randomly chaotic and frequently mundane

The printer is out of color ink, the black ink is dying, I’m out of labels, pens, writing pads, almost out of printer paper and I am desperately in need of a calendar or organizer to get my head and my schedule together. All of this made much more difficult to obtain by the fact that I don’t have any way to get to the office supply store. There is, fortunately, an alternative to wasting time and gas on a quest for office supplies that half the stores here don’t carry for some reason — Rapidsupply.com which allows me to shop from my couch (watching ER reruns, no less), in my pajamas, while I sip my morning coffee. What better way could there be to shop for my office supplies?

seriously. i want some nice yummy sesame chicken or chicken and mushrooms or something… i’m sure gage wouldn’t object to some crab cheese wontons… egg roll would be delicious along with some fried dumplings.

lawn still not mowed. the guy called this morning for clarification on where the house is… dunno if he got lost or just decided “fuck it” i’m starting to get really pissed off by this whole lawn thing. seriously.

half.com listings aren’t doing bad… so far 2 things have sold, i just gotta get some packing tape so i can ship em. i think that i’m gonna use them from now on when i have books, cds and movies that need selling. it just makes a little more sense.

Every year, students across the US gather excitedly to go on their class trip — in some cases it’s nothing special, a visit to the local amusement park. Most of the time it’s something spectacular, like a trip to Disney World. I know people who’ve gone on class trips to England, New Orleans and Canada. I myself went on trips in the school marching band to Seattle, Myrtle Beach and Disneyland. Thanks to affordable student travel from Hemispheretravel.com, it’s possible for students to take more trips than before. They can set up travel tours of US destinations, International destinations — they can even center it around musicals (have I mentioned the number of Broadway musicals I’ve seen on class trips?). If they don’t have what you’re looking for, they’ll help you put together a custom travel package for your group.

got an offer today on my entire paperbackswap bookshelf.  so i’m taking it and clearing them all out.  that’s a good thing.  it’s 35 books out of the way and i’m getting 7 credits (so it’s a 5 for 1). i’m contemplating getting rid of some/all of my cookbooks.

i’ve started contemplating recipe contests again… what can i say, i come up with good recipes and it can be worth a good deal of money.  it’s also fun… the creating, the anticipation, etc…

speaking of recipes… try this on for size:

Spicy Margarita Shrimp

•  1 lb shrimp, peeled
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp tequilla
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp crushed garlic

toss shrimp with lime juice, tequilla, pepper, cayenne and hot sauce.   let marinate at least 1 hour.  melt butter in a non-stick skillet, add garlic and let it cook until it becomes aromatic, then add shrimp and cook until pink.  mucho delicious.   if you wanna get cute, serve the shrimp in margarita glasses w/ a salt rim — he he.

Every now and then, a CD comes along that makes you think, “Wow, this fills a Hole in My Life.” Well, perhaps not your life, but it does fill a hole in your collection of favorite music. I love The Police, I’ve loved em since I was a kid. There’s definitely a hole in my music collection though — I don’t own a single Police album. I used to. But the Voices Inside My Head talked me into lending the one I had to someone who never returned it. This new police cd coming out has me incredibly excited! I’d bend over backwards and serve Tea in the Sahara to add this CD to my collection. If you’re at all like me, you’re anticipating the release of this CD with Every Breath You Take. I should warn you, Don’t Stand So Close to Me when I get my copy, I’ll be jumping up and down and squealing like a little girl. This police cd has almost all of my favorite songs on it, so it’s absolutely the most perfect police cd for me. What can I say, this release has me Walking on the Moon and Driven to Tears of joy! Heck, it’s even got me talking in Police song titles! If that doesn’t convey my excitement, I don’t know what does.

when i was a kid… when we lived in millington tennessee, there was a guy down the road with a huge vegetable garden.  occasionally i did my best peter rabbit impersonation, and snuck into said garden to snack.  my favorite thing to eat in his garden was the cucumbers.  they were so good.  crisp and delicious and truly the flavor of a summer day.

since moving from there, i’ve longed for a cucumber as delicious as the ones i swiped from his garden.  i’ve always chalked up the lack of equal flavor up to the cucumbers i get not being homegrown.  i haven’t tasted a cucumber as delicious as those since i was 5 or 6 years old…

until yesterday.

i bought an english cucumber at the grocery store this weekend.  i cut it up yesterday… i thought the texture of the “shaft” of the cucumber felt familiar (oh hush you perverts!) when i was slicing it, but i couldn’t place it… and when i put the first slice in my mouth, there it was.  that flavor i’d been longing for.  that delicious summer day flavor.  and to think, if the cucumber seeds i planted last year hadn’t frozen and actually grew, i would have been very disappointed by the flavor.

hooray for english cucumbers!!!!

but i’ve put up a bunch of my books on half.com. there will be more listed soon, no doubt. need to lighten the load and raise a little dough. there are also the ebay auctions if anyone’s interested.

gage is having fun today… he’s currently running around in his avalanche jersey, a pull-up and his snow boots.  and i think he wants a bath.  hopefully not in his clothes.

I have a deep love and passion for the ocean. I went on a day cruise with my father and grandmother when I was a kid, and I loved it. I would love to go on a real cruise, one that takes several days to beautiful places. Directlinecruises.com has a variety of cruise options that are just singing to me on a number of different cruise lines, including Celebrity Cruises. A Bahamas cruise, which they’re offering with free travel insurance would be the perfect getaway right now, or perhaps an Alaskan cruise — I’ve always wanted to go there.  Heck, a cruise anywhere, just so long as I could be on the sea enjoying the air and the tranquility.  The shore activities are appealing too, of course, but to be out on the ocean would just be heaven.

gage has been saying “avalanche” all day.  very cute.

he’s been a sweetheart allday… except for destroying the living room a couple of times.  he even let ziggy go after he’d cuddled with him as long as he wanted.  didn’t cry when ziggy scratched him, either.

should get my noah’s ark starter kit in a couple of days.  that’s a good thing.

I think I found my dream house. It’s gorgeous and is in an idyllic setting. From the photos I’d say it’s only a couple of miles from the beach. What can I say, I was reading about North Cyprus Property and decided to browse a website with homes in North Cyprus. I wouldn’t mind living on the Mediteranean, and I am of Mediteranean descent (Sicilian), so I’d fit right in — I’d just have to learn the language. The place has 4 bedrooms, so friends can visit, a pool and a roof-top terrace. So gorgeous. I’m in love with a house.

ok, i’m a little slack this week. a day late, but hey, i’m posting it now! this weeks picture of the week is of something that gage painted. well, we painted it together. he picked the colors and poured them on the canvas while i tipped and turned it. it swirled in a really cool way.  i’m tempted to get more canvas and paints to see what gage does with the same process… now that it’s dried completely, it’s got a cracked surface and looks really cool.  this picture was taken while it was still a little bit wet.

NAAW starter kit ordered… they called a few minutes ago to find out what size shirts i need, since it comes with a Noah’s Ark polo shirt and a Bella Bee t-shirt. my goal is to be ready to do “promoting” by the time gage starts the summer program at the school.

he he, gage is reading dr. seuss’s abc’s to me. it’s so cute.

someone’s supposed to come over today and do the lawn. there is much to do today… unfortunately, cleaning the living room can’t happen till gage goes to bed. but i can get other stuff done.

I love the beach, always have. Probably comes from spending so many summers in Florida. For me, the perfect vacation would be renting a place — be it hotel room, condo or even a house right on the beach somewhere with sun and sand and that wonderful salt air that comes in off the ocean. Just out of curiosity, I was looking up Rocky Point Mexico rental properties. The rates are fantastic. I’d love so much to take Gage down to one of those houses or condos and spend days with him on the beach. I love that they’ve got places that sleep up to 14. It’d be a lot of fun to go down there with the whole family and spend some time together.

very chilly and rainy. and my comforter is outside on the clothesline. i put it out there to dry a little before it started raining and forgot about it. once the clothes in the dryer are done i’ll haul it in, put it through the spin cycle and then pop it in the dryer.

i ordered a starter kit for noah’s ark animal workshop today. i’m working on an introductory letter to put in the mini catalogs for when i go putting them on every door and windshield i can in town *g*

It’s a simple fact, at some time in everyone’s life, they have need to obtain a loan. Most of the places you go to to obtain one, do business with individuals and businesses — all kinds of businesses. Wouldn’t it feel good to give your loan business to a company that doesn’t simply give loans to any business that comes their way? Seriously, if you’re a devoted Animal Rights activist, would you want to know that you got your mortgage from a bank that also finances the local slaughterhouse? Would you believe that the Co-operative bank won’t extend a loan to a business that is in conflict with their own ethical policy? How nice is it to see a business that actually holds to some ethical standard, instead of casting it all aside in the great quest for the almighty dollar? I think it’s pretty refreshing, myself. And if you’d like you can even check out their website and see just what their ethical policy is.