Archive for the ‘whatnots’ Category

How I Spent My Labor Day Weekend

Monday, September 1st, 2008

Did I hang out at the beach?  No, but I did go to the Pier at Huntington Beach for dinner with an old friend one night.  We didn’t quite make it to the beach, though I could see the waves break through the windows and got to smell the bonfires as we drove down PCH.

Did I focus on work like some focused folks I know?  No.  In fact, I’ve been trying to log into my shopping cart system all damn weekend so I could get something set up, but for the life of me, I can’t log in.  And of course they’re not open today.

Did I clean house or at least get some clothes together to donate as part of my 29 Gifts?  No, but I have been pretty consistent in giving this weekend.  Even if I have’t been consistent in compiling my too big clothes and older kitchen wares to give away.

What I did do was shop.  Both online and in person.  If I wasn’t at a store, then I was online.  I was hoping to find stuff for Ireland, but nothing long-sleeved or winter wearable are in the stores just yet. I’m thinking the winter stuff will be in the stores shortly.  Luckily since I lived in NM, I honestly don’t really need anything but waterproof shoes and a waterproof coat (the sweaters are still boxed away).  The hub, well he’s another story; along with needing shoes and a coat, he also needs shirts and sweaters and probably a decent pair of gloves come to think of it (native Los Angelino that he is).

And when I wasn’t out and about shopping, I was listening to the news.  Except for forays to the Weather Channel for Gustav updates during commercial breaks, I don’t think our TV has been off CNN since the DNC last week.  And while I was listening to the news, if i wasn’t shopping, I was poking around trying to find a B&B in Galway city centre (or at least a walkable distance from the Centre so we won’t need to deal with parking our car while shopping and partaking of the pub life).  Anyone have a suggestion there?

I can’t say it’s been the most exciting weekend, but hey, it’s been relaxing for the most part.  And I’ve definately enjoyed the time spent with friends.

So how was your Labor Day weekend?  Anything exciting?

Help, I Need Ideas…

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

I’ve decided that I want to hold off on doing giveaways on my site for a while.  Or at least until I make some final decisions on our new design and whatnot.  Until then, I need something fun to write about.

Basically, it’s a site for women, about women.  I typically tell people that we talk about anything that women talk about when they get together.  And I don’t know about you guys, but when my friends get together for book club, the topics cover everything from parenting to porn, to recipes, vacation and fashion.  You name it.

Thing is, I’m just stuck for topics to write about.  Mind you, I could come up with a gazillion ideas for YOU to write about.  But for me, yeah, not so much.

So any topic ideas?  Or anything you might want to share?

My New Allergy Medicine is Messing With Me

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

It not only knocks me out totally and completely for the night, but it gives me some messed up dreams.  Today, I was dreaming that my ears were bleeding.  Yet this caused no concern on my “friend’s” part.  And or course, I don’t this had anything to do with the earlier part of the dream where I was in India getting ready to take a cruise (huh?) but spending all my time wandering around taking pictures.  Again, all with some “friend” that I don’t recognize.

And all of this is since I started the new allergy meds (something called Xyzal along with some inhaler thing called Patanase).  Funny thing, all that itching last week, all that torture, even more torture during the prick test and well, nothing showed up as causing an allergic reaction.  Well, nothing except the histamine reaction showing that I indeed was having a reaction to something. Now we just wait on the blood results and hope I don’t have to do the prick test all over again.

Like Wine?

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Find out what Gary Vaynerchuck has to say about enjoying wine for the casual wine drinker.  While there, be sure to leave a comment with your current favorite wine and you could win a copy of Gary’s book.  What a great way to start a holiday weekend. But hurry, the contest closes at midnight the 31st!

Good luck!!

I’ve Got a Secret & I Can’t Explain*

Sunday, July 6th, 2008

Do you check your blog stats?  You know, who found you through what search words, who links to you, which posts are read, what links are followed, whatever.  I try not to do this too often as it can lead to a little craziness.  I mean, it’s just a little blog, not my company’s website or anything.**

Though pretty regularly I pop on over and check my stats.  Twice now (that I’ve seen) this one private, locked blog has sent folks directly to me.  Knowing that there are some bored and crazy (if not downright unstable) mofo’s out there, there’s a part of me that’s dying to know who it might be.  I mean, I don’t really care who they are, I just wonder what they linked to that’s sending people to me directly?  I obviously didn’t leave a comment, you know, since it’s all sorts of private and secret and all that.

But I wonder…do they know me? Am I listed on their blog roll?  Are they linking to a photo or a post that I made?  Did they find it witty or useful?  Are they laughing over my many, many typos?  Will they ever leave a comment in one of my posts?  What could it be???

Does anyone else wonder about this sort of shit?  Is this just par for the course of having a public blog? Or am I they only one seemingly, slightly paranoid (uh, yeah, right) since I’ve seen some crazy shit (and some crazier people) in my past?

Hmmm…I just can’t help but wonder.  Well either way, hello to those secret, private, anonymous readers and visitors to my blog.  Hope this finds you well ;-)

UPDATE (8/20/08): After I wrote this post, that particular “secret” blog, that person has yet to return.  And yes, in case you didn’t figure it out, it was actually called “so and so’s secret blog” (hence the reason why I was so interested in the first place).  They must have realized that this post was addressing their specific blog and that it was no longer such a “secret” blog.  Interestingly though, many, many other people have returned to read this particular post - and it’s not like they’re finding it through key word searches.  Seems other people must keep “secret” blogs and think that I’m talking about them…how very odd.  This just assures me that there’s a book in all of this somewhere.

* how great was OMD?  Up until recently, they were actually one of my favorite concerts (then again, it was the 80’s)

** you can’t help but love all the specific data that those analytical site metering programs can tell you - IPs, specific locations and work URLs, keywords on how folks find you, incoming and outgoing links, etc., etc.  Truly fascinating stuff I tell ya.  A great resource and something I always advise my clients to install - especially if you ever need to cross-reference traffic and stats from one site to another.

I Hate When That Happens

Sunday, July 6th, 2008

I was going to write this super thrilling, super exciting, totally fascinating (ha!) post about this strange dream I had where someone stole my cell phone while I was on vacation.  But um…by the time I putzed around, fed the boys, read & responded to some email, caught up on some blogs, contemplated finding some breakfast, well, it’s gone now.  I’ve got nothing.  So yeah, hate when that happens.

And now, I have nothing really to say.  Maybe I’ll blog later.  It could happen.

Where Oh Where Can it Be?

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Today is the day that CA (and WA I hear) go mandatory hands-free.  No worries, I almost always (9/10x) use an ear bud while I’m driving.  Since phones keep getting smaller and smaller, there’s just no way to talk on them comfortably without being hands-free in my opinion. So I’m perfectly fine with this law.

What I’m not perfectly fine with is the fact that I can’t seem to find my Jawbone that I got a while back.  I found one in a parking lot once and figuring that there was no way I’d be able to track down an owner, I let them know inside that I found it and left my contact info.  Needless to say, it’s mine now.  I just needed to buy a charger, which I did.

I was still messing with it and hadn’t yet gotten around to syncing it to my phone.  Well, it was on the list of things to get to anyway.  I had it charged any everything.  I thought it was sitting on my desktop, but now I can’t seem to find it.  It’s clearly no where on my desk at all.

Thing is, I seem to be misplacing quite a few things lately. First the Jawbone and charger.  Then, after my trip to Jersey, I can’t seem to find the inside of my dress (basically a slip, to the more chiffon-like outside of the dress).  It was accidently dropped in the dry cleaning pile, so the last I saw of it was in my car where I left it on the seat to take back inside. Now, it appears to be missing.

A few other things have gone missing as well (though for the life of me, right at this moment, I can’t think of one thing).  So either something is in the air, or one or both of my boys have managed to stockpile my stuff for their own, four-legged enjoyment.  Or we have a ghost - it could be the peanut butter eating one from my childhood.  Maybe.

All I know is that I want my stuff back.  So if anyone has a way to conjure lost or misplaced things, please share the love.  Please.

And now I must go take allergy meds so my eyes will stop this god awful tearing and weaping.  I can barely see straight. Hey, maybe that’s why I can’t seem to find my stuff!

Weather Can Affect Migraines: Or So They Say

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Did you know in Germany they have a phoneline you can call to get updates on the weather and how it will affect your migraines?  I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not.  I’d be afraid that I’d start having more migraines since I the weather says that I should.  Yeah, not such a good idea - at least for me (though I do love my emailed pollen/allergy alerts during allergy season).

But something has been going on this past week, I’ll give you that.  First off, my snow-predicting elbow (that I broke about 10 years ago) has been aching something fierce.  And well, I’m more than a little confident that we’ll not be having any snow in the near future here in the San Fernando Valley any time soon.  Come to think of it, my snow-predicting elbow isn’t really all that useful here in SoCal much at all (though I can predict snow in the mountains).

More annoying than the aching elbow though is the migraine-that-isn’t-quite-yet-a-migraine. Meaning that for the past week, I’ve had the early twinges of a migraine that well, never came to be.  One might think that this is a good thing.  Sadly, when it just keeps dragging on and on, but isn’t quite enough to pop a pill, it’s just annoying instead - in a dull aching kind of way.  And well, there’s no real escape from it either.

So weather, if you’re listening, how ’bout a change? Maybe some rain?  Or better yet, a heavy downpour?  I know the folks up north dealing with those fires would sure appreciate it.  As would I.  And my elbow, come to think about it.  Or well, just let things turn into a migraine already so I can just take my pills and be done with it.

Holy Hell it’s Hot!

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008

You know it’s going to be a hot day when you wake up and by 10:00Am it’s already 95 or so.  Yeah, that’s what our past couple of days has been like.  And let me say, it doesn’t make for happy times.  Even the plants are miserable.

So Hot I'm Wilting

Yesterday I woke up early as I had a networking/biz thing to get to.  Since it was still 80ish the night before (in our bedroom!) I was having some challenges falling to sleep.  Needless to say, once I got home from the event (did I mention that they were working on their AC so it was painfully hot?) I just crashed.  I fell asleep in the bedroom until it just got too hot and then I moved to the floor, in front of our AC to finish the nap.  Yeah, not the most comfortable.  We finally decided that we needed to get out of the house and headed out to dinner and the movies (Baby Mama - was cute).

Today I’m off to the deep San Fernando Valley to meet a bloggie friend, Speedy Canizales for a bit.  She writes these amazing posts about the wonderful places she visits (I believe she’s still writing about her recent trip to Manila with her family).  We’re meeting up to talk about her writing a piece (or fifty) for my site about traveling and playing a tourist in your own town.  I’m really looking forward to it - especially since we’ve been trying to schedule this for about 6 weeks now.  I’m not looking forward to the insane heat though, but hey, we’ll be inside the mall so at least that part is good.

For the rest of the time, I’m going to sit back and do my best to stay cool.  Well, as cool as we can with our (seemingly) wimpy AC.  At least the temps look to be dropping next week (in the mid-80’s instead of the low 100’s).  Hope the rest of you are staying cool as well.

Just Testing My Feed

Friday, June 20th, 2008

I recently installed a new RSS button and wanted to check out if newly written, post-dated posts show up in the RSS as being new.

Feel free to just ignore this post and stay cool in this crazy, insane heat (at least here in LA).