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Archives for January 2014

So this whole project started over a year ago when I found out that I was going to be an aunt for the first time and I decided that I wanted to write a children’s book for my new nephew.  If I had known then what I know now, I probably would have just knitted him a blanket and called it a day!  But alas, hindsight is 20/20 and I went with the book option.  Over a year later it is done!  Whoo-hoo!!!!  Well it’s in final review, and I’m counting my chickens a bit before they hatch, but at this point I figure I can handle anything they throw at me.  So the final of my ten top ten lists to usher in the new year:

Top Ten Snafus Encountered While on the Road to Publishing

Cover

1. Found an awesome illustrator . . . lost an awesome illustrator.

2. Found another awesome illustrator . . . can’t afford awesome illustrator.

3. Fine, I’ll illustrate it myself . . . poor choice, poor choice, POOR CHOICE!!!!

4. Found an amazing artist . . . who usually draws nudes . . . maybe put some clothes on em?

5. According to my research we can make the illustrations whatever size we want . . . several months later . . . remember when I said we can make them any size we want?  I was wrong.  We need to go in and change the size of all 32 illustrations.

6. What do you mean the scanner is only big enough to scan half the illustration at once?

7. What do you mean the scanner dulled out all of the bright colors?  I hate scanners!

8. “Wait, why does it say that?”

“That’s the text that you sent me.”

“Well that’s from two rewrites ago.”

” . . . wanna send me the current text?”

“Probably a good idea. Right on that!”

 

9. Wow, that file is way to big for the upload . . . tweak, tweak, tweak . . . that’s a little better . . . tweak, tweak, tweak . . . a little better . . . tweak, tweak, tweak . . . ah crap!  Now it’s too small!

 

10. “Okay, take one final pass and then we’re done.”

“Wait, where’s all the punctuation?”

“That’s how you sent it to me.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Huh. Yeah, we’re gonna need to fix that.”

One of my old roommates nick-named my dogs “The Piranha-Puggle-Goats” because they will eat anything, and I mean ANYTHING, that remotely resembles a food-like-substance that comes near their mouths, and they will finish it off in 30 seconds or less.  It makes for some interesting stories, and some near misses with fingers.  I know what you’re thinking – “How do they get a hold of everything they eat?”  Well, they are wiley!  They will unabashedly stick their nose in and root around in any bag, box or package that is left in puggle range.  They are also expert tag-teamers – one will distract you while the other goes off and gets into things – and I don’t have proof on this one, but I’m pretty sure that they climb on one another in order to reach things that are higher up.  They are basically scavenger ninjas.  And since they eat everything so quickly, if it goes in the mouth, it’s gone!  So without further ado, the Top Ten Things that the Puggles Ate in 2013.

Dog Shaming

1. Three bars of soap.

2. Four bottles of lotion.  I guess trying to lick it off our legs just wasn’t cutting it anymore.

3. Lip gloss, because puggles like to look pretty too.

4. A tube of hydro-cortisone cream, and the one that I bought to replace it.

5. Two packs of gum.

6. Cardboard boxes – lost count of these.

7. My favorite bra – they almost didn’t live to see the next day.

8. Slice of flour-less chocolate cake followed by 5 doses of hydrogen peroxide.  The latter was to induce vomiting . . . it didn’t work.  He just belched, curled up in his bed and started snoring.  Now when ever I take out the hydrogen peroxide Bubba comes-a-runnin’ licking his lips.

9. A pot-laced loaf of ginger bread. (I was not present for this one, it was the puggle-sitter’s, but apparently a high puggle cannot walk straight.)

10. An entire bottle of Tums.  I think we all know why on this one!

 

*No puggles were harmed in the making of this Top Ten list.  Okay, there was some indigestion, but they brought it upon themselves!

We all have those days where we would rather be anywhere and doing anything than what we have to be doing.  Today is one of those days for me.  So therefore, here are the Top Ten Things That I Would Rather Be Doing Instead of Sitting at Work.

 

1. Cleaning my toilet.

2. Flossing the puggles’ teeth, after walking them through a field where a flock of geese have been living.

3. Giving Big Bob a sponge bath.

Big Bob

4. Getting stuck in an elevator with a claustrophobic alarmist.

5. Getting a root canal . . . without the drugs.

6. Sitting in a broken down car in the middle of the Small World ride at Disneyland with an obnoxious tourist incessantly taking pictures in front of me and a screaming baby behind me.

7. Hanging upside down by my big toes.

8. Volunteering for Homeland Security to try out their new and improved Chinese Water Torture techniques.

9. Performing a blood ritual while inside a shark tank.

10. Going on a road trip across the country with the guys from “Dumb and Dumber.”

Dumb and Dumber

TGIF!!

1. They have their own song by Barenaked Ladies.  I’ve always wanted to have a song by Barenaked Ladies about me.

The Ninjas

2. That obnoxious fly that keeps buzzing around – got it!

Karate Kid

3. That whole stealthily sneaking up on people thing is awesome!  Although with how many times people tell me to make some noise when I walk I’m guessing that I’m already pretty good at this one.

4. Black is very slimming. Just sayin.

5. I want to vacation in Ireland . . . you didn’t listen to the song did you?  So this makes no sense.  Go back and listen to the song!

6. Because of this conversation – “I’m in real estate, what do you do?”  “I’m a ninja.”  BOOM!

7. Awesome toys!

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-ninja-weapons-sketch-image26350159

8. They’re incredibly graceful and athletic.  I could use a little grace.  I tend to fall off of my own shoes . . . flat ones . . . while standing still.

9. You never have to worry about bad hair days because no one will ever see your hair.  Heck no one will ever see you!

10. They get to hang out on the water and drink rum all day!  Oh wait, that’s pirates . . . okay forget ninjas, I wanna be a pirate!

 

  1. Getting drunk is no longer the sole purpose of drinking. Now you like the taste.
  2. A pulled muscle or sprained ankle takes significantly longer to heal.
  3. Even if you’re exhausted, you will get out of bed when you realize that you didn’t floss and brush your teeth because you have now met people with dentures and the thought of having them yourself truly horrifies you.
  4. Perfectly legitimate reason to weep like a baby – not being able to find your tiger balm after a strenuous workout.
  5. All of your friends start having babies . . . on purpose.
  6. You have a vitamin brand that you prefer.
  7. Your fun email address – RockerChic or KatFight82 – has fallen by the wayside in lieu of a more professional address – name@company.com.
  8. Not groaning when you stand up after sitting on the floor for more than 30 minutes is cause for celebration.
  9. There is not enough coffee in the world to adequately get you through the day after pulling an all-nighter.
  10. You’ve realized that staying in with no plans on a Friday or Saturday night is not only acceptable, but sometimes it’s AWESOME.

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I recently made the discovery that I can cook!  I think this can be attributed in large part to the fact that my last roommate was a fantastic cook and I observed her quite a bit.  As well as the fact that she was obsessed with cooking shows . . . which I also watched . . . a lot . . .  Now this is not to say that I am miraculously free of kitchen disasters – let us not forget the “carving knife in the toe” or “melted wax paper” incidents of 2013 – but at least the results are now worth the potential injury and/or messy clean-up.  So here are the Top Ten Recipes That I Have to Try This Year!

hungry-woman

1. Coconut-Curry Chicken Soup

2. Baked Mozzarella Chicken Rolls

3. Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas in Creamy Avocado Sauce

4. Creamy Caprese Quinoa Bake

5. Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

6. Caribbean Jerk Salmon Bowl with Mango Salsa

7. Chicken, Mushroom and Pumpkin Stew

8. Chicken Bacon Wild Rice Soup

9. Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

10. Shrimp Jambalaya

 

So who wants to come over?

So I mentioned Shakespeare in my blog yesterday, then I watched Henry V, so now it’s on the brain.  So for today’s top ten list I present my Top Ten Favorite Sayings that Originally Came From Shakespeare!

  1. In a pickle – “The Tempest”
  2. The world is your oyster. – “The Merry Wives of Windsor”
  3. It’s all Greek to me. – “Julius Caesar”
  4. Wild goose chase – “Romeo and Juliet”
  5. Eaten out of house and home. – “Henry IV, Part II”
  6. All that glitters is not gold – “The Merchant of Venice”
  7. The game is afoot – “Henry IV, Part I”
  8. Not slept one wink – “Cymbeline”
  9. Play fast and loose – “King John”
  10. Knock knock! Who’s there? – “Macbeth”

knock knock

Okay, I’ll admit that I tend to exist under a rock.  I’m am not up on all of the new trends and slang, etc.  I still use complete words and correct grammar while texting.  I’m that person.  So it is of no surprise to me that I was able to compile a list of trends and slang that were popular in 2013, that I didn’t learn about until 2014.  So without further ado the Top Ten Trends in 2013 that I Didn’t Know About Until 2014.

1. Extreme Selfies – Apparently after you’ve taken 3000 selfies in your bathroom mirror, it starts to get old (personally my limit was 1).  So instead of finding something else to do, we now have extreme selfies.  I wonder how many bathroom doors have died in the pursuit of this trend.

Kayak Selfie2. Selfie Sunday – Seriously? There’s an entire day devoted to this?  I was aware of Shakespeare Sunday, but Selfie Sunday is a new one to me.

3. Caturday – You take a “selfie” of your cat and post it online on Saturday.  Like you do.

4. Totes – Not just a large bag with handles anymore.  Totes is a shorter more convenient form of the word totally.  Taking out those two letters saves you two syllables.  Totes geeking out about slang over here.

5. Catfish – Refers to someone who is pretending to be someone they’re not, usually through fake online profiles.

6. Guap – A lot of money, like tons of it.

7. Rachet – A diva, mostly from urban cities and ghettos, that has reason to believe she is everyman’s eye candy.  Unfortunately, she’s wrong.  i.e Someone who is “straight ghetto”

8. Straight Ghetto – I was told that this one was self-explanatory.  ?????

9. Salty – Someone or something who is overly pissed off, angry or annoying (my roommate says it totally makes sense, but then again she’s the one that just described a Rachet as Straight Ghetto . . .)

10. Wearing Leggings as pants – Okay technically I knew about this one, but it still blows my mind!  Now if you can find a pair that are the correct size and are of a high enough quality material that they stay opaque no matter what, then strut your stuff girlfriend!  However, if the very act of you walking means that I can tell you that you’re wearing zebra striped underwear, then THOSE ARE NOT PANTS!  Go back home and properly attire yourself for life.  Or, better idea!  Let’s start the first new trend in 2014.  If I can accurately tell you what kind of underwear you’re wearing through your leggings then you have to pay me a dollar.  I live in SoCal, I’ll be rich by next Sunday!  🙂

Let’s be honest.  Our new year’s resolutions don’t always work out . . . or even see the light of February.

2013-new-years-resolutions

So not to jinx myself or anything, but here are the Top Ten Probable Outcomes of my Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions.

 

Resolution #1 – Retire the “fat pants” and move back into the regular wardrobe

Probable Outcome – Technically speaking I wear the “fat pants” more often than the size 8’s in my closet, so therefore they are actually my regular wardrobe thus rendering this resolution null and void.

 

Resolution #2 – Work on the puggles’ lack of obedience

Probable Outcome – “Puggles, ignore me . . . Good dogs!”  Nailed it!

 

Resolution #3 – Read more

Probable Outcome – Does my Twitter feed count?

 

Resolution #4 – Eat more fruits and vegetables.

Probable Outcome – I’ll take a pepperoni pizza with pineapple and black olives.

 

Resolution #5 – Work out on a regular basis

Probable Outcome – Okay, this one might actually happen simply because I joined the gym that my roommate goes to on a regular basis and she said she’d bring me along . . . kicking and screaming if necessary.

 

Resolution #6 – Finish all of the dishes every night before going to bed.

Probable Outcome – Start eating exclusively off of paper plates or directly out of the pan.

 

Resolution #7 – Go to bed at a reasonable hour

Probable Outcome – In comparison, 1:00 is definitely more reasonable then say 3:00.

 

Resolution #8 – Do yoga every morning

Probable Outcome – Keeping my legs straight as I bend over to put my socks on has got to be some sort of yoga move.  Right?

 

Resolution #9 – De-clutter my house

Probable Outcome – “What are you buying?”  “A flamingo, feather-duster pen . . . but I need it!”

 

Resolution #10 – Stop calling myself a Dumbass

Probable Outcome – Dumbass . . . Damnit!

It seems like everyone right now is reminiscing about 2013 and making grand plans for 2014.  And what better way to do that then to make lists, especially Top Ten lists.  To get in the spirit I will be doing a Top Ten list everyday for the next ten days.  So without further ado, I present to you my Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions.

  1. Retire the “fat pants” and move back into the regular wardrobe
  2. Work on the puggles’ lack of obedience
  3. Read more
  4. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
  5. Work out on a regular basis
  6. Finish all of the dishes every night before going to bed.
  7. Go to bed at a reasonable hour
  8. Do yoga every morning
  9. De-clutter my house
  10. Stop calling myself a Dumbass

New_Years_Resolutions

What are your resolutions?