You are currently browsing the archives for February 2005.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 18 entries.

Home again, jiggity jog.

  • Posted on February 28, 2005 at 5:06 pm

We’re home from Granny’s. A good time was mostly had by all. We did have a few hairy moments to start with – Joe “made strange” to her and had to thaw out, and the trip home was a genuine beeyotch (boys were tired and ready to get out of the car).

Highlight moment of the trip: I’m standing at the sink about to wash the dishes. Granny walks up and says “I’ll wash the dishes, woman!”
I sure would like to see you move me!
(picking up a butterknife from the dish drainer) “I’ll cut you! MOVE!”
*laughs* Granny, if you cut me, you’ll hafta take care of 3 kids that ain’t yours.
I’ve never seen that woman drop a knife so quickly in her life.

The kids are all cranky and restless today. Granny’s house is set up so there’s a loooong hallway for them to run up and down, and we don’t have that here. It’s cold, wet, slush and rainy here, so I can’t send ‘em outside to play.

I just found out that our housing plans have changed. Apparently one of the Beltway plans they’re considering splits our property wide open. I’ve been talking to the folks about renovating the house I grew up in, and it looks like I’ll have to renovate while I’m living there. Good thing I can accept the problems with the house to begin with. Want to know what I’ll be doing to the place?

    From the bottom up:

  1. New flooring throughout.
  2. Paint
  3. Tiling the bathrooms
  4. Replacing the ceilings in 4 out of 10 rooms
  5. Either replacing the flooring part of the deck or replacing the entire deck itself
  6. Fencing in the backyard

Y’know typing that list out REALLY makes me cringe. I dunno if I can afford it after all. I can do a large part of it myself (I’m a demolition expert BWAHAHAHAHA), but tis still going to be hard on the wallet. Good thing we’re still in talks about it.

On the road again…..

  • Posted on February 24, 2005 at 1:54 pm

We’re going to Granny’s for the weekend. Get out of the job hunting stress for a while, sit in a rocking chair and crochet. All weekend long.

Yeah, I’m a real thrill-seeker.

Product Review: JBz Chocolate Candies

  • Posted on February 23, 2005 at 9:25 pm

Holly did a wonderful thing – she sent me the 20 flavor sampler box of JBz for Valentine’s Day. Since it combines my all-time favorite snacks (Jelly Belly flavors with chocolate centers), I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, not all Jelly Belly flavors combine well with chocolate. The flavors do best when you chomp down, mixing the flavor with the chocolate, a definite thumbs down for me since I like to suck the outer shell off and let the chocolate melt on my tongue.

The scoring is simple – 1 to 4.

Raspberry – 3 3/4
One of my favorite chocolate combinations, I had high expectations. Fortunately, I wasn’t disappointed. The Raspberry flavoring balances almost perfectly with the chocolate, leaving me drooling and wishing for more.

Orange Juice – 2
Another classic pairing, yet there wasn’t quite enough orange flavor to stand up to the chocolate. There were a few seconds where I could taste orange, but then the chocolate bulldozed it over.

Blueberry – 2
Absolutely nothing to write home about.

Buttered Popcorn – 2 1/2
An odd combo, the two flavors never quite melded in my mouth. I got the strong popcorn flavor, then the strong chocolate flavor. It was unsettling to say the least.

Cotton Candy – 2 1/2
Didn’t taste a whole lot like my favorite spun confection, but still balanced well with the chocolate.

Juicy Pear – 3
Believe it or not, the pear flavoring overpowered the chocolate. Stick with the JellyBelly on this one.

Tutti-Fruitti – 2
Tasted a lot like the Cotton Candy. Another nondescript flavor.

Honey Graham Cracker – 3
Wow! It really DID taste like a honey graham, combining well with the chocolate and ooh do I wish I had more. It started and ended with good solid flavor.

Sizzling Cinnamon – 2 3/4
Good cinnamon flavor, good chocolate, but they didn’t mix well together in the end.

Cappuccino – 4
YUMMO! Good strong coffee flavor, combining well with the chocolate. The chocolate flavor stayed in the background on this one, reminding me of a mocha.

Ice Blue Mint – 3 1/2
Another solid flavor all the way through. I could have used a bit more mint flavoring, though.

Toasted Marshmallow – 2
I chomped into this one thinking I’d taste 1/2 of a smore, but alas…. the marshmallow flavoring is sadly lacking. All I tasted was sweet, and then chocolate. No marshmallow!

Apricot – 3 1/2
Another two-stage flavor, but this one works. Good strong apricot flavor that fades so the chocolate can take over.

Strawberry Cheesecake – 1 1/2
Not very much Strawberry, and even less cheesecake. Unfortunate, too.

Grape – 1
WTF??!!?? You don’t even taste the chocolate in this one. Grape flavoring sledgehammers you at the start, and stays with you for a good 30-45 seconds after you swallow.

Top Banana – 3 1/2
Sundae anyone? The banana flavoring was a bit more subtle than I like, but the overall flavor was good.

Very Cherry – 1 1/2
It just doesn’t work. There’s not a lot of cherry to start with, and it just messes all the way around with the chocolate flavor.

Licorice – 2
The black licorice flavoring is good, but it doesn’t combine well with chocolate. Stick with the jellybean.

Green Apple – 1 1/2
I never got that solid tart green apple flavoring. It started off blah and ended even worse.

Coconut – 2 1/2
You’d think that this would be a can’t miss combo, but it does. The coconut flavor isn’t very strong and gets lost in the chocolate.

Summary:

Although a great idea, the mediocre to poor flavor combinations drag down the truly excellent ones. It looks like the Jelly Belly company took the top 20 best selling jellybean flavors and wrapped them around an M&M. For what you get, ANY price is really too much to pay. Send this one back to R&D and try again.

When it rains, it pours. Right?

  • Posted on February 22, 2005 at 5:20 pm

Fortunately, this fiasco only took 2 days to fix.

The pump in our well went out. It’s only been in there for 20 years or so with -0- maintenance – I can’t understand how it could POSSIBLY have developed problems.

ahem

Dad got it fixed shortly AFTER I got back from my application/interview with yet another temp company. Hopefully THIS one will be able to place me.

Complicated feelings

  • Posted on February 22, 2005 at 5:09 pm

It’s BECAUSE I like you that I don’t want to spend time with you…

With those words of wisdom, Marlin the Clownfish (Finding Nemo) pretty well sums up my feelings for my son Daniel.

I love him to distraction.

He makes me crazy.

He reminds me so much of his Dad that my heart aches.

I just have to keep reminding myself that Dan is Dan. He does things HIS way – and I have to respect that.

Maybe it’s time to make a new category?

  • Posted on February 18, 2005 at 5:10 pm

Called Job search HELL!

I swear – this is what I just heard:

Thank you for calling the Employent Security Commission. All our representatives are currently assisting other clients. Please hold, and someone will be with you momentarily.

different voicePlease record your message BEEEEEP.
Thank you, goodbye.

Holy shades of WTF!!!!

And all was quiet in job-huntingland

  • Posted on February 17, 2005 at 5:49 pm

I’ve submitted my resume to 3 temp companies, 10 jobs, and phoned 2 to verify that the resume was received etc.

I’ve have -0- responses yet.

When do I hit the “ohshit” button?

On Job Searching

  • Posted on February 15, 2005 at 11:44 am

Employers, there are certain things I look for in an ad. Likewise, there are things that I immediatly take a “pass” on:

A phrase like “we are the rock stars of our industry” is certain to get a negative reaction.

Having a hotmail address? Yeah THAT’S going to make me apply. Even *I* have a .com email address.

More than one exclamation point? Uhm, NO.

Guarantee a commission? Can you clarify that guarantee? The last person who “guaranteed” me a commission used all my vacation time to boost my sales for that month.

If I’m looking in Sales/Marketing, WHY am I seeing ads for a Molding machine operator? Categorize, people – c’mon!

Your company may be BASED in my town, but if you need someone to work your satellite store 200 miles away, WHY is the open position listed as a local job?

WHY is the Military listing open positions?

It’s not even noon, and I have a headache from sorting through this stuff.

Valentines Recapped.

  • Posted on February 14, 2005 at 8:15 pm

Alannah was the “waitress” for Mom and Dad. She set the kitchen up, lit the candles, and then served them the soup Mom had cooked and the brownies she’d made.

After their “catered” dinner was through, Alannah sent Joe toddling to the kitchen with a valentine’s card that she had made and had all the kids to sign.

I played the part of the old maid chaperone, sitting in my rocking chair with my crochet.

After it was all said and done, Alannah brought me my card and gave me a hug.

VD sucks.

  • Posted on February 14, 2005 at 10:56 am

The reminders start early and last for WEEKS on END! telling you that this is THE most romantic VD ever. They would have you think that nothing says “I love you” like a preprinted card and a box of chocolates that have been sitting on the shelf for aeons. OH! And how can we forget the jewelry? If your hunnie doesn’t give you a nice rock, he must not love you as much!

Bullshit. I don’t need/wear jewelry, I don’t need my ass to get any bigger, and I don’t need a card that somebody ELSE wrote. I’d rather have the small moments every day that show care and consideration. If you want me to wear sexy lingerie, buy it for YOUR BIRTHDAY.

I don’t want a guy with 6-pack abs. Sexy? That would be the guy cooking dinner while the kids play outside and I take a bath. All by myself. (Yeah, I know. But isn’t that what fantasies are all about????)