. It's intimate. It boggles the mind that such a big mistake could be made. (Also, he has weird hands.)

In addition, Dex is a total yes man. He's afraid of his father at 30 years old. He was too afraid to be with Rachel when he had the chance (twice) and then I'm supposed to buy that she should be with him? No way. He's a total chump. The only reason he was with Darcy in the first place was because she basically told him they were going to be together and he was too much of chump to set her straight.

The bottom line is that I liked the movie. I laughed out loud often. The ending really wasn't what it should have been. I thought I was the only one, but as I exited the theater I heard the other patrons saying the same thing.

Happy Easter!

Yesterday was a wonderful day with my kids at my grandma's house. I was feeling a tiny bit queasy the whole time, but I felt better than I thought I would.

I can't seem to shake whatever this mess is. I've been on antibiotics for over a week and on Friday the fevers started back up. We were at 102 degrees Friday night. Saturday, I was fever free, but I stayed on the Tylenol. Last night I started having night sweats. I'm not hot. I just wake up covered in moisture. My clothes and sheets are soaked and two inches of my hair near my scalp. It's happening over and over. It's like my sugar is low, but it shouldn't be. I also don't have a fever, so it's not breaking and causing the sweats either. It's not fun.

Today, I am cooking Easter dinner for my husband and my mother. I expect it will be pretty good, but I am not sure what I want for dessert. I know I am making chocolate chip cookies. (Chocolate chips were on sale this week, so I picked some up.)

Alright. This post is over. Some dogs are barking and waking up the baby and I need to clean my house before my mother comes in and freaks out.

The Overnights

Ever since I began treatment for this ear infection I have not be able to sleep at night. There's a lot of drainage, but I could sleep through that. It's the fevers that keep me up. My body feels like it's burning up all around me. My face feels hard and leathery and very hot. A shower would make me feel better, but I've been showering twice a day as it is.

I know that this is not something I can simply will away. To a certain extent this is my fault anyway for not going to a doctor sooner. I do wish this would go away soon. Between the sleep deprivation and the crankiness that comes with it and the night sweats I feel like I am having menopause, despite being way too young for it.

The Interview

After the whole shoe debacle, I figured the interview better be good. In standard Courtney form, I got lost on the way there. The man who was interviewing told me to take exit 224. This would have been perfect if I was coming from the South. Unfortunately, I was coming from North of the facility so I needed to take exit 240. This made me late.

I considered just skipping the interview all together, but then I thought I did NOT spend like 5 hours in the mall shopping for shoes for this interview to end up not going. (Also, I remember how upset I got when people failed to show up or even call me when I was expecting them for an interview.) I called the HR department and explained that I missed my exit, apologized profusely, and then soldiered on. I arrived 15 minutes late. Normally, I would have been completely sweaty and freaked out. This time, I was beyond caring.

I walked in, announced my presence, and had a seat. The man who interviewed me came to collect me and I felt very relaxed. He had a very similar interview style to mine, so he didn't bother asking a bunch of ridiculous questions. He simply sat and talked to me. He spent about 45 minutes talking about himself and the company and it was very comfortable. The other 15 minutes I was there were basically me talking about my management style, what makes me comfortable, and why I know I am worth what I am asking for and more.

I think I asked for more money than he could pay for that position, but I know he liked me and he wants to find a place for me in their organization if he can. He'll let me know on Friday afternoon.

Shoe Shopping is not for the Faint of Heart

Monday, I was forced to endure one of my least favorite activities. I was forced to shoe shop. I had a job interview on Wednesday and I had clothing, thanks to my mother, but not a single pair of dress shoes.

Shoe shopping is something that a lot of other people love. I hear about people having closets full of shoes and I wonder how that can possibly bear the effort required to obtain them. Then I realize that it's just me. For the same reason I have problems purchasing bras and other clothing, I have problems buying shoes. I wear a size ten.

When you walk into the ladies section there are shoes grouped by size and after size eight the groupings get smaller and smaller. When you get to size ten there are a quarter of the amount that they have for size seven. It always seems like they believe that all size tens and above work in circuses or strip clubs. Why do I want an orange flat with a giant orange flower on it? I don't and neither does anyone else.

I was looking for a sensible office shoe. I wanted a black pair of pumps with a two inch heel. I went to the mall because they have many stores that sell shoes and that way Jack and I didn't have to drive all over the city looking. I started at JC Penney because my mother told me they were having a sale. They were having a sale on Summer sandals, which did not help me out. I continued the search there anyway and found one pair that was acceptable, but it was more than I wanted to spend and after I inspected it more thoroughly, cheaply made.

I took the department store tour finding a pair at Payless and then later at Sears. The Payless shoes were 29.99, which is more than I am willing to pay for a shoe from that store. Since I only keep one dress shoe on hand they have to be up to every day wear and no matter what my mother says, Payless shoes are not meant for that. Also, if your feet sweat at all they stink like death.

The shoes at Sears were absolutely perfect. I loved them. Alas, they only had them in nine, ten wide, and eleven. Boxes and Boxes of elevens. I tried on the lone pair of ten wide and they were, of course, too big. I asked if they had any in the back and the lady barely acknowledge me enough to give me the very gruff Wal-mart motto of "Whatever is on the shelf."

I finally left the mall, defeated. I mean, I found a baby baseball cap on clearance and I had been looking for one of those for weeks, but I left shoeless. I was going to attempt to find a Ross or a Marshall's, but as I was pulling away from the mall I saw Peltz. Typically, Peltz is too expensive for me. They have great products, but the cost more than I want to spend. I figured it would be the same as always when I went in. Jack burst into tears the moments we got to the women's shoe section. He wouldn't calm down, which is so rare for him, and I thought I was going to have to leave. The salesperson came over thogh and he set aside his anguish to flirt with her. I then told her exactly what I was looking for and she led me straight to the proper section. She showed me a few that were out of my price range, but then we finally got to a pair that would be perfect. Sexy? No. Functional? Yes. The shoe pictured below, in standard black and not patent leather. It's made by Easy Street and it's called the Career Pump. I also planned to spend $30.00 and they we're $29.99. SCORE!

Weekend Update!

It's been a while since I did one of these weekend updates, so after a weekend that I thoroughly enjoyed I thought I'd type this up.

My weekend began on Thursday. I took Jack to go see my Grandma in Hudson. I rarely get out there, but I just happened to be in the area that morning, so we made the trip. Jack had a good time. My grandma, my aunt Nancy, and my cousin Melissa all got to hold Jack. I got to eat a good plate of food and a big bowl of collard greens. (Everyone, take a moment for the greens. They were delicious.)

After a great time with Grandma, I went to get Annie. We then headed home to begin our preparation for St. Patrick's Day. I invited Sadia and her husband to dinner and so in addition to cooking, I needed to make sure the house looked decent.

Suddenly, it was 7 o'clock and dinner was ready (including my, now famous, Shamrock Cake.) Everyone ate and then we played some video games. I asked Sadia's husband to help me through a part of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It was then discovered that my son had saved over my game! SERIOUSLY! I was unhappy, but I decided to let him live. It is, after all, only a video game. (Besides, Sadia's husband played and got me just about back to where I was.)

Friday, Annie and I went out for one thing. I stopped by the bank to make a deposit. Guess what?! The bank closed the account I needed to make a deposit to. They're reasponse was "Oops. Let's open another one." I shouldn't have, but in the interest of simplicity, I did. It took an hour and a half. This sucked because I had planned to have Jack at home and playing so that when we went to get Max he would be good on the way home. No dice.

As usual, he was fine on the way there and screeched the whole way home. I was forced to jump off the interstate and into the ghetto at one point because Jack got himself so worked up that he puked all over himself and Max was sure he was choking to death. I didn't care where I was. I was in that mood that if someone had bothered me I would have glared them to death. I get that from my mother.

We pulled over as soon as possible. Jack was removed from his car seat and passed up front. I then asked for his spare clothes that were in the diaper bag. They were handed to me, but they were completely soaked. It turns out that Annie had tossed an improperly closed bottle of water in the diaper bag, upside down. I went with plan b. I found a pair of pants that were stuffed in the side of the diaper bag from some time where Jack was too hot. He went topless, because I didn't have a choice. I used another spare pair of pants from the side pocket to place in the seat under Jack since he had soaked it with spit up. I snuggled Jack and he was laughing and playing. I knew he was physically fine and that when placed in the car seat he would flip out, but there was nothing I could do. We had to get home.

Sure enough, when placed in the seat he went ballistic. Max and Annie got the giggles about it. This drives me insane. I do not understand why Jack being miserable makes them laugh, but they do. They just sit there hysterically giggling. I guess it's nervous laughter, but it makes me feel like a pressure cooker about to explode. Jack's screaming, the kids are laughing, and I am trying to not kill everyone due to an excess of noise and traffic. Luckily, we were half way home and on the interstate. The road side break made the rest of the trip bearable.

Saturday was a very relaxed day. We did nothing. I heated frozen spaghetti sauce from some other time they were here. It was towards the end of the day when James and the kids went into the garage and found the controllers for Buzz Trivia. This was the best possible thing. After dinner, we ALL sat down with our Buzz controllers and played. I won! (I know it's bad to celebrate beating children in an adults trivia game, but I beat My husband too!) I think I will buy the kids a kid version of Buzz Trivia for Easter.

After dinner and Trivia, the kids and I went outside and played with a basketball while we waited for the Super Moon to become visible. It was so much fun. Granted, I accidentally nailed Annie in the face, but she took it like a pro. We walked through our subdivision and looked between the houses and then it was visible. What a sight. It was beautiful. We walked around the entire development and saw it from as many angles as possible.

Sunday, since Max didn't have corned beef and cabbage at his house, I made it again here. It was even better than the first time, I think. The kids had eaten the shamrock cake by this time, but the spirit was still there. Max said that he wished the cabbage was done more, but I hate soggy cabbage. 

After we ate, it was time to start taking everyone home. I took Annie home first since I was planning on visiting my mother before taking Max home. While heading to my mother's Jack flipped out again and spit up everything he had ever in his life eaten. Luckily, it was just before we got to Mom's so we just parked, stripped him down, and gave him a bath right away. His car seat needed to be hosed down, but what can you do? It has to air dry and I didn't see that happening in time for us to get home.  We just had to put another towel down and hope for the best.

On the way home, Jack slept peacefully. I was grateful because I spent an hour parked on the Courtney Campbell Causeway due to an accident. He was up all through the night, but it was worth it. Nothing is worse than a screaming baby when you can't fix the problem.

Sadia hates my eyeballs. [NSFW]

DO NOT GOOGLE THIS TERM. 

You have been warned.

Sadia: OMG, google blue waffle

Sent at 9:56 AM on Thursday

me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NO!

NO! NO! NO! Bad.

Sadia: HAHAHAHA

me: Cannot be unseen.

Sadia: I'm sorry

I had to

me: MY VAGINA! It needs to be held.

Sadia: I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.

me: I'm crying because there is a need for this term.

Oh Great. It's Monday.

This weekend was wonderful for me. It was our anniversary weekend and the first time we had allowed anyone to babysit Jack.

Saturday night we went to Acropolis Greek Taverna. It is sort of new to our area though I had been to the one in Ybor. My mother came to our house and babysat Jack while we ate and went to Target and that was really nice. I was nervous, but my mother sent me a picture of Jack sleeping in his play pen halfway through our dinner so I was able to relax.

Sunday, we stayed at home and pretty much did nothing. It was comfortable though and I wasn't terribly bored. I wanted to go out and get some strawberries at one point, but it was obvious that my husband was not going to do that, so I opted to relax and see if I could adventure out sometime this week instead. Annika is coming on Thursday, so if we are berry-less at that point then maybe we will have to go Friday morning.

Now that Monday has arrived it's decided to be a pain. Jack woke up at 6am, which would be okay normally. However, in the wake of Daylight Savings Time it was awful. Jack was pretty happy about it though and that helped. It's hard to be mad around a giggling baby.

Jack has fallen asleep repeatedly for about 5 minutes at the absolute longest. His teeth have been bothering him and I know that's what this is about in addition to the mega drool and super snot. I thought that I might be able to get a nap if he took a longer one, but I sat on my bed this morning and was greeted by a popping sound and then a sudden shifting downward. Apparently, I popped out a support beam. There will be no nap for me.

Monday! I'm making the best of you! I've got leftover brownies and a decent attitude. 

Recently Watched

I never used to watch TV, but now that I am home all the time I find my butt in front of the tube more and more.

Today, I watched Stigmata - Marked for Life from the History Channel. (Please don't confuse this with the Patricia Arquette film Stigmata, though I watched that recently also.) Jack watched part of the documentary with me. There was one monk in particular that made Jack giggle and grin every time he was on screen. He was very thoughtful and serious, but Jack found him amusing.

We also watched The Order of Myths which is a documentary about Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama which is still segregated. It was a very strange thing to see, but I recommend the film. I was surprised that though both groups claimed that the segregation is by choice, only the white group denied admittance to African Americans in their official functions. This policy even applies to interracial couples, the African American spouse is denied admittance.

My DVD for tomorrow is on Algebra. I'll spare you the details.

The Music That Moves Me

I am home all the time now.

Correction: I am home with Jack all the time now.

I used to listen to all kinds of music, but Jack only seems to love the music that I sing with. He's not big into rap, mostly because I have a speech impediment and rapping is hard for me, even if I wasn't the honkiest person alive. (I have absolutely zero street cred.)

Jack really seems to enjoy the musical stylings of Glee. I like it also, but it's really easy to sing with since most of it is meant to be sung by a group of people. It's easy to find your place and really belt it out. Jack thinks that is the funniest thing ever. If we dance while I'm singing he thinks that is even better. It seems that his favorite song is "Hello Goodbye" originally by The Beatles.



Even as I play the video now, Jack is kicking his legs like crazy.

Busy Tuesday

It's been a terribly busy day. I suppose in the scheme of things it was probably a slow day for normal people, but I didn't collect one sewer crystal in Ratchet & Clank today.

Instead, we:

• Went to the library for baby time.
• Went to the grocery store. (I forgot the cucumbers and bananas somehow.)
• Finished the laundry.
• Did the dishes.
• Worked on my blog for Perky Pet Supply.
• Did research for future updates.
• Checked every email account I have.
• Spent some time on Twitter.

It's been busy, but pleasant. I miss working a real job and having a real paycheck. It's frustrating to not be able to do what I normally can, but I know this is good for me and especially good for Jack.

Casa Tina

Two weeks ago I had to drive to Dunedin from Riverview because my son forgot his backpack at my house. This is not a short journey. On the way, my little brother Cameron called and decided to join me. This meant we would have an adventure. You can't go out with a dude man, a baby, and myself without having an adventure.

Dunedin is one of my favorite small towns in Central Florida. It's full of beautiful old buildings and quirky fun restaurants. Cameron and I love food, so we decided to cruise around and find something to eat on Main Street. I told him that I was not eating at Kelly's after my last meal there and Cameron agreed. Suddenly, we saw it. There, in all it's quirky Dunedin glory, was Casa Tina.

If you have been to Dunedin at night you could not possibly miss Casa Tina. It's the place with the Cirque style dancer hanging from the ceiling. During the day it has a more laid back feel. It's decorated in a very cool, cluttered, Dia de Los Muertos style. We arrived pre-lunch rush and we were immediately seated by the lovely Heather H. (There are two girls named Heather, we were informed.)

We decided to start with an appetizer. You are provided with complimentary chips and salsa, which were great. (The refill basket is $2.) We ordered Monterrey Nachos in addition. They were crazy good.

I ordered Flutes with one Peep Peep and one Moo Moo. It was yum yum. (Sorry. Check out the menu. They really say "Peep Peep.)  Everything was fresh and seasoned perfectly.

Cameron ordered the Mole Poblano. Mole, in case you don't know, is made from chocolate. It's difficult to make, a fact which Cameron could not let go. Every few moments he would moan in delight and say "Do you know how hard it is to make this stuff?!"

For dessert we opted for the plantains. They were coated in corn flakes. I thought Heather H. might be mysterious about it, but she told us flat out that they were corn flakes. They were really good though. The plantains were super sweet, as expected, but the ice cream mellowed it out and it was very good.

Casa Tina is Vegetarian and Vegan friendly. Simply notify your server if this is the case and they will be more than happy to assist you. All of the sauces, rice, and beans are vegetarian friendly.

After our fabulous lunch we walked around Main Street. Cameron took a moment to feed Jack. I know posting this photo is wrong, but it's hysterical and he doesn't read this blog. He was so focused on doing not hurting Jack.

It was incredibly windy, but we strolled through Edgewater Park anyway. Winters in Florida are so rough!

The moral of the story is that you absolutely must visit Casa Tina. They have a very friendly staff and wonderful food.

The Friday Night Knitting Club

I just finished The Friday Night Knitting Club. It didn't end the way I thought it would or the way I thought it should. It felt like I'd be reading this book forever and then, suddenly, it was finished.

The problem with my type of reading is that since I've used it as an escape tool for so long these characters feel very real and I feel like I have an emotional attachment to them. The few days it takes me to finish the book is just long enough for me to feel bonded with the characters. I'll admit that I cried.

The book itself is very good. It is everything the critics raved about on the cover. The description of New York City seem very accurate to someone who has only seen it in movies. The relationships between the characters are so real that you almost wonder who the author is basing them on. They have an amazing amount of substance.

It's hard to image that Kate Jacobs continued with a series, but she did.

Simply Saturday

This morning, I slept in until eight. When you have a baby, that's practically a miracle. I spent most of the day taking in The Friday Night Knitting Club and watching movies. We watched Chaos Theory and Falling Down. I enjoyed Chaos Theory an awful lot. Ryan Reynolds starred in this film from 2007 and he just was perfect. There was none of that irritating overacting like in Waiting or The Proposal. Falling Down was sort of the twisted exact opposite of Chaos Theory, so it's strange that we saw them on the same day.

I made a carrot cake this morning. It was really good, especially considering that I'm not a big fan of carrot cake. If you want to check out the recipe the link is here.

I've been visiting the library an awful lot lately. I just finished Wicked Appetite which I loved by Janet Evanovich. I read the majority of her Stephanie Plum books last week. I also borrowed My Custom Van by Michael Ian Black. I can't really get into it. While I find his brand of ridiculously silly comedy amusing in short doses, the essay style is just hard for me to get into. It's kind of like reading the diary of Dwight Schrute on while he's on antidepressants.

I've requested The Flirt by Kathleen Tessaro thanks to my Books-A-Million Book-A-Day calendar. While I don't want to read every book they suggest, two or three of them a week peak my interest, so I go online and have them sent to my local branch.

That's pretty much all that's been going on in my life.