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April 28, 2006

SPF - Grains

This week Kristine wants us to remember what we learned a few weeks ago and use them this week.

1. Something Big
2. Something Small
3. Half of Something

Remember, PERSPECTIVE. It may be small to you, but get on the floor and take the picture and see how big it looks. GET CREATIVE!! Think outside the house box. Half of something can be taken ANY way. Actually, all of these can be taken any way you want.

Well, I actually didn't play the week she talked about finding a new prespective, but I actually decided to get creative this week.

Something Big

Look at the all those BIG whole grains in this little bitty Cracker.

Something Small

The grains of this Chenille material are pretty small on this huge couch.

Half of Something

In keeping with the whole Grain theme I've got going on here.

This is what happens when you put a wooden cutting board in the dishwasher. You get half of it in one hand and half of it in the other.

Did you play? Let me know and I will come by and see. Make sure you tell Kristine too!

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:37 AM | Comments (23)

April 26, 2006

Surprise Visitor

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Photo Sharing

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 06:16 PM | Comments (1)

April 25, 2006

ALERT! BIRD FLU STRIKES FLORIDA!!

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 01:33 PM | Comments (1)

There Is A New Game In Town

And It's Called Waste Of Space Monday. This little game, the brain child of Tammy, where where we will highlight the stupidest among the stupid in our society. It's the blog-version of The Darwin Awards.

*Disclaimer: I promise to try not to post a picture of Duh-Bull-Ew every week.

So, for my first installment (actually posted on Tuesday due to my WOS Award Winner) of Waste of Space Monday I present to you:

If you read my post yesterday about my problems with the cable company, the drama continues. Luckily I stayed home from work today sick with a PAIMH (pick axe in my head) migraine. First the phone rang about 10:35, it was Comcast asking if I was still having problems and if the technician still needed to call first. Yes, and yes.

About 10 minutes later, someone knocks on the door. He says he had called but the phone said it was unavailable. I asked him what number he called and of course, he had called my home phone that runs over the INTERNET that wasn't working. Why he didn't call the cell phone number that the lady from the cable company had called 10 minutes earlier is beyond me.

He then said that he had already found the problem and fixed it. Someone had disconnected my wires on Sunday. Apparently they send audit crews out to disconnect people. And apparently someone in the three buildings serviced by the cable box was on the list. But no one has ever bothered to LABEL which lines go to which apartment, so the audit crew, by the seat of their pants, apparently closed their eyes and picked one. MINE!

So, I ended up with no internet at home for three days because some idiot didn't take the time to figure out which lines went to which apartment. And, again, here is another beef I have with big companies like Comcast. When I called in on Sunday and said my service was off, they should have KNOWN that there was a freaking audit crew disconnecting someone in my complex and called that guy back to plug me back in. But no, most companies today have a right hand and a left hand and neither hand knows what the hell the other one is doing.

So, this maybe breaking the rules... but for my first installment of Waste of Space Monday.. I am nominating a COMPANY. And that company is COMCAST CABLE.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:44 PM | Comments (3)

April 24, 2006

If You Are Interested

In the past couple of weeks, Chiari, the condition that I have, has been featured on Mystery Diagnosis on the Discovery Channel.

One of the ladies in my support group has graciously offered her website up as a place to download the video if you would like to watch it.

I have heard from some friends and family that I am taking this doctor thing too far. Yes, I have seen 3 neurosurgeons and 3 neurologist. I have had 3 MRIs, yet I haven't had the MRI that truly tests for the flow of cerebral-spinal fluid between my head and my spinal cord. But I have yet to see a doctor who has offered up a solution to ease the pain, and let me tell you 17 concurrent prescriptions isn't it.

I have read a lot about this condition and I know how hard it is to get a doctor to listen to you. I'm tired of hearing, "it's in your head", "see a shrink" or "get used to the pain."

If you download this video and watch it, you will see that the mother in the story took her daughter to doctor after doctor after doctor. She felt that she wasn't getting what she needed out of them. And in the end, they say that the girl's MRI didn't show the extent of what was going on and the doctor's didn't know until they opened her up.

To watch the video:

At the bottom you will see a big yellow link that says Chiari Video. This will download the video to your computer. There is also a link (about two paragraphs above the video link) to a player that you may have to download if the video will not play on any of the media players you have on your computer.

If you happen to download it and watch it, please let me know what you think.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 02:37 PM | Comments (1)

Comcast SUCKS!

I woke up yesterday morning at 10am with no internet, no cable and no phone. Something had apparently gone haywire around 7am as that was the time the last email was downloaded to my computer.

I have never witnessed so many problems with a cable company until I moved to Dallas last January. Comcast Cable is another reason why I hate Dallas.

Friday, January 7th, last year I drove to Dallas for New Student Orientation for CulinarySchool. About 4pm I was finally given the keys to my apartment in "DaHood" and I had an installation appointment scheduled with Comcast between 5pm and 8pm. About 8:01pm, when they hadn't shown up yet, I started calling.

I was told that they had come by my apartment and no one was home. Um, yeah, sure! I'm sitting here, on the floor, (freezing by the way since the heater in the new apartment didn't work for a week) by the front door, in a nearly empty apartment and you are trying to tell me someone came by here and knocked on my door. Um, yeah, sure.

Then I was told that they called my house 3 times and left messages. Ok, lets analyse this. 1) I wasn't home and had told them to call my CELL PHONE. 2) my answering machine at home was PACKED!

I was also told that they knocked on a brown door in a single story building. Lets examine the evidence shall we?

The edge of the building is in the corner of the top picture. It sure looks taller than a one story building to me. In fact it was three stories.

Hmmm. Am I color blind, or is that a BLACK door?

When I explained that I was in a three-story black and gray stucco apartment complex, the guy on the phone said... "well, its dark outside, that changes the colors."

So after being transfered to one too many supervisors, I decided to go ahead and drive back to "TheArmPitOfHell" where my uHaul was waiting in the driveway to be driven back up to Dallas the next day. I stayed on my cell phone the entire two hour drive talking to Comcast.

Once I finally had a supervisor on the phone who would listen I had a few points to make. 1) Don't schedule appointments you aren't going to keep. 2) Make sure your installers have enough reading skills to call the correct phone number. 3) Don't have your lackees answering the phones make excuses for your incompetent installers, telling me that a black door mysteriously turns brown at night.

They rescheduled my appointment for Monday and the guy messed up my computer installing the internet software, when I told the guy I was perfectly capable of installing it myself. And then he installed my cable TV with a switch box. I immediately told him that was not what I ordered and he was like, Sorry that's what is on the order, you will have to call in and schedule another appointment.

So, Thursday I had to sit at home again and wait for another installer to come bring me a cable box and take away this stupid switch box that hung off the front of my TV. Luckily he had called before he showed up and I had his cell phone number on my caller id, so when the channels were all messed up and I couldn't get anything to come in I got to call the skinny-crackshowing, jeans past your butt wearing thug, back to my apartment to fix it.

After my cable TV was finally working correctly and I received my first bill I saw a Comcast commercial where it said that internet was only $25.99 a month and I was being charged $42.99. I was then told by a Customer "Service" Rep (I use the term service lightly), that I had to have asked for that special when I placed my order. Hmm.. I didn't know about the special because I didn't live in Dallas when I placed the order and that they don't advertise in "TheArmPitOfHell." Again, I had to talk to a supervisor to get this fixed.

Within two weeks the cable modem was dead and they had to bring me another one. About two months later, the cable modem died again. The third time I finally got a cable modem that worked.

The supervisor I had talked to that first night supposedly set up my account to have a $99.00 credit (for the installation) and to have my first month free. It took two and a half months before they fixed my bill. I just refused to pay it until it was fixed. It took going thru about 20 different people on the phone before they figured out which supervisor I had talked to nealry three months prior and got me back in touch with her. She finally fixed my bill to show the first month fee, the $99 credit & the credit for the internet special that I'm supposed to know about before I even move there..

It was moving weekend in December when CY helped me move all my electronic stuff to my new condo. The appointment was between 11 and 2 and they were told to call before they came. We had started to go get something to eat for lunch and they called and said they would be there in 30 minutes, so instead of going to Masala Wok for lunch, we ended up at Wendy's on the corner. We were back at the new place within 25 minutes.

Two hours later, I had to call Comcast and find out what the heck was going on. The contracted installers called 15 minutes later and said they were on their way. Then an hour later, I called their cell phone back and said.. "um, did you get lost?" and they claimed that they did. It was nearly 5pm before they bothered to show up. Then, they were there for about 4 hours because they couldn't figure out which line was mine and couldn't get a signal inside my condo.

When they finally got a signal, set up the TV they switched DVRs. I was like wait a minute, I have shows recorded and saved on there. They were like, well they have already been erased when we deactivated the DVR. Well, why the hell did you do that? Well, we have to give you new ones when you move. WTF?

Then they went to the computer. And they switched out my cable modem again, back to the type I had the first three times that never worked. I was furious.

Not only did they switch out my modem, they set me up a new email address on my "new account" and didn't move over my old email address. No one told them to set me up a new email address, and I certainly would have never set up an account using my full name. About a week later, Outlook started having problems downloading my mail and I called in and they said... well that email address is no longer active. WHAT? It took them three weeks to fix this. No telling how many emails I lost.

I was not happy about the way this install went and I was really not happy that they switched out my equipment, because I had already been thru 3 cable modems and I finally had one that was working. In January I had to replace that cable modem they gave me in December.

The current bill I have from them shows a credit for 3 days of no service from back in February (one of their installers had switched my wires outside when installing service for someone else) and in March they had to come out and replace my cable modem, again!

Now, I have had no service since 7am yesterday morning. The weird thing is, my TV shows the channel box at the bottom of the screen with what show is supposed to be on, it is not snow like it was last time.

I would say that I was looking forward to getting away from Comcast when I move to Houston, BUT, last week my best friend had a installation appointment with TimeWarner Cable between 8 and 10 am. She called 3 times on Thursday and she was told that he was 15-20 minutes away and would be there shortly. At 4pm she called to find out what was going on. They were told the installer would call her. He finally called and said he would be there between 8 and 9pm. He never showed.

She called TimeWarner back and rescheduled for the next day. At 10:15 the next morning she had to call back again to find out why they didn't show up between 8 and 10 and she was told that she wasnt even on the schedule until Tuesday. She even called the technician back on his cell phone and when she told him who she was he hung up on her.

After talking to numerous supervisors, getting the original technician fired (apparently he didnt show up to a lot of other appointments either), the supervisor sent someone else. It was nearly 4pm on Friday before she had the installation originally scheduled for 8-10 am Thursday completed.

As soon as I move to Houston, I'm ordering Satellite like I had at my house in Smalltown, TX and if I have to, I may have to find T1 access because I am sick of these cable companies.

P.S. If you click on that link to Comcast above, it actually takes you to a different website called Comcast Sucks where some of Comcast's most wonderful qualities of unreliable service, crappy signals, idiot and late installers, high prices, etc.

There is also a link to a petition. If you hate the cable companies as much as I do, please go sign it. This is the email I received after signing the petition.

Dear Friends,

I have just read and signed the petition: "Petition Comcast's CEO To Answer For Service & Reliability"

Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 100,000 signatures - please sign here.

Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.

Thank you!

FutureFoodTVStar

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:46 AM | Comments (1)

April 23, 2006

Look What I Did Today

Yes friends I did it. I signed up for eDiets.com. I spent basically all day Saturday setting up my meal plan for this week and printing out my grocery list, comparing it to what was in my kitchen, editing it and printing it again.

I ended up eating "approved fast food" for both lunch and dinner because I just couldn't get my butt in gear to get cleaned up and go grocery shopping. I threw on bum clothes and hit Taco Bell and Wendy's and came right back home (before Kami or any of the other Dallas bloggers could FUG me).

Even with eating fast food twice today, I still ended up being pretty much ok on my nutritional analysis after I entered everything into the system. I was a little high on saturated fats and I was a low on fiber and magnesium, but other than that I stayed within my calories and recommended ranges for the day.

I should have started this Wednesday, so I don't look like a complete idiot when I post this cute little button:

on SATURDAYS, which is my official weigh-in day for my eDiets account.

And, as much as this is going to completely horrify my mother... I am going to post my progress. I tried going on a diet right after I moved to Dallas, but at that time my blog was only a month old and I had one person who read it. Now that I have my blogfriends, a lot of which are now real-life friends thanks to BlogBlowout2006, I am hoping that yall will help me, motivate me and when its needed... kick me in the ass!

And here is where I will post the "Rules Of The Blog-SandBox". If you dont have something constuctive to say please keep your mouth shut! Also, I will respect your comments if they are not personally attacking me. If what I say offends you, go somewhere else. There are 70,000+ other blogs on the internet and if you don't like those either, create your own!

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:11 AM | Comments (6)

April 21, 2006

Bye Bye Headache

I have had a headache for two days. Part of it is probably because of the change in barometric pressure here in Dallas over the past two or three days, the rest was from stress and crying (see yesterday's chalk board post).

Today is my day that I had to cover the front desk at work while the receptionist went to lunch. I sat up there for a little over an hour holding my head in my hands.

When I got back to my desk I opened up my time-sheet Excel document and figured out exactly what minute I had to clock out to still get my 40 hours this week.

That was at 2:40pm and I was desperate to figure out how I was going to make it to 3:04. I went to the first aid kit at work and found this:

The package said "Deep Penetrating, long lasting pain relief from arthritis, sore muscles and joints, back and neck pain."

What the hell I'll try anything.

I opened up the little package, rubbed it all over my neck, temples, forehead, sinuses. After about 30 seconds my face felt like it was fixing to melt off my face it was burning... but then about 2 minutes later it got cold. And you know what my headache did?

It Went Away!

The sad thing is... my chiropractor, yeah, you know, the one who actually found and diagnosed my Chiari... gave me some of this stuff to try for my leg cramps. I've never used it. I've had like three big sample packages of it at home for 8 months.

I just have to say... I haven't felt this good in weeks. This stuff is cold and tingly and has totally woken me up and sent my headache packing. Biofreeze. My new miracle cure.

Anyone wanna go out to dinner or shopping or bowling or something tonight? I wanna get out and do something! And when I get back... I'm gonna start BATHING in the stuff.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 03:01 PM | Comments (1)

Brilliant

I will admit I had never heard any music from Pink prior to seeing this on Torrie's site, and I am now a new fan. Check it out!

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:21 AM | Comments (1)

April 20, 2006

SPF - Alphabet

Kristine received a death threat over email this week. It said "PLEASE PUT UP THE ASSIGNMENT FOR STUFF PORTRAIT FRIDAY OR I WILL BE FORCED TO COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND FEED YOU FISH!" So our assignment was to post something that would represent each of our initials.

I have absolutely no creativity this week, so here we go:

I love applesauce but why is it so freaking hard to find Chunky AppleSauce that isn't that non-sweetened organic crap?

YUM, cookies. Probably my favorite way to curb my daily sweet tooth.

It was either this or a Zebra, but since I deal with Wine all day at work I thought this was more appropriate.

Yep, this week is just about over and I'm glad.. cause it SUCKED!

Did you play?

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:25 PM | Comments (20)

Worthless

Nothing in this world like being told you are this on at least a weekly basis.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 03:41 PM | Comments (5)

April 19, 2006

BBQ

After 4 long months of cold and winter, we are finally coming up to summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking as it's the only type of cooking a real man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved.

When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...

1) The woman buys the food.
2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.

Here comes the important part:

4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine....

5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He says it's all under control, and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation.

Important again:

7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine.....

8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces and brings them to the table.
9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women....

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:28 PM | Comments (3)

We Aint Coming Out

13 Years Ago today, April 19, 1993, 81 people died in a fire. The compound was on a hill they called Mount Carmel, in the small town of Elk, Texas. Elk is so small the media decided to call it near Waco. This decision by the media really confused a lot of my AGGIE friends (or one in particular), as they were having trouble finding "Near Waco" on a map.

I was a freshman at Baylor during the 51-day standoff between ATF officials and the Branch Davidians. This was a terribly stressful time to be in Waco. Not only was I trying to adjust to my first year of college, the stupid TV stations took off all of my soap operas for 51 days.

I was also in the process of creating my first OCD project on the computer. I had become really close friends with a girl who lived down the hall from me. She was a senior and was planning an extremely small intimate wedding. Not only was the wedding going to be small, it was scheduled for 2pm on the same day she was to graduate at 10am. My project, was to design the wedding booklet. Instead of invitations, we created a booklet that had a page about the bride, a page about the groom, a page about the pastor, a page about the church, maps, iteneraries, places to go in Waco, etc. The entire time we were creating this booklet, up until April 19th, there was a huge question mark hovering in the back of our minds. The media and ATF had filled up every hotel room within a 40 mile radius of Waco. The Bride didn't know where her guests were going to stay unless this dumb standoff ended.

Someone lied to the ATF officials and told them that they were somehow *cough* "important" *cough* and that they basically could take over the town. The would just walk into our classrooms, our auditoriums, our student union building and sit down and disturb lectures, concerts, movies, etc. I will never forget sitting in our music building watching the State Choral Competition that my high school was competing in, and in the middle of a song in walks 4 ATF agents with their walkie-talkies on. The judges tried to tell them to turn them off or leave but they just flashed their badges and sat there like the assholes that they are. By the time the 51 days were over we were sick to death of these ATF guys.

On Monday April 19th, walking out of my Political Science class and heading back to my dorm, the sky was dark with smoke and smelled like someone was having a massive BBQ. When I got into the dorm, there were crowds of people gathered around the TV and hearing that the compound was on fire and the standoff would be over soon. I went back to my room to put down my backpack and returned to the crowd downstairs.

After about 10 minutes, a large group of girls and guys decided... "Hey, Let's Go Watch." We drove out to Elk, (and I was hoping it was the ATF guys and not the kids burning) parked the cars, walked as close as we could get to the action. I will never forget what I saw, and I will probably never have any respect for the media again....

It was like I was at the County Fair. There were street vendors and carts selling hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ, t-shirts, posters, etc. 81 people (mostly women and children) were dying at the hands of our incompetent government officials and they were making it into a circus act. Some of the t-shirts had some very eloquent slogans on them like: "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Davidians" or "I Survived The Central Texas BBQ."

Two short years later, April 19, 1995, I woke up on a Wednesday morning and turned on the TV. I saw the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City with a massive hole blown out of the side of it. Two men were later convicted of the bombing, Timothy McVeigh and his friend Terry Nichols. McVeigh later claimed that his aim was to avenge the Waco massacre.

As if these two anniversaries weren't bad enough for our nation to remember, 4 years and one day later, April 20, 1999, two students went to school with guns and killed 12 of their classmates and one teacher at Columbine High School, on the same day as the birthday of the Angriest White Guy Ever. Yesterday, April 18th, was also the 100th anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake.

On a lighter note... April 18th the world "welcomed?" Suri Cruise (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes) and Grier Henchy (Brooke Shields). These two little girls were born in a week plagued by anniversaries of bad things happening. I hope they are able to realize that we are not cursed by our birthdays, after all... I was born on David Koresh's 15th birthday.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:31 AM | Comments (5)

Way Back Wednesday

Our assignment this week from The Kept Woman: Your moldy cheesy family (like "Cheese!" and moldy 'cause it's an old picture...demented and odd, I know)...this week I'm looking for the oldest family photo that you have...hopefully this will highlight some killer fashions of the past!

Again I am sitting here wishing I had all of my grandmother's pictures scanned into my computer, but the three I found will have to do.

This is the picture of my grandmother that was with the announcement in the paper when she married my grandfather in 1945.

Another picture from 1945, this picture was taken not long after my grandparent's wedding.

And this super-cute 14-month old little boy is my Dad. This picture was taken in November 1944.

Did ya play?

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:17 AM | Comments (4)

April 12, 2006

Episode # 3 "JustSayNo" 2006 Season of

As The Tonsil Falls

Ok. Tomorrow is my follow up appointment with "TheTaper" and my parents are driving up to Dallas to basically tell my doctor "NO MORE DRUGS."

Granted, he did lower my prescription count from 17 to 9 six weeks ago, but I still feel like crap. I have no energy, I am severely depressed, and I have had insomnia since the last week of January. Considering I have had approximately 3-4 hours of sleep per night for the past 2 1/2 months, it is no wonder why I feel so bad.

The problem I have with taking medicines... is I was under the impression that they were supposed to make you feel better, not worse. Here I am, 7 months and 27 days after my diagnosis and I feel worse now than I did before I even went to the doctor and now I have a beautiful 4-inch scar going down the middle of my knee to boot.

I really don't want to go to the doctor tomorrow, but since my dad has already taken the day off work, I guess I have to. It's really annoying that I am nearly 32 years old and my parents are still going to my doctor's appointments with me, but I guess that is just the nature of the beast with my condition, especially when the doctor's ignore your symptoms and how you feel and just give you drugs.

And to that I want to say:

Just Say No.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 01:10 AM | Comments (5)

Will It Be The Same Without The Ghetto?

When I got in my car after "Game Night" I called MRF back and we talked while I drove home. Some of you may have remembered me mentioning my old next door neighbor from when I lived in the Ghetto.

I guess one detail I never quite mentioned on here was that we were actually dating for a while (August until December) and when I moved things just got a little crazy. His crappy old job, he was on call 24-7 and it seemed like he was working constantly. I was busy unpacking and getting sick (from moving in the cold and rain) with walking pneumonia and having my knee surgery. And then he was beat up and left for dead in January and moved about an hour away to his parent's.

I would call once every other week or so and it seemed like he was always busy and I had pretty much made up my mind not to call again. Well Sunday he called. I answered the phone and I hear "Hey Beautiful." Well, I know the guy needs some serious help in the eyesight department but its nice to hear that every once in a while. He was really upset that he hadn't heard from me in so long and he said he had lost his cell phone and couldn't find my number anywhere. His cell phone was actually turned in and they called him to come pick it up and he called me as soon as he got it home and charged.

Since Sunday (when he called 5 times), he has called me every day on his lunch hour and every night. Thursday is his 25th birthday (oh yeah, I'm robbing the cradle) and he is driving to Dallas and we are going bowling. I haven't been bowling in years, but I used to be pretty damn good at it. I'm looking forward to kicking his a$$. I haven't seen him at all in 3 months and I'm wondering if its possible to just pick up where you left off last December.

In those 4 short months we had been thru so much it wasn't even funny. We actually started dating the day before I had my Chiari diagnosis, we dealt with the ghetto shootings, dead bodys, the firecrackers, LSD being put in his drink at a party, my crazy school problems and my health problems. I'm not too sure if I would even know how to act without watching him double check his shot gun every night before we turned on the alarms and deadbolted our apartments.

MRF moved out to the COUNTRY and Friday night I'm supposed to drive the hour or so out to his new place to hang out under the stars and see his beautiful little 2 yr old girl that I actually miss seeing every weekend and meet his parents. OMG.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:51 AM | Comments (3)

April 11, 2006

And She Called It "Game Night"

Does that look like "Game Night" to you?

I was at work today and that familiar song, "Who Says You Can't Go Home" by Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles started playing. Quick, grab my cell phone before anyone at work really notices. It was Mrs. Dallas K. She told me that we needed to get together so that I could pick up my Pampered Chef stuff and that she was having a "Game Night" at her house about 7. Cool! I thought. I really need to get out of the house.

So I leave work about 6pm, go home and change clothes and drive up to the K's. I walk in and Football Widow and MommyMe are there (along with three other people from a "Mom's Group"). It's like a little BlogBlowout Reunion.

Kami made chicken salad and we had sandwiches and chips and a wonderful oreo triffle (that she assured us was calorie free). Then came the bottle of YellowTail Shiraz, the Mike's Hard Lemonade and Limeade, Woodchuck Amber Cider and the Whaler's Coconut Rum. I think the alcohol was a supposed to calm the delayed reaction from realizing that we weren't "cool" enough to be invited to the Blogging Weekend in Austin last weekend. We quickly got over it.

Then we started playing. We played Boxers or Briefs and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. After the game was over the conversation drifted to drugs, kids, mom's groups, saying things about your job (in Field A) when you don't know there is an (Field A) attorney in the room. I didn't know a lot about what they were talking about, but it was still funny. And no I wasn't drunk. ShutItUp ButterCup.

Then while the three non-bloggers left, the rest of us sat out on Kami's porch on a beautiful and cool April evening in Texas. I have to say I have finally arrived in Blogland because I finally got to be apart of my first two "DrunkDials," when Kami called Nate and TBG.

They started talking about a repeat performace of BlogBlowout this fall and this time it is going to have a "BigHair and ShinyShoed" twist to it. I can't wait to see everyone again and Nate has promised to come this time.

Since I actually wasn't home tonight, I guess I need to go watch this week's AI before everyone starts blogging about it in the morning.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:54 PM | Comments (4)

Answers Are Still In The Bible

A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a card and wrote: "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message: "Genesis 3:10."

Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."

Remember when the funniest jokes were the clean ones?
They still are! "A cheerful heart is good medicine"

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:52 PM | Comments (1)

April 08, 2006

I Love It

Click To See The Video

Also, Amazon has their new CD on sale for $9.98 preorder. I ordered mine yesterday.

**Edited to ADD**
I wonder which one of Duh-Bull-Ew's Cronies wrote that letter

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 02:49 PM | Comments (3)

April 07, 2006

Bananas

After reading this, you'll NEVER look at a banana in the same way again!

Bananas Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression:
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS:
Forget the pills -- eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia:
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect way to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power:
200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation:
High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers:
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn:
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness:
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites:
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves:
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work?
Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers:
The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control:
Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):
Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking:
Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress:
Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes:
According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine," eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:29 AM | Comments (4)

Happy Birthday Nessa!

It was good to see you Monday. I can't wait until I can move home so I can see you more often.

I hope you are having a blast with all those amazing blogger-girls down in Austin. Can't wait to see pictures and hear about the trip.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NESSA!

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)

April 06, 2006

High School Reunion

I had prepared for it like any intelligent woman would. I went on a starvation diet the day before my class reunion, knowing that all the extra weight would just melt off in 24-hours, leaving me with my sleek, trim, high-school-girl body. The last many years of careful cellulite collection would just be gone with a snap of a finger. I knew if I didn't eat a morsel on Friday, that I could probably fit into my senior formal on Saturday.

Trotting up to the attic, I pulled the gown out of the garment bag, carried it lovingly downstairs, ran my hand over the fabric, and hung it on the door. I stripped naked looked in the mirror, sighed, and thought, "Well, okay, maybe if I shift it all to the back..." bodies never have pockets where you need them. Bravely, I took the gown off the hanger, unzipped the shimmering dress and stepped gingerly into it. I struggled, twisted, turned, and pulled and I got the formal all the way up to my knees...before the zipper gave out.

I was disappointed. I wanted to wear that dress with those silver platform sandals again and dance the night away. Okay, one setback was not going to spoil my mood for this affair, no way! Rolling the dress into a ball and tossing it into the corner, I turned to Plan B: the black velvet caftan.

I gathered up all the goodies that I had purchased at the drug store: the scented shower gel, the body building and highlighting shampoo and conditioner, and the split-end killer and shine enhancer. Soon my hair would look like that girls in the Pantene ads. Then the makeup -- the under eye "ain't no lines here" firming cream, the all-day face-lifting gravity-fighting moisturizer with wrinkle filler spackle! The all day "kiss me till my lips bleed, and see if this gloss will come off” lipstick, the bronzing face powder for that special glow...But first, the roll-on facial hair remover. I could feel the wrinkles shuddering in fear.

OK - time to get ready...I jumped into the steaming shower, soaped, lathered, rinsed, shaved, tweezed, buffed, scrubbed, and scoured my body to a tingling pink. I plastered my freshly scrubbed face with the anti-wrinkle, gravity fighting, "your face will look like a baby's butt” face cream. I set my hair on the hot rollers. I felt wonderful, ready to take on the world --- or in this instance, my underwear.

With the towel firmly wrapped around my glistening body, I pulled out the black lace, tummy- tucking, cellulite-pushing, ham hock-rounding girdle, and the matching "lifting those bosoms like they're filled with helium" bra. I greased my body with the scented body lotion and began the plunge. I pulled, stretched, tugged, hiked, folded, tucked, twisted, shimmied, hopped, pushed, wiggled, snapped, shook, caterpillar crawled, and kicked. Sweat poured off my forehead, but I was done. And it didn't look bad. So I rested. A well deserved rest, too. The girdle was on my body.

Bounce a quarter off my behind? It was tighter than a trampoline. Can you say,

"Rubber baby buggy bumper butt?"

Okay, so I had to take baby steps, and walk sideways, and I couldn't move from my butt cheeks to my knees. But, I was firm!

Oh no...I had to go to the bathroom! And there wasn't a snap crotch. From now on, undies gotta have a snap crotch. I was ready to rip it open and re-stitch the crotch with Velcro, but the pain factor from past experiments was still fresh in my mind. I quickly sidestepped to the bathroom. An hour later, I had answered nature's call and repeated the struggle into the girdle.

I was ready for the bra and remembered what the saleslady said to do. I could see her glossed lips mouthing, “Do not fasten the bra in the front, and twist it around. Put the bra on the way it should be worn -- straps over the shoulders. Then bend over and gently place both breasts inside the cups."

Easy if you have four hands. But, with confidence, I put my arms into the holsters, bent over and pulled the bra down...but the boobs weren't cooperating. I'd no sooner tuck one in a cup, and while placing the other, the first would slip out. I needed a strategy. I bounced up and down a few times, tried to dribble them in with short bunny hops, but that didn't work. So, while bent over, I began rocking gently back and forth on my heel and toes and I set 'em to swinging. Finally on the 4th swing, pause and lift, I captured the gliding glands. Quickly fastening the back of the bra, I stood up for an examination, back straight, slightly arched.

I smiled,

"YES, HOUSTON WE HAVE LIFT UP!"

My breasts were high, firm and there was cleavage! I was happy until I tried to look down. I had a chin rest and I couldn't see my feet. I still had to put on my pantyhose, and shoes. Oh.....why did I buy heels with buckles?

Then I had to go to the bathroom again.

I put my on my sweats, fixed myself a drink, ordered pizza, and skipped the reunion.

IF THIS DIDN'T GIVE YOU A GOOD LAUGH,

YOU'RE TOO YOUNG!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:27 PM | Comments (1)

The First Week Of April

I left work last Thursday about 2:15. I hadn't sleep much at all the night before and I was just going to take a nap before I left town. The next thing I knew, it was after 7pm. Then I couldn't sleep, I was still awake at 4:45 and finally decided to just order a movie on OnDemand. About 7am I finished watching Elizabethtown and tried to go back to sleep. I think I slept till about 10:45 and then I got up and packed for my long weekend.

I got to "TheArmpitOfHell" just in time to meet my parents for dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. A wonderful margarita and prime rib later we headed home and enjoyed my only bit of "bumming" I would be able to take on my vacation.

The next morning my mother woke up and called a few of my grandmother's friends and told them that we would have birthday cake and to drop by if they could between 1pm and 5pm. She left to go buy snack-stuff for the party and I got ready. My dad came home from work and we went and picked up the cake and the party trays and met my mom at my grandparents. While my aunt kept grandparents, Nana and Peep, busy in the other end of the house, we set up the table for her 87th birthday party.

We sang Happy Birthday and then I walked around and took pictures of the all the beautiful flowers and birthday cards she had received so far.

This stack doesn't include the cards she actually received on her birthday or late.

Not long after we sang, the party started. Friends and neighbors started to ring the doorbell. Nana was surprised and it was fun to see her get so excited to see who else was at the door.

The next door neighbor and her granddaughters. The two girls painted Nana birthday cards.

The neighbors from across the street and catty-corner. The little old guy in the front right corner of the picture is 92 years old and still goes and paints and helps build houses for Habitat for Humanity.

And then some people from church showed up.

This sweet little old lady is 91 years old, still drives herself around and kept telling my Nana she had a few years to catch up. Later that evening when mail came, the birthday card this lady had sent arrived. It was a picture of a cake with a bunch of candles with the Caption: "Who's Counting?". You open up the card and on the inside it says: "Who Could?"

A couple from church leaving after the party.

Another couple leaving, with my aunt directing them to look at the camera.

Nana's Sunday School teacher and her husband. I have no idea what Peep is looking at.

One of Nana's favorite people. The postman. She had so many cards he came in to hand deliver them and to give her a birthday hug and the birthday card from HIM. We sent him off with a plate full of cake.

How many people do you know that get flowers from the FlowerShop Owner? She keeps him in business the rest of the year sending flowers to people so he always remembers her birthday, and delivers it to her personally.

At the end of the day! Happy Happy Happy Birthday Nana! I hope I look that good when I'm 87. As one of your guests said.. you don't look a day over 70.

After the party, my parents drove thru a new mexican place and got dinner and we went home and DIED! I slept till noon on Sunday and then after watching the original Yours, Mine and Ours I packed up my stuff and headed to Houston.

I drove thru Smalltown, TX (where I lived from 1999 - 2002) and got BBQ at one of Ness(a)Lee's favorite places, and then drove the rest of the way to my best friend's house. We printed out resumes and references, maps and iteneraries and then went to sleep.

Monday, after she left for work I got dressed up in my "interview suit" and drove over to the Galleria area to meet with a recruiter, VS. She had me take a typing test and a test over Word, Excel and PowerPoint. I only typed 64 words per minute but I made 96% or above on the three office tests. I probably could have typed faster but it was a flat style keyboard and I can't hardly type on anything but ergonomic keyboards anymore.

After looking at my resume and asking about the jobs I have had she decided that I must have been a "gifted student" and that she was not surprised at all that my experiences were scattered all over the place.

From teaching, to accounting and IT, to restaurant management, to pricing. She said that many "gifted" people have a hard time focusing on one set career because they have so many talents in so many different areas that deciding on one may not fulfill their career desires since it is hard to utilize every niche and talent.

I wouldn't call myself gifted, but if she wanted to call me that I wasn't going to argue. Especially since the part of it kinda sorta sounded like she was actually talking about me. I left there feeling really good and hopeful that she would be able to find me a job in Houston.

Then I went to another placement agency and this time I wasn't greeted with the glowing praise I had just left. This lady, KT, was all over negative. She didn't understand what I was looking for, exactly how I managed to have so many different job experiences and what really sent her into orbit was "I just dont know how to schedule you for interviews when you are in Dallas." VS didn't seem to think it was a problem and was more than satisfied with my "give me 48 hours notice and I will drive down here," that was just not acceptable to KT.

After that I went to Kinkos, printed out some more resumes and as I was about to leave that part of Houston I got a call from Nessa and she met me at a gas station on the corner for a couple of minutes to say hi! Then I drove clear over to the north side of Houston near Greenspoint Mall to go to a job fair. Can you say WASTE OF TIME? UM, yeah! I walked in, walked around and looked at the 10-15 companies that had booths set up and walked out.

It was time to head back to my parents but I had to go get something first. I drove back down to the NW side of town and stopped at a restaurant on 290. My parents left Houston in 2001 and of all the millions of wonderful restaurants in the Houston metropolitan area that my mother could possibly miss... she misses James Coney Island the most. My dad and I do not understand this obsession since neither of us will even eat hot dogs, but we try to keep her happy anyway.

Since Monday was also my parent's 35th wedding anniversary, I stopped and bought my mother 6 hot dogs (with everything on the side so they wouldn't get soggy) and took them to her. I got back just in time to eat dinner with them at Red Lobster and then drive back to Dallas.

It took me nearly 4 hours to get home Monday night. A trip that should, on a normal basis, take no longer than 2 hours TOPS! I would say of the 110 mile trip, 90% of the first 70 miles was blocked down to one lane because of construction.

Today, 5th, would have been my dad's mom's, Grandmommie, birthday. She left us in June 2001. We miss you Grandmommie!

Yesterday was a long but not too painful day back at work. I actually had a little bit of work to do and that always helps. Today was about the same. Tomorrow we are having a training meeting and ExcelLady will be there. Send good vibes that I don't slap the Big-hair right off her well-manicured and fake-tanned body. At least they are taking us to lunch afterwards.

When my parents were deciding to get married in 1971 they thought it would be neat to get married smack-dab in between their mother's birthdays. I'm sure it sounded like a good idea at the time, but man that makes for one long First Week Of April.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 01:14 AM | Comments (2)

FUG Thursday - It Is Not Easter Yet

I have seen it mentioned on many a FUG lately that, ladies, I realize that Easter is really late this year, like an entire 10 more days, but I seriously think we can refrain from wearing our white shoes a little while longer.

This is Lisa "singing it out" on American Idol last week. I didn't notice the shoes until I saw the picture on the internet the next day. Maybe that is because the camera crew at American Idol knew not to pan down and show her white FUG shoes two weeks before Easter.

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:33 AM | Comments (1)

April 05, 2006

Way Back Wednesday - Sweater Hell and Way Late

The Kept Woman is celebrating the end of winter, although we never really got one down here in Texas. Well, unless you could the Fluke of a Winter Storm we just happen to have the weekend she came down from the Land of Cheese for BlogBlowout. This week our assignment is:

Calling all ugly sweaters, I repeat calling all ugly sweaters of the past: As an "adios" of sorts to winter let's have an UGLIEST SWEATER OF THE PAST Contest! There may even be a prize involved (assuming I get to the store, buy it, get it packaged and sent to the post office... don't laugh, it COULD happen)!

Ok, yeah, I'm late. All I can say is this past weekend wore me out and I want my damn hour back.

This was January 1994. God, I don't believe I was ever that skinny. That was a 3piece stir-up-jogging suit and that yellow sweater just about swallowed me whole. I look like a banana with a nose.

Ick. What does it say when the first two pictures were not that long ago? I think this picture was in Spring 1993. Ok, college sweatshirt, la-di-da... but matching leggings? Oy Vey!

March 1986. I was 11 1/2 and that cute redhead is my cousin Jace. That white sweater with the black stars isn't that bad, but MAMA! Why did you let me have a mullet?

Ah, the Pink Satin Ice Cream Outfit. January 1979. Nuff Said.

November 1988. That sweater went nearly down to my knees and, if I remember correctly, had matching black stir-ups.

I totally should have posted this picture a few weeks ago during our 70s week. I think this was either 1978 or 1979. Sweaterdress? I believe that is a NO.

This is my great grandmother, my great aunt, my grandfather and me. We are in the front room of the house that my great aunt and grandfather grew up in. I think this was sometime in 1979. That sweater I have on is AWFUL! Blue front and back, hot pink sleeves and orange trim around the waist, collar, and wrists. GAG.

Did ya play? Let us know!

Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:48 PM | Comments (2)