Browse Month: January 2007

No Human Food

On Thursday night we had some roasted chicken, brown rice, and some steamed veggies. I must say it was rather tasty for a potentially cardboard/styrofoam-tasting dinner. Afterwards, I thought I’d give the dog a little treat and gave him a few pieces of chicken breast and mixed in some brown rice. He gobbled it up along with the kibble that was underneath it. The next morning, I got up, walked the dog, and went to work as I usually do.

At around 11:30 in the morning, I got a call on my work phone from a flustered and frustrated guy on the other end. It was the husband and he was not happy. All I heard was “I need your help. There’s shit everywhere.” I thought, “Uh oh…what happened?” As I drove home, I was hoping that he was just exaggerating as he sometimes does but I was sooo wrong.

There was a very unpleasant odor coming from upstairs and the bathroom fan was on. Jes had left to get a Rug Doctor so I inspected the house. There was a pile on the floor in the guest bathroom (half on the bamboo floor and half on the rug). There was nothing in the guest bedroom and nothing in our bedroom. So far so good. Then I looked in the office and it looked like a brown slime monster had a party and then exploded in that room. I counted FIVE huge splatters of crap on the carpet. Some of it got on my Crumpler bag and some got on the closet door. It was disgusting. I quickly put on some gloves and cleaned up what I could with a roll of paper towels. When Jes came back, he steam cleaned the spots and it was all good again. The smell even went away once the carpet dried. Thank goodness for StainMaster carpet!!

I hurried back to work to finish up my appointments and all was better. When I got home, I found Jes in the livingroom with his laptop with a funny look on his face. He was clearly traumatized from the whole experience. I laughed and asked why he was still so worked up about it but he didn’t think it was very funny. I guess his side of the story was a little too traumatic.

Here’s what happened: He got up, brushed his teeth, and went to the office to check his email as he always does. A couple seconds after sitting down, he noticed a horrible smell. He looked around and found that he was surrounded by crap. After cleaning up the whole mess, he moved his laptop downstairs and got back to work. A few seconds after settling in, he again smelled something horrible. He looked around and found one more pile in the corner next to him! It was like the Easter Egg Hunt from hell! So I can see why he didn’t think this was as funny as I thought it was.

At the end of the day, I re-learned two things that I already knew:

1) Don’t give dogs human food. I actually knew that and have actually been pretty good about it ever since he was a pup. I just didn’t think that ordinary brown rice with no seasoning and chicken meat with no sauce or seasonings would hurt him. *sigh* Yes, I’m an idiot. Poor dog probably got most of the punishment while it was my fault all along.

2) Buy stain-resistant carpet. We purposely did for this reason but didn’t think we’d actually need it this bad.

THE END

I need to be tucked in.

ch070107a.gif
Haha. Classic me. (Click on the image above.)

This week has been pretty busy. I guess going back to work really means just that – going back to work. It’s been pretty hard getting up so early every morning and it’s a crapshoot whether I get a good night’s sleep. I also haven’t been going to bed at the same time every night and I’m still falling asleep in random rooms at random times.

Sunday: on the couch downstairs at ~10:00 pm.
Monday: almost in front of the computer and then on the futon in the computer room at ?.
Tuesday: in bed lying on top of the comforter and parallel to the headboard at 9:15 pm.
Wednesday: actually went to bed, took off glasses, and turned off lights at 12:15 am.
Tonight? Who knows…maybe on the floor next to the dog.

We’ll see. The night is still young…zzzzzzz….

That’s SO yesterday.

Did you know that there are people out there in modern-day suburbs who still blatantly litter? When I was a kid, there were a bunch of TV ads that would remind us not to litter the streets and to put our trash in the trashcan. Remember Woodsy Owl and his saying, “Give a Hoot. Don’t Pollute.”? Apparently, we still need bring those ads back. Just the other day, I was driving out of my neighborhood when someone in the passenger seat of the car in front of me decided it would be a good idea to toss their half-full can of Diet Pepsi out the window and into the street. It was in the middle of the day and right in my neighborhood!! *Grr.* That was so aggravating! I wanted so badly to chase after them and make them go back and pick it up. There was another time when I was walking the dog and a couple came out from a neighbor’s house and got into their car. As I passed them, the girl in the passenger seat got in and paused before closing the door. She waited for me to pass, put her empty Starbucks cup on the curb, closed the door, and they sped off. Sheesh! Did she think I wouldn’t notice or something? Does the cup just suddenly get absorbed into the concrete in which she placed her magical cup? Is there a way to report these backwards people? I could have sworn there was a fine for littering.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Litterbug,
Is it too much trouble for you to hold onto your empty cup until you’ve reached a place where there are garbage cans? And didn’t you just come from someone’s house? I think they have garbage cans in there too. *Grr.*

fancy lotion

DSC_2668.jpg

Last night we celebrated Jesse and Jason’s Mom’s 60th birthday. We invited a couple of her friends and Auntie Jeanie came too. We all met up at Duke’s in Huntington Beach and Mom got a nice surprise. She was actually on her way to the gym when Dad called her and said, “Come home. We’re going out for dinner.” She had no idea what we had planned and was genuinely surprised to see everyone even though it was totally unintentional.

As a gift, Jason bought a gift box filled with Kiehl’s products. Instead of having her open the gift first, he handed the wrapped gift and said, “here Mom, we got you some fancy lotion”. I thought, “Uh, why don’t you let her open it first?” Haha. That’s our Jason! He also had to show her the finer points of how to properly moisturize (night, day, etc.). I think she liked it but was a little overwhelmed by the number of bottles in the box. Happy Birthday, Mom!

buttery

For this Winter Break, I decided to pamper myself. I actually went to get the massage that I always wanted but didn’t have the time or motivation for. I went to this place called Body Centre Day Spa that is just a couple exits from my house. My friend recommended it to me because of their reasonable prices and no-nonsenseness (is that a word?) of the facility. She was right. I went in for a 60-minute neck, back, and shoulders massage for 70 bucks, which would normally cost about $125 at some fancy hotel spa or Burke Williams. They were really nice and really concentrated on the trigger spots in my neck and shoulders. I brought Jason there for a relaxation massage and he came out feeling “buttery”. What an indulgence.

surprise visit

IMG_5084.jpg

On Tuesday, I had plans to have lunch with Sandy (old friend from UCLA) and possibly Mary. Sandy called on Monday night and said that Mary couldn’t make it but that Linda would be coming. What?! That was totally unexpected! She lives and works in Long Island as a first-year ER Resident and I thought she wasn’t coming home for the holidays. Another funny thing happened as I was waiting for them in the Sam Woo parking lot. I parked next to a minivan that looked really familiar. I looked closer and it was my dad’s! So, when I walked in, I said “Hi” to him and he was totally surprised to see me in his neck of the woods.

So, lunch was great. We had some yummy Chinese food and did a lot of catching up. At the end of the meal, my dad walked by to say “Goodbye” and also told us that his friend paid for our meal. What?! That was totally unnecessary but greatly appreciated. Afterwards, we walked across the street to Guppy Teahouse for some boba drinks and the super mound of shaved ice, fresh strawberries, fresh mango, and condensed milk. It sounds gross but it’s so good. It was so nice to hang out with old friends. I had them on my mind for a while and it was a nice surprise to see them both. It’s hard not having your friends close-by.