new project

My dad (cool guy) introduced me to rock climbing a few years ago. I loved it! I still need to get my own climbing shoes, but other than that, we have all the gear. We're planning a family vacation for next year to hike the Inca Trail and climb Machu Picchu- me, my brother, my dad, his girlfriend, and a girl she knows to be our guide. I'm super excited!

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I think in general, I lucked out. My dad is definitely one of a kind, and I've contracted some of his strange habits, that I'll admit- come in handy from time to time. For instance, my OCD like tendencies to compile intricate spreadsheets for any plan or idea keeps me organized. A paper clip clasping the inner bag of triscuits in the box keeps the triscuits fresh. And folding plastic grocery bags into a neat little rectangle and placing them stacked in the kitchen drawer is clean, handy, and kinda pretty when you open the drawer to look at them.

He also went through some stages in life that proved fun for the rest of us. When I was 10, he started roller blading, which was cool because he wanted to go to the skating rink as much as I did! He entered my brother and I (and him) in 5K races for inline skating. When my brother was into gocart racing and asked how much race tracks make, my dad made him figure it out (a lot of money, btw). Which made an impression on Steven making him want to own a race track. Don't know if he still does, but it's a possibility! When Steven was into model trains, my dad converted literally HALF of our living room into a train layout for Steven's trains. Later, my dad got into sailing, so he got his sailing license, and bought a boat. Later, he decided he liked kayaking so he now has 2 kayaks to take on his camping trips. He began a project to re-scan old photos and decided that it would work better if he built an 8 ft long contraption to place on top of the dining room table to actually photograph each old photo. At least that was more fun than sitting at the computer with a scanner. He built a gun range in his basement, shooting over the tarped pool table and into the targets strategically placed in the closet.

Usually when people I know need to live with their parents, or move back home, they dread it. I am honestly looking forward to moving back into the functional funhouse. I get to live in the basement- next to the shooting range, after he cleans the bullet shrapnel from the tub down there. I'll have the entire basement! My own bathroom, a pool table, 2 really comfy leather couches and a cool table made from a ship steering wheel. You might be wondering, what more could she want? Well. My dad and I have a new project.

Too many people are concerned with "decorating" their house while overlooking some decorations that could be functional, and fun, and a conversation piece to say the least. You know the foyer in a house? A large, open area reaching the ceiling of the second floor in most cases. Well, it's pretty bare, and boring. We're going to build a climbing wall to take over the foyer, and boulder underneath the stairs! HELL YEA! And if we were concerned with matching the living room decor, the last picture below might be a suitable plan...

my job's purpose

I honestly use my day job as my "waking up" activity. That's where I go to have breakfast, get my coffee, plan my week, pay my bills online, check my email, blog... obviously. I use the entire day to wake up, to prepare myself for working at night.

Tonight should be interesting, by the way. At the restaurant, tonight is the first night we will be charging a $10 cover. No one will be required to purchase any food or drink. This is an additional $10... not applied to your check. So for all our regulars who come for dinner and drinks, it just got twice as expensive, which leaves them with less money for tipping. In today's economy, I think it's a little bold. And... for those people who are there just for the music, do I have to bring them water? Because no one is going to tip you for bringing water. They can bring their own bottle of water.

Last week, there were WAY too many servers- 5 for 1 room. I made half of what I did the week before. It's not worth it. And the clientele don't care. They will either tip well (15%) or not (5-10% or sometimes just $1), and that's what they decide when they walk in the door. They could have the best or the shittiest service, and still will tip whatever percentage they usually tip. Therefore, have less servers, maybe not the best service, but people will still get their food and drink, and servers will make money. It was good with 3 servers. If things were busy, you dealt with it. More servers mean less money for me. Another few nights with just $50 and I think I'll be done when I come back from Ghana. We'll see.

Rita's

Yesterday I went to Rita's with the fam for some dessert. I had Italian Ice- half peach, half coconut. The coconut was awesome! The "ice" is not like your normal snow cone or Italian Ice you've had elsewhere. The ice is shaved so thin, it's almost... creamy. It's so good. Perfect summer night treat.

Quiz Yourself

There are certain things that everyone should know, including basic geography of your country, some main presidents, most of the European countries, etc. I have been taking a few quizzes this morning and have found that I know most of the U.S. states, but not their location- almost none of the U.S. capitals, and only 1/4 of European countries, and almost half of the U.S. presidents. However, I am really good at the quiz for Batman Villains, and the Fellowship of the Ring. Don't laugh.

Movie Review: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

It's been a while since I've seen a movie where I've laughed out loud almost the entire way through. This is not a movie I would have chosen to see on my own, but it was the entertainment highlight of a flight to Colorado back in March. I highly recommend this movie for anyone wanting a pick-me-up and a reminder to stay young. "I don't know how to catch a lemur! I'm 9!!!"

Movie Review: Jumper

Reminiscent of X-Men but lacking something… too short, not enough characters, it was weird. It was, however, set up at the end for a sequel. In my opinion, it’s more appropriate to be a miniseries or TV show instead of a movie. Gotta love Rachel Bilson though!

cheeseball intollerant

It has come to my attention that I can't handle all foods like most people. For instance, I'm lactose intollerant. Also, I get sick if I have Taco Bell or KFC. I can't handle the grease and fat, honestly my stomach rejects it. Similar issues with chains like Outback or Longhorn (the same place as far as I'm concerned...) etc. Why is this an issue? Well, it's not. I've learned to live with it, and I'm sure I'll thank my stomach later when I'm not 300lbs. I do love fruit and fresh veggies, and I go to Whole Foods every week. As I sit here and eat my afternoon snack of organic carrot sticks (the chizzeled version of reject carrots, as we've learned from my post about the origin of baby carrots) I'm thinking about cheeseballs. The UTZ bag of cheeseballs will make me sick. Solution: Pirate Booty!

No, I'm not referring to "aye matey" dirty sex on a pirate ship with a peg-legged parrot owner with an eye patch. I'm referring to organic cheeseballs! Tasty, and GOOD FOR YOU!

You may be wondering, what to do with the bag of UTZ cheeseballs sitting in your kitchen.

www.nataliedee.com

my mom is a blackberry

Most of the time, I know the blackberry is probably really tart, but I eat it anyway, and I make that "ick this is really tart and bitter" face where my nose scrunches up and I shut my eyes real tight. But every now and then, you get a perfect one, and it's so sweet, and it's THOSE berries that keep you thinking, every time, that it might not be tart. So you take a chance, every freakin time, because that one time it was so sweet and perfect, and you end up making the face again. It's tart.

Gonzo

sparrows

I have looked all over the internet for jewelry with sparrows on it. A ring, a bracelet, a necklace- anything. I've been missing my friend. He had two sparrows tattooed- one was good and light, the other was dark... Short of getting a tattoo resembling his, I'd like to have something to remember him... a ring or a necklace... If you come across one, please let me know where. Thanks.

I have the following bracelet and pendant. I'd really like to find something black, maybe a ring or a locket... I've seen pieces before, but they're all sold out.

La Mela

My favorite restaurant in Little Italy in New York is La Mela. So much really good food, family style, LOTS of wine, and really fun people. No menus. What you get (served until 3am Friday and Saturday nights) Mozzarella & Tomatoes, Mixed Hot Antipasti (fried cheese thing-- I think it's spedino alla romano, stuffed mushroom caps, asparagus parmigiana, roasted red peppers and olives), Mixed Pasta (rigatoni, gnocci, tortollini), Meat (chicken, veal, and shrimp), and Dessert (tiramisu, fruit with sugary goodness all over, chocolate dipped ice cream balls, and some other kind of dessert I can't remember the name of... I think...maybe cheescake? I dunno, doesn't matter. It's soooo good.).

moving on

the dentist

This afternoon, I will be sitting in a dentist chair. I have (like most people) a phobia of dental professionals. People lie to me. When I was in first grade, my father promised that we were just going to the dentist so they could "take a look," and then we were going to schedule ANOTHER appointment, to actually have my teeth pulled from my jaw. Well. I trusted him, so I crawled out from underneath the coffee table, and agreed to solemnly visit the dentist. And THEN they pulled my freakin teeth! I was 18 when I went to the dentist, by myself, and they told me I was there for sealants. For those of you who don't know, here's a quick lesson: dental sealants are applied by bonding plastic resin (the dental sealant) into the grooves of a tooth to prevent tooth decay. I had a deep groove. Groovy. Bring on the sealants. But NO! I get there, and they start talking to each other in their abbreviated dentist language: "Bring me the DXJ and the 4.8 LWH and apply the DWXBVF." Or something to that effect. I ask again... "I'm here for sealants, right?" They assure me, yes, I was about to get sealants. And they whip out the drill! And gave me a FILLING!!! Not only was this a flat out lie, and completely unnecessary, I would like to point out that in my entire life, I have NEVER had a cavity!

That being said, I stopped trusting dentists, and every 2 years I will go for a check up with a completely new dentist who has never met me before. This way, they have to try to make a good 1st impression on me, because no matter where I go, I'm a brand new customer. I brush my teeth twice a day, I floss and use Listerine every night. It works for me. I have healthy teeth. I'm an advocate for good dental hygiene. I figure since my insurance is about to run out, I should probably just go and get a check up, and then probably by the time the next 2 years roll around, I'll have insurance again. I wonder if this dentist today will have flavored latex gloves... They had those at career day for dental professionals in middle school.

pretty.

When things are disorganized in my life, I pick anything and everything that I could possibly control, and I change it, just to remind myself that I do have control over something. This is probably why I'm considering changing my hair color, and also why I rearranged the furniture in the apartment. We had a corner of the living room that was cluttered with all kinds of junk and crap I haven't even looked at in well over a year. Christmas tree skirts (2 for some reason), a balled up flat sheet, papers and bills and magazines, an old iron in a box, a window fan, a broken chandelier, 2 printers, and a box full of fiesta accessories including a donkey piñata, all lay in the corner next to the ironing board that never gets used, because I don't iron...

I decided to go through the junk, throw things away, reorganize, and make that corner a clean work area for me. I'll have the iMac (should arrive today or tomorrow) on my new computer desk- which is high up by the way, with a clean, plain, (very comfy) high chair, a clean skinny shelf by the window, a plant, and that's it! Very zen. Organized. Perfect.

I would like to note, however, that for a piece of IKEA furniture, this desk was extremely difficult and irritating to put together. All it is, is a table top, and you have to screw in the legs! You'd think it would be relatively simple. I have a screwdriver. It's orange. I thought- no problem! I'll have a desk in T-10 minutes! Well. I was wrong. Where each leg should go is a small round disk, and you have to screw the disk into the underside of the table top with 5 little screws. I managed to get the screws in about 60% of the way, and then I couldn't get them to go any further. I would take a break, and then come back to it and try again, but got nowhere. I made my neighbor bring me over a power drill at midnight last night so I could just get this thing put together already! I'm very impatient. So he brought the drill over (kudos), but GASP! The battery had no juice! I charged it as I got into my pajamas and brushed my teeth and paced around the apartment for 20 minutes. The juice was good to go in the battery and I sat down on the floor to tackle the disks. Good lord, these stupid screws (since they are IKEA screws...) will strip if you push-turn instead of push-down and then turn, and I was laying my entire body weight on this drill to push down and it STILL WASN'T WORKING! *sigh* Finally, after a LONG time, the screws were in. Then I had to get the adjustable legs all the same length and screw them into the disks, which wasn't too hard. But for the record, as far as IKEA furniture is concerned, in my experiences, this was the most difficult to put together. The little man on the IKEA instructions is not holding a power drill. And he's smiling. I think I have a bruise on my chest from laying on the drill. Now I have a very pretty, zen, clean desk area ready for my iMac.

Perhaps I should feel better, but I'm actually still depressed, only now I'm broke and have a pretty desk. Oooh la la. Oh, and all the junk? Yea... if you turn away from the pretty desk, you see all the crap shifted to the other side of the room.

2 1/2 weeks in counting...

My official last day in the office in only 2 1/2 weeks away. It seems surreal. To think, no more free coffee, no more 20 minute breaks at 10am and 3pm every day, no more being asked to code FedEx invoices that are clearly for my boss' personal use to different courses, no more being asked to pick up my boss' mom and take her to the airport, no more being underpaid and needing 3 jobs to pay the bills, no more clocking in and out in the computer database, no more having someone keep tabs on my every movement (which is why I sit quietly at my desk, look frustrated and stessed, as I pretend to be working but really I'm just blogging), no more 2 hour commutes on the beloved Washington beltway, no more $2.50 in tolls everyday.... life is soon to be very, very good.


It's been real. Glad to be finally rid of this company.

www.nataliedee.com