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Cinderelly, Cinderelly
Night and day it's Cinderelly
Make the fire, fix the breakfast
Wash the dishes, do the mopping
And the sweeping and the dusting
They always keep her hopping
She goes around in circles
Till she's very, very dizzy
Still they holler
Keep a-busy Cinderelly!
That, my friends, is what I feel like. I'm ready to collapse on my bed in exhaustion! This house has only once been cleaner than it is today, and that was on the day we moved in. I tidied and dusted my bedroom, the living room, and the kitchen. I did all the dishes, and put them all away. Then I sprayed down and scrubbed every appliance and fixture in the kitchen and the bathroom and literally got down onto my hands and knees to wash the floors. I vacuumed the living room carpet and couches, the stairs, and the upstairs hallway and my bedroom. I took out the trash and took the camping supplies back out to the storage room.
Everything sparkles.
Why am I cleaning like a madwoman, you ask? Because Caitlin's mom is coming to stay with us tonight. But Caitlin's in Virginia, you may say. To which you would be correct. Caitlin is in Virginia. When her plans changed, her mother's couldn't, and thus: Caitlin's mom is staying with us while Caitlin is not here. It also means I don't get any help cleaning, because I know Caitlin would have been right there with me, but, well, she's in Virginia. She'd need reeeeeeally long arms.
It's 5:30. I think I deserve some Cold Stone. Although, I'm not sure I can be bothered to leave the house. We shall see.
At long last, I have updated BY HAND.
There are a few more drawings, and I added the Step-By-Step section. Whoo!
***
Aside from working on that *points to above* all afternoon, I had a fairly productive Sunday. I went to brunch in West Hollywood with A & friends, which was nice. We saw some guy from "NYPD Blue" whom I did not recognize in the slightest (having never seen the show), but the rest of the crew was excited about. *laugh* I suppose I was excited vicariously, or something.
Then I came home and promptly went out to Target (it's a sickness! Somebody stop me!) and Ralph's. I actually went to TWO Ralph's locations because the first was so damn crowded. Turned out the second was more of the same, but by then, I didn't care. I was in desperate need of groceries.
Holy mother of love, it's 9:00 pm! In writing about groceries, I thought to myself self, your tummy is feeling a little hungry, perhaps you should have some dinner. And then I looked at the clock, and good lord, where did the afternoon go?! No dinner for me; it's too late to eat. Maybe I'll grab a Jell-o cup or something. Meh. Oh well. Breakfast'll taste good in the morning, then.
I have this one little hair that occasionally, every few months, starts to grow out of the side of my chin. It's tiny and I can usually pluck it out right away, but man! Hairs are supposed to grow out of your eyebrows, maybe, and certainly the top of your head, but not--not--out of the side of your chin. Is this what getting old brings?
Tonight was a barbeque with the girls from work. It was fun! Pretty subdued, as far as these things go, but enjoyable to see everyone outside of the work environment. Just to sit back with snack-y foods and Smirnoff Watermelon and talk about non-work things. All but two employees attended. Yay for being social! If anyone at my old office had ever suggested anything remotely social, I think I'd have died of shock. I think next weekend we're having our celebration dinner with money our office won for coming in first place with March of Dimes, and the weekend after is possibly a night out to celebrate a few July birthdays. Have I mentioned that this position is leaps and bounds better than the last? Because, yes. It is.
Hmm. It's almost midnight and I'm getting pretty sleepy. Also, brunch again tomorrow in WeHo. Which means early-to-rise, so off to bed I go.
So, the earthquake this afternoon? Definitely felt it.
There we were, sitting in class in a not-ground-floor classroom of our downtown corporate headquarters, and things started to shake. Everyone lept from the table to huddle under the rows of computer desks in the back-end of the classroom. I, not ever having felt an earthquake while in CA, didn't think it was all that bad, but I followed anyway. I'm sure it was pretty amusing to watch... there was a split second where we all kind of froze at the table before the mass ducking-for-cover happened. Not so much as a styrofoam cup fell off a tabletop or anything, but I guess that's a knee-jerk reaction, ducking for cover? I don't know, I was just following along. *laugh* I suppose that kind of thing has been drilled into people from kindergarten on, though.
I realized that for all of our disaster drills in elementary school (of which the tornado drill included sitting in the hallway holding text books over our heads -- text books! Five-pound, hardcover science or social studies or math textbooks that would easily be ripped from tiny little hands and whipped around the hallway like flying... cannon balls (or something) in the case of a real tornado!), none ever included What To Do in Case of an Earthquake. And I'm sure I've heard here or there to be clear of glass and falling objects (of which there were none), but I never really thought about it. So I guess the thing to do during an earthquake at work is to get under your desk. *nods*
Anyway. I can now say I have no experienced (read: been aware of as it was happening) my first Los Angeles earthquake. And although it wasn't Big or Scary, I'm satisfied. No need for a bigger one.
I knew Pride would be a huge deal in West Hollywood, but I didn't realize there was a parade. The restaurant we had brunch at was right along the parade route, and we were seated outside with a wonderful view. Let me just say, I have not seen so many short shorts (on men) in my entire life! Or people marching along wearing just a thong, or in chaps without pants underneath (cheek chillers!), or 8" heels and miniskirts carrying parasols (all men, mind you). We'll just call it "entertaining" and be done with it. *laugh*
There was also a festival, but I opted out of attending (there is much laundry to be done, if my neighbor would finish up with his).
As Crystal and I were walking back to our respective cars, a guy stopped us to ask what the festivities were all about. We told him Pride. He looked at us blankly, blinked, and said "Pride?" One, you're driving in West Hollywood. Two, Crystal's carrying a rainbow flag (she's not gay, just supporting... I don't know why I'm clarifying that). Three, you're driving in West Hollywood! Jeez! That gave us a good laugh.
Anyway, it was good times for all. Brought me back to working at Walt Disney World during Pride Weekend, only possibly multiplied (if that's possible).
What did I do yesterday?
I spent five hours in thinly-padded waiting area chairs at Midas.
I read all of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, two People Magazines, and an article on Natalie Portman in a magazine I'd never heard of before. I talked to two friends on the phone, and left messages for three others. I didn't eat anything until almost 4pm, by which point I was ravenous.
My brake pads and rotors, along with my right front wheel bearing, have been replaced. All were badly in need of replacing. I'm also proud of myself for not accepting his initial $985 estimate, and getting him to reduce it to $631. Still painful, but more in the range I was expecting. That said, what does it say that he was able to knock off three hundred and fifty dollars from the original price? Yeah.
However, my car is sporting a newly broken bit. It now makes a cluh-clunk sound whenever I turn. It scares me a bit. Is it safe to drive? This was not happening Friday, or even yesterday morning. Although the Midas guy tried to tell me I must listen to my music too loud to have heard it before, and said it clearly has absolutely nothing to do with the work that was done on the car today. Believe you me, that clunk is not to be drowned out by the volume at which I listen to my "Wicked" soundtrack or NPR (which isn't at any sort of ear-splitting decible, that's for sure). He wants to see my car back again this week to "figure out what's causing it." A) I don't trust him. B) Will I have to pay for the repair on a clunk that seems to be a direct result of work done to my car? I better not! $631 was plenty, thankyouverymuch!
Grr. On a happier note, had dinner and saw Mr. & Mrs. Smith (surprisingly far more enjoyable than I'd anticipated) with Roni. And even though we forgot to get our parking validated, the lady didn't make us pay! Whee!
Today, I'm thinking of going with Roni to brunch down in West Hollywood, to meet up with some people she knows. I need to know more people. Heh. It's Pride, so WeHo will be crowded!, but I think it'll be fun.
My clock has a date and temperature feature, and the date was reading Friday, June 11. As June 10th is my grandfather's (80th!) birthday, I had a mild freak-out over having missed it and not called. So I ran to my calendar, and, sure enough, today is both June 10th and Friday. Cue me scratching my head and studying my bathroom clock.
Turns out it was set for the year 2010. I didn't even know it had that sort of feature, to calculate the day and date based on the year. Cool! I figured out how to change it back to 2005 and discovered in the process that it only goes up through 2099.
I guess I'll have to get a new clock for 2100.
Also, HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY, GRANDPA JIM!!
My dear, dear friends Aarti and Sarah are visiting for a few days. It's been glorious having them here, like old times.
They arrived Thursday night, and all we had time for before crashing was dinner at El Torrito. I had to work on Friday, but they went on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, and then tooled around town with a friend of Aarti's family's before picking me up from work in time for dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
I worked again on Saturday while Sarah and Aarti did Hollywood, and then we had lunch at Palermo and drove down to Long Beach to meet Sarah's friend. We all walked along the pier, had dinner, played in the arcade, and walked along the pier some more before heading home.
Yesterday, Sunday, was spent first having all-you-can-eat sushi, as is our tradition with out-of-town guests. We then headed down to Venice to walk along the boardwalk (and I finally saw the "muscle" part of Muscle Beach... ew!). We strolled back up Abbot Kinney on our way to the car, and went to Santa Monica. We went to the pier there, wandered down the promenade, and saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which was surprisingly Very Good.
Today is Aarti's birthday (quarter of a century!), so I'm about to make chocolate chip pancakes. We have plans to go down to Santee Alley, and then to the Los Angeles Opera (I think for Falstaff) tonight. Tomorrow is Disneyland, yippee! And then Wednesday, they leave. *sniff*
All in all, it's Very Much Fun having them here. Hee.