Archive for November, 2006
$$$$$$$$
by Donna on November 30th, 2006
What the heck is wrong with me? I enjoy work. I really do! If so, why is it 6:45 and I am dawdling? My hair is wet, my feet are bare– I have a crap load to do and I am sitting here at my computer? Why can’t I motivate myself? I was the same way yesterday but I was able to get out of the house on time. Not today. No way! Move it, Donna! Get yourself ready, girl! You are no trust fund baby!
Today is Thursday, tomorrow Friday, and then you are free for a couple days. You can make it.
Gosh
by Donna on November 30th, 2006
Thanks for all the real nice comments on my last post. It meant a lot to me and to my family!
I am so tired and filled to the brim with pizza and dessert. Mom, Dad and I went to DeLo’s a day early because my parents are getting their house power washed tomorrow afternoon. I haven’t done tomato pie for so long and it tasted heavenly. I only ate 4 slices and they were real small slices– I am not too sure why I feel so sick.
How is it that I could have 4 days off and really do nothing that entire time and now it’s only midweek and already I am wishing and hoping that tomorrow is Friday? Crazy!
I am looking forward to this weekend. Saturday is Rob’s birthday. He is at a tradeshow in a town not too far away. On Saturday, I will drive down to join him. We’ll visit with one of his friends and celebrate his birthday althogether. I am sure we will have a blast!
Farewell!
by Donna on November 26th, 2006
It was the day after Thanksgiving that the decision was made to send Mr. Cocoa off to eternal slumber. He was twenty-years-old, November being his birthday month, and not doing well at all. He had an infection in his mouth and was losing weight. His legs could no longer support him and he could barely make the step up to the kitchen. We gathered together, the entire family, wrapped Cocoa in a blanket and took him to the Veterinarian. We sat together and stayed with him during the entire process. It was quick and painless for Cocoa. We went back to my parents’ house and in the backyard, right next to Little Lily’s resting place, we laid Mr Cocoa in the grave my father dug earlier in the morning. We took turns covering him with dirt. “I’m gonna miss you, buddy,” my father said.
It was my dad who brought him home mid-February 1987. He was at a junkyard in Philly and the cat who roamed the junkyard had a litter of kittens a few months earlier. The man who owned the junkyard bought a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken every afternoon to throw to the the cats to devour. My father was amazed at how the momma cat allowed all the kittens to eat first before she ate. My father remarked at what a nice cat she was and the owner grabbed the littlest cocoa-colored kitten and said, “You can have Cocoa.” My father called my mother and told her he was bringing home a boy kitten. My mother protested, “NOT A BOY CAT!” It didn’t matter. He was already in his van driving home with the little kitten perched atop his head.
I was 12-years-old and in 7th grade. I walked through the door as I did every day with the intent to grab food and watch an episode of Doby Gillis except I was stopped dead in my tracks. There was a little black cat curled up on the sofa. I softly sneaked up and started to pet him. He had the smoothest, shiniest fur and he looked like a mini-panther. We watched Doby Gillis together that afternoon.
As much as I want to say that Cocoa was my cat, he wasn’t. That cat loved my mother. He adored my mother. It makes sense. She was the one who fed him and nursed his wounds when he got into fights with the other outdoor cats. She was the one who grabbed him and held him when he appeared that one evening at the back door with a stick poking out through his eye. She was the one who gave him twice daily injections of insulin for his diabetes. He loved her. The house is going to be much more quiet and far less interesting without that crazy junkyard cat mewing for his food or coming home all beaten up. He is with Lily and Kiwi and Whiskers, waiting for us.
Goodbye, Mr Cocoa!
Giving Tanks
by Donna on November 21st, 2006
Last night two Netflix movies arrived. Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula. I watched a good portion of Blood for Dracula but I couldn’t finish it. Maybe I’ll go back and try to watch it but I had a hard time taking any of it seriously. I couldn’t help but giggle each time Udo Kier said, “I need blood from a Wurgin!” It was after the sequence in which he threw up a bathtub full of blood that I walked away from the tv. I wonder what Flesh for Frankenstein is going to be like?
Thanksgiving is fast approaching. I am pretty sure I have Friday off. I gotta check and be sure. My mom mentioned the dishes she is preparing– deep fried turkey (that’s actually dad’s responsibility), cranberries, candied yams, pineapple bread pudding, peas and pumpkin pie. I can hardly wait!
K2gether
by Donna on November 15th, 2006
I didn’t knit on the way to work but I knitted on the way home. You won’t believe what I found! I was back to my original number of stitches even though Lisa and I had been unable to find that extra stitch even after we stripped 3 rows away. Somehow the darn thing must have slipped past the needle and us. I don’t know how it happened but the scarf seems okay!
This evening I went shopping with Erin. We first went to Ann Taylor Loft and I bought a black pseudo wrap dress for the seminar tomorrow. As I paid for the dress, the cashier told me she was giving me a 25.00 gift certificate. I was overjoyed! Then she said, “You can use it when you spend 50.00.” I didn’t realize there were strings attached.
“Oh, I see,” I said.
“AND it must stay stapled to this receipt because if you return this dress, you must forfeit the gift certificate.”
Geez Louise! What a wonderful gift, THANK YOU!
Erin and I left Ann Taylor Loft and proceeded to Payless Shoes. I was hoping to find a fantabulous pair of shoes to wear with my new dress. The thing is, Payless only sells really cheap shoes. I found two pair that I kinda liked but I couldn’t justify spending what would amount to 40.00 on shoes that would give me blisters and disintegrate after a couple wearings.
Once we were finished at the mall, we went to HMart. We haven’t been grocery shopping together in ages! It was fun walking up and down the aisles checking out the crazy Korean food items. This time we weren’t so overly experimental in our purchases having had bad experiences in the past. Strangely enough, I didn’t buy that much at all: eggs, chestnut stuffed cakes and kiwis. It is a rarity that I come home from work and whip up a dinner so what is the point in buying food that will just rot in the fridge?
I gotta get myself to bed. Tomorrow I must wake up super early to take an even earlier train. I’ve decided I am going to take the train in and then once I have everything settled at the office, I will taxi cab it to the hotel where the seminar is taking place. I think that is better than driving all over creation.
K1 P1
by Donna on November 15th, 2006
I have been knitting a scarf for Rob. It is taking me forever to complete it. If I ever do this again, I am going to use really thick yarn and big needles. Last night I decided to knit as I watched an episode of La Femme Nikita. I got to the end of the row and I ended on a knit and not a purl! I went back and counted my stitches and I was down one! OH NO! Lisa came to my aid and found the dropped stitch and got it back on the needle. A sense of relief drifted over me until I found the real dropped stitch. We put the real dropped stitch back on the needle but we couldn’t find the created stitch. Lisa remained calm and said, “All we have to do is drop the last couple rows and you’ll be fine.” Three whole rows quickly disappeared and yet the extra stitch remained! How is that possible? Now I have to decide whether I should just knit two together or just go with it. I don’t know.
How did that happen?
by Donna on November 13th, 2006
My three day weekend has come to an end. I got certain things accomplished. I don’t know why I even try to get my things accomplished. Once they are finished more things appear. It’s never ending.
I have been feeling very sluggish of late and the last few days I ate more than what I should allow myself. I have decided I am going to start trying to get in a little exercise on my lunch hour. Just a simple walk around a couple blocks, just to get my blood pumping and feel the sun on my face. That is if the sun ever penetrates through the clouds and buildings. If I can do this, I think I will start to feel better.
Sexy time
by Donna on November 12th, 2006
Rob and I went to see Borat this afternoon. It was sooo funny! I got a huge kick out of it. There were only two scenes where I felt bad for the people involved– the old man at the rodeo and the college kids. I am sure if they were aware of what was really happening, they wouldn’t have said what they said. I am sure the producers egg the people on trying to get certain responses out of them. I dislike this exploitation yet I still went to the movie and thoroughly enjoyed it.
You may rub rosin on my bow
by Donna on November 11th, 2006
Stayed up until after midnight watching Where the Boys Are with Paula Prentiss!!! Okay, that’s not entirely true. She wasn’t in the same room with me but rather I listened to her audio commentary. I enjoyed it but her commentary was rather inane. She just kept repeating how beautiful everyone was and how lucky she was to be picked by Mr. Joe Pasternack to appear in the film and doesn’t Connie have the most wonderful voice and Mother Dolores is a Mother Superior, can you believe it? She did say one thing that I thought was pretty cool. She visited Dolores at the Regina Laudis Abbey just a couple years ago. With Mother Dolores in her habit, they got into the convertible Paula brought and they drove around town just like the scene where the girls drive to Fort Lauderdale. Paula also said that Mother Dolores looked like a movie star portraying a nun, she was so beautiful.
I have attempted to listen to a couple audio commentaries that are included on DVDs and I find most are pretty boring. The only one I really felt was compelling was the one included on the Run Lola Run DVD. The director and the gal who portrayed Lola (Franke Potente) did the commentary and it was really interesting. They talked about what it took to film the scenes, different things to look out for, information on the other actors, etc…
Watching Where the Boy Are, I found myself transported back to when I was a mere teenager. I so remember watching that movie (over and over and over and …) and just LOVING Paula– LOVING JIM HUTTON– wanting to be Paula, wanting Jim as my man. The sad part was I related more to Connie’s character– the gal who couldn’t seem to get a man until Frank Gorshin loses his glasses and falls for her because he can’t see what she looks like and she is so kind to him leading him around everywhere. Of course there is the scene where Jim gets drunk and he DISSES Paula for Lola Fangango played by Barbara Nichols doing a rather weathered Marilyn Monroe impression. My heart still just shattered and I cried as Paula followed the two around and when Jim says, “Are you following me? Why?” She replies, “Because I thought we liked each other.” He of course sobers up and realizes the ass he was and they get back together. A little too quickly in my estimation. They really should have showed Paula giving Jim a kick in the ass before she says, “You do that again, sucka and I wil RIP YOUR EYES OUT!” I do love it when the movie goes from a light-hearted romantic comedy to something much darker once the kids dive into the fish tank at the restaurant. That’s when Yvette Mimeaux’s character goes cuckoo cuckoo after getting raped by the pseudo Yalie. And Mother Dolores contemplates loving George Hamilton prior to marriage but stops herself. Gosh I love this movie!