I was tagged on the Facebook by Deabs, but I prefer to put this kind of stuff here. :)

You've been tagged, or if you are reading this, you have the honor of copying all these goofy questions, writing your own response, and tagging other victims. Tag me so I can see your answers too. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you - but not in a creepy stalker kind of way.

To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your title as "Getting to know each other!", tag people including, me (tagging is done in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
2pm, and yes, it's Monday. I took a personal day. :-P

2. How do you like your steak?
Mooing and bleeding.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Oh, sheesh...um...I think it was Star Trek.

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Right now, The Big Bang Theory.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
NYC.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal and a cup of coffee with Sweet Italian Cream creamer.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Difficult to answer. I've discovered that rather than having favorite meals, I instead seek to prepare all foods in the best way possible. For example, I think I like the way I make risotto the best, I've had the best roast beef from Alan's brother, and I think I have my favorite vodka sauce. I've even had awesome brussel sprouts from Alan's brother. I think that rather than finding a favorite food, I like to perfect all foods.

8. What foods do you dislike?
Peas. Beans. Hard-boiled eggs. And what's crazy is that it's entirely a texture thing with these foods. It's their texture that turns me.

9. Favorite place to Eat?
Ugh, also difficult. I've had amazing food everywhere.

10. Favorite dressing?
Ginger.

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
VW Jetta TDI Diesel.

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Dresses.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Roma. Or the beach, right this second. :-P

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Half full.

15. Where would you want to retire?
Somewhere snowy.

16. Favorite time of day?
7pm. Home from work, hopefully dinner is on the table, and I can just relax for the rest of the night.

17. Where were you born?
Magee in Pittsburgh.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Football.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
Um, not going to "tag" anyone, since I'm on LJ.

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
Please see above.

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
lol, I think we all know each other pretty well.

22. Bird watcher?
Not really, but Alan's mom watches birds, and she's really good at it, so I'm learning more about it. I would probably be able to see more birds if I lived above ground.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
I think I'm still a night person, even though I spend much of it sleeping.

24. Do you have any pets?
We have three kitties--Pooh Bear, Tommy, and Tyler.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
Hm...not really. I'm pretty sure everyone knows I'm getting hitched soon. That's pretty much everything right now. I'm eager to be married already. :-P

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
The third female president of the USA. We're not going too well on one and two lately.

27. What is your best childhood memory?
Hard to choose a "best" right this second.

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
I am both. You can be both, and I am both.

29. Are you married?
Soon.

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes.

31. Been in a car accident?
Um, small ones.

32. Any pet peeves?
People who are less efficient than I am. lol

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Green peppers and onions.

34. Favorite Flower?
Stargazer lillies

35. Favorite ice cream?
Creme Brulee, Ben & Jerry's

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Can I count Quizno's? I am going to anyway.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Twice, I think. It could be three times, but I can't remember the third failure, just the first two, so I guess it doesn't matter.

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Some co-workers.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Oy, maxing out my credit cards would be scary. I think I'd choose Igigi, the store where I got my wedding dress.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Called off work today. :-P

41. Like your job?
Um, I'm starting to like it more.

42. Broccoli?
Not too bad.

43. What was your favorite vacation?
Germany with Alan.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Alan.

45. What are you listening to right now?
Becker on television.

46. What is your favorite color?
Teal.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
Tagging is not possible here.

49. What time did you finish this quiz?
8:22pm.

50. Coffee Drinker?
Yes.

Stolen from MarcI's facebook.

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 15 people you like and include me. You can't use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song

title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)"


Pick your Artist: Rufus Wainwright

Are you a male or female:
"Between my Legs" (Ha!)

Describe yourself:
"The One You Love"

How do you feel:
"Beautiful Child"

Describe where you currently live:
"Going to a Town"

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
"Leaving for Paris"

Your favorite form of transportation:
"Oh What a World"

Your best friend is:
"Natasha"

You and your best friends are:
"Damned Ladies"

What's the weather like:
"Grey Gardens"

Favorite time of day:
"Release the Stars"

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
"Gay Messiah"

What is life to you:
"Nobody's Off the Hook"

Your last relationship:
"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "The Consort"

Your fear:
"Do I Dissapoint You"

What is the best advice you have to give:
"Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk"

Thought for the Day:
"Dinner at Eight"

How I would like to die:
"New Years Eve"

My soul's present condition:
"Agnus Dei"

My motto:
"Rules and Regulations"

     Mondays, that is.

Before I got to work:
     Our dishwasher cord needs to be fixed. You know how when cords go bad and the machines they are attached to are unable to work unless you position the cords just so? That is the situation with my dishwasher today. I left the kitchen in such ruin last night that I really hope that the dishes are done when I get home. Our dishwasher takes forever to run, so it's best to run it when it when we aren't home, but it's hard to ensure it's actually running. Alan says he can fix the cord, though, so that could be some good news. I really hope he can. I hate when cords go bad.

10:32am:
     My work has requested for a second time that we no longer stream radio or video to save bandwidth. I can respect that, because they are at least taking steps to give us much better bandwidth soon. For today, though, I started with my old fashioned AM/FM radio, but I could not get a good signal for the classical station. I thought I'd instead switch to the music I bring from home and my media player, but alas, I've forgotten my thumb drive. And now that I think about it, no thumb drive also means that I won't be able to do my Monday budgeting. Sigh. That's no good at all. No music today, I suppose, and no running the numbers either.

10:49am:
     Interesting reading. Research shows that drinking green tea may be a good way to impress your dentist.

11:05am:
     Finished the XML mark-up on the references for today's publication list, and hooray! I've discovered that I don't have to mark up the references again until June 1!

3:02pm:
     Full disclosure. I finished my Qualtiy Checks, then I spent the rest of the day reading a book. Why is it that books that are supposed to be comic always make me sad? Anyway, I've got a backlog of emails to answer before 5:30. I think I will start on that now.

     My brother tells me that it is just as hot in Pgh today as it is in DC, or pretty damn close. My desktop widget read as high as 91. Did I miss the memo where it was July, not April? I am more afeared of the upcoming DC summer. If it's 91 today, July is just going to SUCK. I think this depresses me the most because it will soon be too hot to cook.

     So how is everyone lately? I'm okay. I was enjoying the spring weather for the brief amount of time that it was here. I am annoyed at work, as I continue to be bored for hours at a time, but am irritated that they ask me to do more as there is no intention to compensate. I could surely do the work of three people, but I want the pay of three people, capisce? I mean this towards my bosses and HR department, dear friends, but I cannot bring up such topics when BOOGA BOOGA THE ECONOMY BOOGA is taking its course.

     Let's see, what else? I vacuumed the foyer yesterday. That's good news. It needed it. Lol. I'm tired of bitching, really I am. Oh, I had some sweet sushi last night at Sushi-Ko in Chevy Chase. We had an amazing maki with salmon and dill with mango sauce. Mango sauce has rocked my sushi world, srsly. I usually go for the tempura sushi behind my work, but that's a whole different ball of wax. Or sushi rice. :-P

     Okay, I think I'll go start dinner for tonight. Short entry, but I'm really not doing all that much. Just trying to stay amused on as little money as possible, :-P. I'm sure you all know the feeling.

     Hey all. Today is March 27, 2009, and I've had one crazy-ass month. There are a few things that have been languishing on my to-do list.

     We had Alan's MRI on the 3rd and his surgery on the 9th. It went well. It was actually a pretty quick proceedure and he was able to leave that night. The surgery was in Hershey, Pa (about two hours from DC and four from Pittsburgh), so we drove there on Sunday night and stayed in a Holiday Inn. We spent Monday night in the hotel, which was probably best, because although Alan was able to come home with me, he was still not ready to drive back to DC. He had a crazy headache from the anesthesia, which had initially made him sick after he woke from the surgery. Usually, they'd just pump him with drugs all night, but he really didn't want to spend the night in the hospital, so we tried to outsleep the pain in the hotel. It wasn't too bad. We got back to the hotel at about 6, I left him at the hotel to fill his perscriptions and get some food for the hotel room, and then I came back and we slept. I didn't realize I was sleepy, but I guess the stress had something to do with it. It was really hard seeing him in so much pain. His eyes were tearing at the pain in his head. So we slept, and it was nice to have him by me. You know, so I can see him, hold him, and know he's okay.

     He woke up at 11pm and was roughly 70% better, which was pretty signficiant. I had bought crackers and ginger ale, among a ton of other things, so that was his dinner. I really overbought supplies almost in a panic, lol. I had spent probably over $50 anything we could have possibly needed in that hotel room. In retrospect, I realized that I was being a little crazy, but it made it all right when we had everything we needed.

     The next day (Tuesday) we had to wake for a 9am follow-up appointment, and then I drove us back to DC, which was far less perilous than Alan made it out to be. I ended up staying home with Alan on Wednesday, more for my benefit than for his. I think we both needed a day to rest.

     My birthday passed on the 4th, lol. Of course, thank you to everyone who thought of me and wrote to me that day. I still need to write everyone else back.

     We ended up in Pittsburgh on the weekend of the 13, 14, and 15, to see Zach in the musical. Alan was well enough so he drove for that trip. We saw the musical, and I learned that Zach spent the last six months practicing oggling the ladies. Lol, seriously. He was a sailor for most of the musical (Anything Goes), and he just kept looking the ladies up and down. Now we see why he put up with the eyeliner and tap-dancing. Just the same, though, he was great and I was really proud of him. Leah was awesome too! These kids grow up entirely too quickly.

     My mom kinda begged me to stay for Monday, so I did. The downside is that I don't have any more time off at work. We just get "Time Off," with no discrimination whether it is sick time or vacation time. I better not get sick within the next month, srsly. It was nice to stay Sunday night, though--Mom made me a birthday cake and I blew out the candles. :) On Monday morning, though, I fell down on my mom's stairs from the first floor to the second floor. Landed on my back. Alan heard and came running. I was okay then, but ever since, I've been fucking sore. We think I may have bruised a rib, because it would hurt when I inhaled or had my breathing rate raise above a resting rate. It's only just within the past few days subside. I think I really threw some things out of alignment, though, as my neck and shoulder have also been sore. That happened on 3/16, and it's only beginning to get better. Such pain has been distracting me all week and making me lazy. My apartment looks like crap. :-P

     In the middle of all of that, my final for my online class was due on 3/17. I still don't have a grade back yet. Cripes, I hope I do well.

     Has everyone done their taxes? Alan and I will be finishing up ours this weekend. Fun to worry about taxes on top of everything else. We bought Tax Cut this year, as opposed to last year's Turbo Tax. I think we prefered Turbo Tax because of how it handled Alan's stocks. We had to enter in his capital gains and losses one at a time this year with Tax Cut--crazy! It took forever, even to enter in the wash sales. Lame.

     I do have some fun news, though. Alan's friend at work was selling his laptop, so we bought it off of him for me. I just got it last night, and my tax refund alone should cover the entire cost. We were thinking of buying a new machine to run Sims 3 on, and now we found one that is very reasonable. It is a Thinkpad R-61, and it had been upgraded to 4gb of Ram, and it already has a dedicated graphics card, and since the only game I'm really into is the Sims, this should fit the bill perfectly. We I get to go home and install all of the Sims 2 on it tonight. Wee!

     Well, I think that's all from me right now. I'm going to go eat my lunch and maybe rest my head. :)

Not having a good day.

Tired.

Figured out that not having Adobe Acrobat on my loaner laptop work computer makes doing Quality Checks very difficult.

Got a B on my midterm (which doesn't seem so bad, I know, but I had been getting 100% on all of my homework, so WTF?).

Listened to my co-workers have a long and loud conversation about people passing gas loudly in the restroom on our floor. Fabulous.

Pooh Bear's two new asthma meds were $200 together. The one we need to order monthly is the one that's $160. We've spent roughly $800 this month on Pooh Bear. I'm not angry at the cat at all; I just haven't been budgeting for this stuff, and now it's biting me in the ass.

Did I mention tired?

Your name and your other's name?
Tish & Alan

How long have you been together?
3 years and 11 months, roughly.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
Not at all, ha.

Who asked who out?
Um, it was more the drunken make-out that did it.

How old are each of you?
I am 24 and he is 32.

Do you have any children together?
Nope

If you do not have children, do you want them?
We do.

What about pets?
Three kitties

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
lol, I think me being really drunk at some point in the beginning of our relationship was the closest we came to not being.

Did you go to the same school?
College, yes.

Where you high school sweethearts?
Nope.

Are you from the same home town?
Nope.

Who is the smartest?
Probably him.

Who is the most sensitive?
Definitely me.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
The diner by our house.

What do you enjoy doing as a couple?
Sleeping. lol

Who has the craziest exes?
I don't have any, and he has an ex-wife, so probably him.

Who has the worst temper?
I think Alan, but I can get occasionally get crazy.

Who does the cooking?
I do now, but he did when he was getting home earlier than me.

Who is more social?
Um, probably him. He makes friends all the time.

Was it love at first sight?
lol, maybe lust at first sight. I don't actually remember seeing him before I remember making out with him. It was Pipes's 21st birthday and I was super-drunk.

Who is the neat-freak?
ME!

Who is the more stubborn?
Um, probably me.

Who hogs the bed?
He does! Although he might disagree...

Who wakes up earlier?
On weekdays, he does, but occasionally on weekends, I do.

Where was your first date?
The HUB, the PSU student union, lol.

Who has the bigger family?
Me, hands down.

Do you get flowers often?
Maybe twice a year.

Who is more jealous?
Me.

Who is more organized?
ME.

How long did it take to get serious?
Well, it depends on how you define serious. We "went steady" after two months.

Who eats more?
Probably Alan.

Who does the laundry?
Me, tragically

Are you married/how long?
Nope, but we will have been engaged for a year this weekend.

Do you dream about your other?
I'm pretty sure we do.

Who drives when you are together?
Alan does. I'm terrified of driving in DC.

     I'm clearly stealing all of these memes from the Facebook lately. I'm a little too nervous about actually filling out things honestly on the Facebook because I have a lot of friends from a lot of different places on there. I think I prefer posting things here because I have a better idea of who reads it, you know? I am not naive enough to think that it's completely private, since I'm hardly "friends only," but still...

     AND SO, we have the Pittsburgh Bucket List. Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not.

Things I have done during my lifetime:

( ) Gone on a blind date in Pittsburgh
(x) Skipped school
(x) Watched someone die (sad that this is Pgh-specific...)
( ) Been to a Steelers game
(x) Been to a Penguins game (with MarcI!)
(x) Been to a Pirates game (with Chris!)
( ) Been to a Pitt game (been to a Penn State game, though!)
(x) Been on one of the two inclines
( ) Been in the fountain at Point State Park
(x) Been lost in Pittsburgh
5/10

(x) Gone to Washington, PA
(x) Swam in one of the three rivers
( ) Been to the Three Rivers Arts Festival
(x) Experienced local live music
(x) Eaten a Primanti's sandwich
( ) Eaten at the O
( ) Been to the top of the US Steel Building (Can you just go to the top of the Steel Building?)
( ) Been to the top of the Cathedral of Learning
( ) Ski at Seven Springs (I've camped there, though.)
( ) Been down Market Square
4/10

( ) Attended 1 of 6 Steelers Super Bowl Parades
( ) Partied in the Strip District
( ) Toured the Iron City Brewery
(x) Drank an Iron (unfortunately, lol)
(x) Explored the Science Center
(x) Been to the Pgh Zoo
(x) Been to Station Square
( ) Watched the Car Races at Schenley Park
( ) Seen a concert at Hartwood Acres
(x) Been fishing in the three rivers
5/10

(x) Held your breath driving through the tunnels
(x) Been called or called someone a jagoff (only most days of my life, thanks mom)
(x) Been to an event at Mellon (the Civic) arena
( ) Been to Forbes Field (not fair--I wasn't even born yet!)
(x) Been to 3 Rivers Stadium
(x) Been to Heinz Field
(x) Partied on the South Side
( ) Shopped on Walnut Street
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Falling Water
( ) White water raft, kayak or canoe at Ohiopyle
6/10

( ) Scaled Mount Washington (alas, I've never scaled Mt. Motherfucker)
(x) Been on a cruise on one of the Gateway Clipper Fleet boats
( ) Traveled the city by trolley
(x) Traveled by PAT bus
(x) Seen the Pittsburgh Ballet
(x) Seen the Pittsburgh Symphony
(x) Been to Kennywood Park
( ) Been to West View Park
(x) Truly believe in the power of the Terrible Towel
( ) Hiked or camped in the State Gamelands
6/10

( ) Seen a movie being filmed in Pittsburgh
( ) Been to Cleveland (ha!)
(x) Been to State College
( ) Used a bike for transportation (not really...just by my house)
(x) Caught a Carp (Had to have...)
( ) Fed Pigeons on a park bench
(x) Been to the Pgh Aviary
(x) Seen flowers at Phipps Conservatory
( ) Participated in First Night
(x) Watched planes take off from the airport (when you used to be allowed to...)
5/10

( ) Been ice skating on a pond/lake/river that is not an ice rink
( ) Been water-skiing in Pgh
( ) Been to Hidden Valley
( ) Met a movie star
( ) Been to Zelienople
( ) Swam in Lake Arthur
( ) Swam in North Park Lake
( ) Been to the Andy Warhol Museum (this is a sin. I should get there soon.)
(x) Been to the Carnegie Museum
( ) Had a child in Pittsburgh
1/10

( ) Married in Pittsburgh (but I will be!)
( ) Will never leave Pittsburgh (too late...)
(x) Born in Pittsburgh
(x) Driven through the Blue Mountain Tunnel on the turnpike
(x) Been to Lake Pymatuning
3/5

Total: 36/75

     But I can explain! My mom never wanted to do anything with me when I was little, and for roughly 20 years of my life, she was my main mode of transportation! If she wasn't going there, I wasn't going there either. Hence I've never been to the Warhol, Point Park, Falling Water, the Arts Festival--clearly lots of places. Oh well, I'm young. There's still time!

A fun google game:
Go to google.com and type in "your name" followed by "needs"
Type the first 10 responses.

Firstly, Tish:

1. Tish needs pain doc/Sally.
2. Tish needs to know that there are people that she does not know, who care a lot for her.
3. Tish needs to remember that “talented” Miley still needs her.
4. Tish needs someone who can help put together teaching materials.
5. Tish needs some needs a little help here!!!!
6. Tish needs to turn 3 more or gain 74 more Vampire points to reach the next level: Vampire Temptress!
7. Tish needs your support.
8. Tish needs to take in the bigger picture and get whats best for her district.
9. Tish needs this job, she needs the money; but can she watch the man she is still in love with marry someone else?
10. Tish needs for you to find 5 ancient coins.

And Theresa:

1. Theresa needs her own thread After That.
2. Theresa needs to get used to the fact that she will remain the Ketchup Queen.
3. Theresa needs us.
4. Theresa needs big strong Jay to rescue her from Cronus.
5. Theresa needs to realize that she is only an Earnhardt by marriage.
6. Theresa needs to have Charlie quickly evaluated using an assessment tool that measures adaptive behaviors and functional skills.
7. Theresa needs some loving too!
8. Theresa needs to face the fact that Ethan's no longer in diapers.
9. Theresa needs the support of another set of parents who can spend time with her and help her to look at the reality of the situation.
10. Theresa needs prayers.

     I'm not sure which one I like more. I stole this from Karen's Facebook, btw. :)

     The white flakes of doom are visible on DC pavement today. I'm at work, though--I couldn't get that lucky. I am luckier than others in that my awesome co-worker Meghan and I have a sweet agreement. She doesn't mention when I am super-late to work about once a week and I don't mention when she leaves about an hour early every day. However unfulfilled at this job I may be, I at least can be ridiculously late and not get in trouble. Either bad or crazily accommodating for my habits. It helps that both Meghan and I are awesome workers at our far-too-easy positions. We are the dream team of Optics Express! Hey, I need something to be proud of here, don't I?

     I finished my mid-term around 3pm yesterday, and I don't think it was as hard as I expected. Or else, it was way harder than I expected and I missed the entire concept of what I was supposed to do. I'm crossing my fingers for the first option. The format of the exam was kind of strange, though. We didn't go through and edit a passage, as I am accustomed to doing, but rather we read a passage and then answered questions about said passage. The first question was, "How many words were misspelled in the above passage?" I found 10, and 10 was the highest a-b-c-or-d choice, so there you go. It was just different than any other editing exam I'd taken. It might have helped, really, in that it broke up the editing into shorter stages. It can be crazy to stare down 3 pages of straight text and hope you find everything. Smaller pieces allow for a tighter focus. I'd like for that to work in my favor.

     I lost any semblance that I had of fingernails in the battle of the midterm, though. My thumb is sore from being bitten too low.

     Some good news! Alan has been approved to work overtime at his job! This news probably means that I will never see him again. lol, not really. In fact, we have plans to go in to his work on Saturday together. I will probably spend the day playing Sims 2 in his office while he works. He is in line to get a laptop from the Patent Office soon, which will allow him to do his overtime at home rather than at work. We probably won't have to do weekends anymore after he gets the laptop. Alas, overtime. As long as we don't fall into the same habits as my stepfather (excessive working, never being home, my mom having essentially having to raise three kids by herself), everything will be all right. I think ending up like my mom in that aspect is something I seriously fear. My mom is strong, but I prefer to accept the help and support of my partner. Alan knows this, and once pointed out that it would totally make sense if I had abandonment issues, my father having passed away while I was so young. I never had thought of it like that.

     I'm thirsty for things that aren't available at work. I just had a tasty PB&J, and now I'd like a glass of milk. I would have to go across the street and buy that, though, and I'd rather not spend money when I can just as easily drink some ice water or the San Pellegrino that I brought from home. Alas--nothing matches the delicousness of PB&J like milk.

     I'm a holiday whore. I'm always, always looking forward to the next holiday. I think that's probably one of the biggest changes I've noticed in my adult self--I am always searching for the next thing to celebrate. I fear it reflects how boring I find my day to day environment. I also fear that looking forward to holidays gives my days the chance to pass too quickly without proper notice. Before I know it I'll be 35 and wondering where my youth went. OSA, I blame you most of all.

     I didn't mean to start out so glum, but when I get to thinking about how much I truly dislike parts of my current situation--mostly my job--it makes my throat tighten in a sickening way. I guess I really need to get out of here and on to something I more so enjoy. I'm hanging it out to leach tuition reimbursement out of OSA. :-P

     Anyway, the next holiday is Mardi Gras! I enjoy the change of colors. February is all pinks and reds with Valentine's Day, but with Mardi Gras on the 24th, you get a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am of bold purple, green, and yellow. It's kind of dirty and perfect. I wish I could go somewhere to celebrate my sinful self. :)

     I have to finish my midterm today. I kind of have to do the reading for my midterm first, then finish the thing. :-P I'm in an online class through UC Berkeley for my editing certification. I'm a little worried because we've received every grade back except for my last grade, and the last assignment was the hardest we've had so far. I wish I knew how I did on it so I can tell how good my editing skills are for the midterm. The last assignment required a harder editing hand--rephrasing for succinctness rather than grammatical errors. I want to do well, so I worry.

     How was your VD or anti-VD celebrations? I spent the day cooking. I made truffles, a chocolate cake, and mussels in marinara for dinner. Alan kindly spent the day playing Halo.

     (Okay, that's kind of a crueler generalization than I intended, but I'll leave it. :-P)

     In closing, do you guys drink coffee? I drink one probably 8 oz. thermos of coffee a day with a flavored creamer. I seriously heart my thermos for keeping the coffee warm, though. It changes my outlook every morning. Alan drinks roughly 17 pots of coffee a day. Actually, probably closer to 2 pots of coffee. I don't know where it all goes. He drinks a lot of water and hot tea too. I must be severely dehydrated. I'll bet I consume less 8 oz. of any liquid a day, let alone water. I'm just not that thirsty, though. When I'm thirsty, I drink. Does anyone drink a ton of anything? Just curious about how deadly unheathy I actually am.

I am homicidally bored at work today. As usual, work done before noon and I’ve been doing nothing since. I can’t even play video games because I’m using a loner tower. My tower’s video card somehow got corrupted on Wednesday, so they took it away for repair. I’m not foolish enough to install video games on a computer that might not be here the next time I am, sadly.

We’ve had to dress up at work all week because of some official occurrences where the editors of our journals are not only in town, but also in our building, bugging us while we work. I would much prefer to be wearing denim today, but instead I don my suit’s skirt to really enjoy the chill in the air. The only up side to this situation is that I just stole some Sweet Tarts from the caterers down in our lunch room. Mmm Sweet Tarts. I provide a ton of chocolate for my coworkers and never touch it, but if you show me Sweet Tarts or Jolly Ranchers lately, I’m all over that stuff. Mmmsugaryconfections.

As we are 6 days past becoming Sixburgh, I feel ready to share with you what was one of the most stressful days o f my life. Ever since I watched the playoff game, I had been planning Alan and my Super Bowl Sunday celebrations. We had the good fortune this holiday to treat ourselves to a new TV, and we also have the good fortune of having HD programming included in our rent. Since we were unable to make it to Pittsburgh for the game (on account of having to save our days off for Alan’s approaching surgery), I thought that the second best idea would be to stay home. And so I commenced with preparations. I ordered some Steeler-themed smiley face cookies from E&P. Their deal included a dozen cookies and two Terrible Towels—how could I not? I got some ingredients for homemade guac and some oven pizzas. In my head, I was going to do laundry all day and make the foodstuffs until the game.

Sunday came, and the schedule looked like this: 9:20am—Take Pooh Bear to the vet (because she had been coughing). Come back home and do laundry. 3:00pm and 5:00pm—Puppy Bowl V, which I really adore, and finally, 6:00pm—Super Bowl 43!

We woke and took Pooh to the vet, and a clean two hours and $450 later, we learn that she’s fat and that’s why she’s coughing. Look at our cat:

Apparently I should now give you $450, because you can tell us the same exact prognosis as our vet.

Okay, so it’s noon-ish by the time we get back home, and Alan turns on the television. Nothing. None of our channels are coming through. Aghast, we took some measures to make sure it wasn’t just a silly mistake—turning the box off and on again, recycling the box. Still nothing. Okay, maybe it’s the cable company. We call, and they make plans to send out a technician on 2/9/09.

Think of that situation. You’re not in the ‘Burgh, so anywhere you go is bound to have dissenting opinion, especially this close to Baltimore. You have everything set up correctly, but things go wrong for no reason. Would you cry? Because I did. Yes I did. I sat on the couch and sobbed.

Alan did not cry, however. He googled for a bit, and then he started messing with the electronics. He really deserves his EE degree, because he used some gadgets to determine that the problem wasn’t the cable, but rather the CAT-5 cable that was hooked into our box. Our cable went out a few months ago because of an amplifier (which Alan correctly guessed then, too). The amplifier sent actual current through our CAT-5 that actually shorted and physically melted the hook-up to our cable box. Alan showed the melted CAT-5 to me, and even cut off the connector so I could see the damage. He guessed and checked with some left-over CAT-5s from our old apartment, and determined that we needed to rig them to get them to work. We took a quick trip to Radio Shack around 3:30pm, got back, and Alan connected the two shorter cables across our living room and to our cable box, and at 4:15pm, our cable came back. I again cried, but this time it was out of relief and gratitude. The game was back on.

And then the rest of the day went as planned until the actual game itself, which was no relaxing matter. Guys, you really need to watch a game with Alan. He loses his mind yelling at refs and calling for missed calls. You’d never expect that kind of fury and outburst to look at the guy, but he just can’t keep quiet. I imagine it would be pretty funny in a group of friends. But yes, with this knowledge, you can imagine that he didn’t keep very quiet during this game. The time flew, the nails were bitten to shreds, beers were gulped, and in the end, we were victorious. Next time, I’d love to try it in Pittsburgh proper.

Shit, that was stressful to relive as I wrote it.

Oh, briefly mentioned above, Alan is going for surgery again. We were just at the doctor’s in Hershey on February 3rd. The surgery is scheduled for March 9th, so I’m most likely not making it home for my birthday. To bring everyone up to speed, Alan has a reoccurring benign paranoid tumor. In layman’s terms, he has a non-cancerous tumor that keeps growing on or close to his saliva gland on the left side of his face. Usually, these tumors do not grow back. Alan’s doctor said that Alan is the only case that the doctor ever had where the tumor was reoccurring. How often, you may ask? This will be the fifth time he has had the tumor removed since 1996. It continues to baffle the doctor. However, good news is that the doctor said that this one seems to be more superficial than the past tumors, which is good because it might not cause as much paralysis to Alan’s face. The second time the tumor was removed, it took a bit of his facial nerve with it, and the results of that paralysis are still there. Much improved, but still there. The doctor was surprised that Alan was able to blink his left eye again. So yes, fun stuff abounds soon. I’m hoping the surgery is as text-book and event-less as possible.

Anywho, this weekend isn’t so depressing as all of that. Tonight, we are going to see The Pink Panther 2, because Alan hearts Steve Martin as the Pink Panther. If I’m not mistaken, we saw the first one in theaters too. How silly. Tomorrow, we’re going to see The Dark Knight at the IMAX in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. I’ve heard that the film is not to miss in IMAX, and tickets were only $10, so I jumped on it. Sadly, this will be the first time I’ve been to any Smithsonian beside the Air and Space Museum, which is boring (lol, sorry, it’s true). I think there are actually two Air & Space Museums. One is by the other Smithsonians, and that one isn’t too bad. The other one is out by the Dulles Airport, and while it has a real space shuttle there and an SR-71, it is boring as shit. It’s just a bunch of planes! Maybe if I stared at planes taking off, as Alan is apt to do, muttering to myself, “That shouldn’t work…the physics just shouldn’t work…,” it would be interesting, but alas.

I’d really like to stop in to the National Gallery of Art, as right now they have an exhibit of art excavated from Pompeii. Getting Alan to a museum that isn’t filled with planes is rather rare, though. We went to the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany, which is filled with modern art. They had a Dali exhibit which was awesome, but even I have to admit that I got bored with an entire row of Picasso lines staring back at you. Alan complained that his feet hurt. The last museum that I got him in to was the Louvre, and we did that at a dead run because the line was short a 45 minutes before closing. It’s a sin, really. We caught the Nike of Samothrace and La Gioconda, but couldn’t find the Venus di Milo. She was moved due to construction.

Oh well. :) It's Friday, and I've got a weekend to enjoy.

1. My new thermos that srsly keeps my coffee warm. I drink coffee slowly, so the last half of my drink is always chilled. Alan got a free thermos from the MoCo liquor store, and it is short, so he gave it to me. I like exactly one cup of coffee every day, and the new thermos totally improved that experience.

2. Friday!

3. Super bowl!

4. "Beautiful Child," by Rufus Wainwright. Good for a Friday.

5. Steeler smiley-face cookies from E&P! I had a dozen shipped to me, and I got to share one with a fellow ex-'Burgher (who might someday be my boss, if things play out right--Pgh networking, anyone?).

6. Terrible Towels! I got two with my smiley-face cookies.

7. 30 Rock! Alan and I got into the show kind of by accident. I instant-downloaded the seasons because it's a show that we kind of liked that you can get from NetFlix Instant Download. We have discovered that we love it, srsly.

8. My HP iPAQ HX2755! Actually, it's Alan's, but he can't find anything to do with it, so he gave it to me. I've synched it to my computer at work, uploaded all of my contacts, synched my calendar, and now I don't know if I can live without it. I carry a big green binder around to keep track of things. I might be able to transfer everything in that binder to one small, hand-held device. It's pretty great. The non-phone PDA is dying with most people, but I'm taking it and making it work for me. Craziest part? It has a finger-print reader. How Bond is that?

EDIT: 9. Obama rooting for Steelers in Super Bowl!

EDIT 2: 10. Puppy Bowl V! Since finding it two years ago, Alan and I always tune in to the Puppy Bowl at least once. I'm 99.9% sure it's shot in Silver Spring, MD (if you trip out of DC to the north, you're in Silver Spring), because the Discovery Channel building is there. It's on at 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm on Sunday, so you have no reason not to tune to Animal Planet and see what the hell I'm talking about, yo.

      What is great in your life today or right now?

     It's finally snowing in DC, and I have come to the following conclusion: DC snow sucks. For comparison, I was just up in State College on the weekend of January 17th until January 20th, and the snow was light, fluffy, and dry. You could see individual snow flake formations as the snow fell on your jacket. In contrast, DC snow looks kind of like hail--spherical. Hardly any flakes. And it doesn't stick to the roads or help to really cancel anything.

     DC snow, try harder, pls. I'd really love to go home early today. I have a ton of laundry to do.

Eddie Izzard Gives Private Performance to Terror Victim

"Will Pike, a 28-year-old Englishman, was badly injured in the tragic Mumbai terror attacks. [...] Pike's father wrote Izzard, asking if the comic could send along a note to ease Pike's disappointment and depression. [...] Izzard refused. Instead, the star of The Riches and Valkyrie showed up at the hospital and performed his entire 90 minute stand-up set at Pike's bedside."

     I think that's pretty special.

Dear Aetna,

     I would like to angrily and sarcastically thank you for putting a monthly price tag on my sanity. In all of your efforts to keep your costs down, you have increased the price of your non-formulary prescription copays to $60. $60=no fucking help from your insurance. The one goddamn thing I rely on you for help--prescription costs--and now you've taken that away. Unless I get hit by a fucking bus now, I'm paying you for diddily.

     I know your quick solution--switch prescriptions! Opt for a generic for $10! Well, wouldn't that be a lovely option, except that they don't make generics of my prescription. Well, switch to a different prescription that does the same thing! That would be lovely too, except that they don't make a prescription that does the exact same thing. The problem with all of the other pills is that I go bat-shit depressed on them. Crying for hours a day depressed. I've been there, and it's not a fun way to live, believe me. This is the only prescription that I can take.

     So yes, Aetna, for me to stay happy, healthy, and sane this year, you're making me pay $780 out of my own pocket. And I have insurance, they tell me! That's more than a month's worth of groceries for my fiance and me. That's a portion of our rent. That's clothing off of our fucking backs. Thanks for giving me the chance to consider if my sanity is really worth the price.

Sincerely,
Tish

     Alan and I are starting to get sick (of course), so if I'm up to it tonight, I think I'll make this for dinner. I'd have to visit the grocery store first, though, so we'll have to see how that goes. Also, I'm not overly confident about the local regular grocery's stock of leeks or varieties of potato, so I might have to make that grocery trip to Whole Foods. I'm also not sure if I have dry white wine...maybe I'll sub dry sherry.

French Potage with Pistou
From Vegetarian Times
Serves 8

Potage
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 medium leeks, white and pale green parts chopped (4 cups)
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 cloves garlic, minced (4 tsp.)
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced (2 cups)
4 medium carrots, chopped (3 cups)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

Pistou
1 cup firmly packed basil leaves
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions
To make Potage: Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks and pinch of salt; cover and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until leeks are softened, stirring often. Stir in wine and garlic and cook, uncovered, 1 to 2 minutes, or until most liquid has evaporated.

Add potato, carrots, thyme, bay leaf, broth, and 2 cups water. Season with salt and pepper; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 30 minutes, or until potato and carrots are soft.

Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Purée soup in blender or food processor, or with immersion blender, until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

To make Pistou: Place basil, walnuts, and garlic in blender. Pulse to combine. Pour in oil, and blend until smooth. Add water if necessary to form smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper. Serve dollop on top of Potage.

     As I always like to ask (or should ask more often), what are you having for dinner?

     Just a quick PSA. Does anyone know any plus-sized tweens? By that, I mean bigger girls aged 7-12. I ask because I found a really cool site that sells clothing to girls that size and age without putting these young girls' self esteem on the chopping block.

It Chick Clothes

     From the About Us page:

We're making shopping easy for hard to fit girls, and our clothes make tween girls feel good about themselves...We know that fitting rooms are not the most fun place to try on clothes. We also know sizing can be a tough area to navigate. We use small, medium and large, so that girls feel good about what's on their tag.

     I'm happy to see a site that allows young girls to get back to being young girls, regardless of their sizes.

     Hello all. I hope all of your holidays were great. I just got back to DC yesterday, and Alan and I accidentally slept in until 1:30. Not sure how. We are currently screwed, being awake at 11:30 and having to get up for work tomorrow.

     To everyone I planned to visit over the break, I must apologize. My step-father has a pinched sciatic nerve in his back, and he spent most of the break in the hospital. It threw a monkey wrench in my family's plans for the entire holiday. I feel the worst for both of my parents--we spent New Years Eve in the hospital with them. It sucks that his condition had to worsen over the holiday; he wasn't at risk to die or anything, but he was in a ton of pain that required constant and intravenous medication. Sucks.

     Holidays at Alan's were nice and quiet, in sharp contrast. Give thanks for small favors. :)

     I am sorry I didn't get to really see anyone, because I really wanted to catch up. I will try to make make-up visitation plans for my next couple of visits.

     In other news, 2009 resolutions. Does anyone have any? It's hard not to think, "Okay, things will be different this year." I do the same things with new years as I do with new months, weeks, and even days. I think of time markings like blank sheets of paper, wondering what it will look like when the page is full. The full page of 2008 includes getting engaged, moving to DC proper, spending an entire year stagnating at my job, but luckily getting out of a crazy amount of credit card debt. I'm closing the year with a good idea of where to take my education and career next thanks to the advice of Alan's aunt Carolyn, who is a high-up professor of rhetoric at NC State. Reading her biography is like reading the life I want to lead by someone who did it better. This year also includes hating the DC that lasts way too long (from March to, hell, December this year--we've hit 60 degrees far too much past October, and I've given up all hope for snow), mosquitoes eating us alive in our apartment, not being able to wear sandals or short sleeves to work, since, again, I am eaten alive at the bus stop by mosquitoes--I guess I just hate the heat and everything that goes along with it. Therefore, I should not be so far south, but there's nothing I can really do about that. They give me money here, so I should probably stay.

     However, 2008 was much better than 2007, and I'll not take that fact for granted.