PlazaJen: The Blog

Riding the Bike with One Pedal.

Page 56 of 165

OMG! It’s Crazy Already!!!!

I have to write this down, like, right now. I nearly offered to take a picture as evidence, but that would have just prolonged the crazy.

Doorbell rings. I’m thinking maybe a package, other than that we don’t exactly get the pop-ins in our neighborhood. It’s Crazy Lady’s Daughter, from across the street. The ones who like to scream and such. She’s got a handbag & a small drink from QT, something red, and she is soaked to the skin, like a drowned rat. I thought about ignoring her, because hey, it’s the weekend, it’s been a crazy week, I’m enjoying the Cold Case Files on A&E, playing some Word Whomp on PoGo. But I instead say (through the windowed door), “Can I help you?”

Well. This turns into a fifteen minute conversation (actually more her monologue with me saying something short here and there) about how she was pissed off at the people down the street who have the basset hound, and they have an ATTITUDE and she went to talk to them about how their basset hound chases her cats and THEY TURNED THE HOSE ON HER.

She wanted me to help her. I told her she needed to call the police. She asked if this was assault. I said she needed to call the police. She wanted me to open the door to feel how wet she was, stating as she pulled her tank top out from her stomach “I am not a villain!” I told her I could see clearly she was dripping wet. She wanted me to join forces with her. I told her there wasn’t anything I could personally do, that she needed to call the police and that I didn’t have that kind of power. She then informed me that she was quite powerful. She told me numerous times how my fella sent our big dog out after that basset hound to chase it off the property, and she thought he’d seen her swinging her fist in the air, cheering him on. I could only nod at this point. She said he’d called our big dog back and she’d come right back because our dogs are VERY obedient. I could only nod in agreement, grateful she had revised her opinion from six months ago.

Then the house phone starts ringing. Clicks off. Then my cell starts ringing. This is JWo’s M.O. for reaching me, and all I can think is, “How on earth can I get this woman off my front porch?” I told her again to go call the police, and if they want to interview me, I’ll tell them that she was soaking wet. That they would probably go ask the people down the street what had happened as well, and if they’re on drugs and high as a kite (as she also reported to me), then they would see that and be able to act on it. She finally accepts this and dodders off.

I called James back and said, “You will never in a million years be able to guess why I couldn’t answer the phone.”

I was right. He almost peed his pants laughing. Probably a good thing he wasn’t here, either. (Oh because she wanted to talk to him, too.)

I’ll let you know if KCPD’s finest want to take a statement from me as to how wet my neighbor was. That would be kind of exciting, it would make this a real COPS kinda week here at the house. I hope the rest of the weekend isn’t this nutters, though.

Cut & Paste

This is an email I sent the Wo yesterday afternoon. Yesterday? Brutal. Today? Will be a different kind of brutal, but brutal nonetheless. I am looking forward to sleeping this cold right outta me. And not working on Monday. And? Finishing Mystery Stole #3!!! Anyway, I think this email says it all – rather than rewrite the events, I’ll let you see how I communicate with my hubby in times of stress….

First of all, EVERYTHING IS OK.
But it’s been a really stressful day & the last five minutes just shaved a year off my life. Brinks called at work that the alarm was going off in zones 2,3 & 5 (or whatever) and did I want the police sent & was anyone supposed to be there. I told them we have cleaning people, but yes, go ahead and send the police, and then I see Christine has called my cell (twice) because the front door was locked & :almost: shut, but not shut completely? (but enough that I could set the alarm today) and so the cleaning people didn’t want to go in because they were freaked out, because while they were debating on going in, some tweeker drove by in a silver mini van really slowly, twice, and then five minutes later came by in a different car, they swear, and of course we have the history of The Day Your Cleaning People Came We Was Robbed, so Christine went ahead and called the police and they “cleared the house” (that would be my COPS lingo talkin’) and they’re the ones who set OFF the alarm, because of course they had to clear the house first, and then they had Angela go through to make sure it looked “normal” & so who knows if a second unit was actually dispatched or not. Let’s just note that it definitely took less time than 20 minutes for all of this to happen. WHERE WERE YOU ASS CLOWNS A YEAR AGO.

I’m just fucking relieved, and of course I’m in the post-adrenaline rush so all my muscles are twitching, though it could be combining with the cold meds too, so who the hell knows. Jesus. I agreed with Christine, better safe than sorry, and I’d rather have them call the police to make sure it’s all ok than to walk in on a freakjob who shreds them with a pizza cutter.

So I guess on cleaning people days we make sure the door’s shut. Heh. And I have so much work to do I am about to snap. Yay!

—-end of email—–
Now, I must say, despite the fifteen minutes of Xtreme! Stress! Now with More Worry! Topped with Confusion! I feel 100x better about having our alarm system and that it operates as it’s supposed to. And the fact that burly police officers went through our house with guns drawn is very exciting. (Well, I don’t know that they had guns drawn, but it does enhance the imagined incident, so I’m running with it.) Perhaps I’ve watched a little too much Kansas City SWAT. Or COPS. Or both. Oh baby. Long weekend, Court TV/A&E marathons…… it can’t get here fast enough!

Marathon

The next two days are going to be marathoners. I’ve got two plans due by tomorrow, and a presentation tomorrow afternoon (for a third plan), and today’s full of meetings. I caught JWo’s cold, so I’m also a bit bleary, but fortunately, his lasted all of three days, so I’m hoping mine follows the same timeline. It’s not even a regular sort of cold, it’s just a cough/sore throat with some congestion, but not the sort that feels like someone packed your brain in cotton. Which is good, because none of my clients want those cotton-padding plans!

I do sound like Kathleen Turner, doing the voice-over for a cartoon frog. And my lungs feel like I’ve just run a half mile (15 yards) as fast as I possibly could – the searing/burning sensation – it’s sweepin’ the nation.

I am excited about a small project that my buddies in the design department are working on – our department went out on Monday & took some wacky pictures, and they’re going to convert them into a Warhol-esque, enormous photo quad that will go behind my desk in my new office. The current artwork there contains a montage of numerous clients, most of whom are old & aren’t there anymore, and it needs updating. I got the idea last week, and couldn’t stop laughing, so I guess I was able to convince my boss (who will also be in the quad) and the head designer to have some fun with the idea.

In the interim, here’s what messing around with one of my photos looks like. You can see why I’ll have this BEHIND me. :)

jencutout1

Hard Knocks

“You know why you’re watching this show, right?”

“Why?”

“Because. You want to be able to learn as much as you can before the season starts and impress all your friends with your football talk.”

“Well of course I want to learn!”

“Yeah, but you want to impress your people with your knowledge of football.”
(walks away)

(me, yelling) “Did you ever think maybe I wanted to impress YOU, Jackass?!”

(from kitchen) “OH me! Impress me? It’s all about me?”
(pause)
“JACKASS?!”

I dunno where that came from, maybe I was channeling Gunther Cunningham. That man swears like a fuckin’ sailor. And he’s tough. Players call him the Grinch. And tonight I learned all about the Depth Chart.

Now, aren’t you just a tiny smidge impressed?

I’m so ready for football, except watching this show is making me a little skeered my Chiefs are not gonna do all that well. But what’s most important is my ability to BANTER and how much more I’ll know. Speaking of knowing things, I gotta work on my hand signals for the new season. Illegal Crackback on ALL y’all who mess with me.

Orts From Irrational Central

I came home last night & crawled into bed. Not to sleep, but to rest, and somehow give my brain a break from the day/week. It wasn’t quite as nuts as last week, but somehow that stress accumulates (even with treadmill time) and I had hit the wall…..

1. We moved offices at work. Same building & all, but my boss moved up to a corner/windowed office, and I went into his office. Kristin went into mine, and our other team member went into the one next to Kristin. We all have tall walls now, not that it changes the travel of sound since none of the walls go to the ceiling, but hey – I got a ton more space, and I also moved all my stuff in the space of a few hours.

…. I just deleted Ort 2, because you know, sometimes you just can’t write it all down, but let’s just leave it at Moving is Stressful.

3. Auntie Karen sailed through her procedure this week & things look good, so that was good news to hear. Fingers crossed that everything comes back just fine!

4. The heat has finally abated a bit – which will be welcomed by every resident, I think.

5. My childhood home/farm has officially been sold.

6. After hearing me on the phone yesterday, JWo was in a place of wanting to help & fix. He even offered to come into the office to help me organize my office (since that was some of my stress & I was hearing only criticism instead of humor at that point) Instead he went to the grocery store last night, and then to Gates. Ribs can soothe the irrational beast, and they did.

7. Speaking of beasts, we watched Sexy Beast last night, and what an odd, but interesting movie that was. Usually when I watch a British movie, and the accents or dialects are thick, I have to put on subtitles for the first ten-twenty minutes or so, until my brain starts connecting the sounds to the words. (I discovered this when watching Gosford Park. Worked like a charm!) Since we watched this movie On Demand, I can guarandamntee you I only hear about half the dialogue correctly. Except for when Ben Kingsley was saying, “YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!” or conversely, “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” Liberal use of the words “fuck” and “c*nt”, perhaps even astonishingly so, and from me, that’s saying a lot. I did, fortunately, get the gist of the movie, and liked it, despite having missed key points (I thought they were in Australia, fortunately the Wo heard “Spain” and corrected me.)

8. I’m off to pick more tomatoes. I don’t have an extensive to-do list for the weekend, and I’m glad. I moved on to Clue 6 in the MS3 last night, which means -woooooohooooo- second-to-last-clue and then I’ll be on the last clue & then this will be DONE! It’s been a great learning process, with the first and foremost lesson being, in lace? If you make a mistake? It is not the end of the world. Not at all. In fact, I have gotten pretty good at spotting & catching myself being off in the pattern, within two rows of the error, figuring out where the mistake is, and fixing it. My culprit is the elusive yarn overs that sometimes get slipped or forgotten, so fortunately, those are pretty easy to fudge.

Have a good weekend!

Buckethead

I am starting to see the appeal of putting a bucket on your head and running into walls.
I had a woman nearly sideswipe me tonight & at the sound of my horn, gave me a wave. I then encountered a woman on my street, driving alternately between 8 mph and 25 mph, and when I finally passed her, she was on the phone. I arrived home & informed my husband that if someone is so selfish that they have to get into the intersection as the light’s changing & they have the back half of their car hanging out so an entire lane of traffic has to swerve into another lane of traffic just to get around them? They should be ticketed heavily. And perhaps dragged from their car and forced to watch barbershop quartets while I get to punch them in the nose whenever the urge strikes me. Given that I’d have to listen to the barbershop quartet as well, you can bet the urge would be striking me.

I haven’t had so much road rage in one week – I’m wondering if the heat has just cooked people’s brains, or with back-to-school in swing, more inexperienced drivers are out, or what in hell is going on. But I’ve had no less than three occasions this week where I’ve had to defensively swerve because someone abruptly has changed lanes, and seriously, I’m not in a blind spot, nor am I invisible. Perhaps if I put a bucket on my head, I would be.

Can Friday get here soon, please? Please? The forecast has been changed again & now it’s dropped to -wait for it – 79 degrees. Right now that sounds downright chilly. I’m ready for Fall. I’m ready for normal. I’m ready to find my peace, ready to drive to work without incident, ready to relax. Crisp air, woolen knits, dusk bringing a chill, I’m just so ready. It’ll be delicious when it gets here.

A Moment of Silence

She was a total beyotch, but upon learning, just moments ago, that Leona Helmsley had died, I gasped aloud. For all her bad stuffs, she was an icon. Here’s my post from 2005 outlining my marginal obsession with her & her ads in the New Yorker when I was a child. Because I couldn’t be normal and be obsessed with say, Farrah Fawcett or Daisy Duke as my role model. Nope. Not me. Queen of Mean and don’t give me a wire hanger or I’ll beat ya with it. Leona wouldn’t stand for it, why should you?

(Yeah, I’m mixing icons, but you know Joan Crawford & Leona would have made a hell of a club-hopping duo. They sure as hell wouldn’t need any ice for their drinks!)
Enjoy giving the devil his due, Queen Leo.

Good Wiikend.

So, “wii” are going to be buying something “wii” tried out this “wiikend” and by now surely, you have guessed that it is a “Wii“. Holy crap is that a kickass fun thang!

Our friend Roger has a system, and we all engaged in some bowling, and from there it led to trying all the sports out. I was sold when it came to boxing, and the Wo and I went up against each other. OMG! Virtually punching my husband in the face? Priceless! Of course, I spent too much time hitting him in the head & he got in all sorts of kidney punches & he knocked me out in no time. But we both broke a sweat & agreed it was a great fitness tool, and fun to boot! I somehow foster some unspoken belief that if you get closer to the television, it’s like you’re moving in closer to punch the hell out of your opponent. Good thing they have those straps on the remotes!

We’ll need to wait a couple weeks to let the vacation expenditures settle, and of course there’s the other challenge of actually FINDING a system, but it was darned fun. If listening to my husband collapse in laughter at my (in)ability to play tennis was ANY indication at all. (So what if I kept falling down? I have a MEAN backhand, dammit.)

The Bacchanalian Birthday

OK, so first, thank you all for your comments and good wishes and crossed fingers, I do appreciate the virtual hugs and love and they help! Let’s get our chins up & tits out, it’s the weekend, I’m not dragging my anchor today, and I’m going to tell y’all about the Birthday Bacchanal we had last night.
For yes, whenever the anniversary of Elvis’ death rolls around, it is also the birthday of The Wo! The King of my world, anyway. And thank heavens he doesn’t have a penchant for white jumpsuits! Eesh! In any event, he wasn’t feeling up for a big celebration, so he sent me off to knit night on Thursday (his actual birthday), knowing we’d go out this weekend instead. I hadn’t really planned on it being so – Bacchanalian – but like they say – when in Rome! And seriously, I understand why those Romans wore togas. For the feasting! Draped sheets just don’t confine a gal when she’s waltzing through a multi-course meal!

We went to Pierpont’s last night with Momma Linda for dinner. I had squirreled away a couple gift cards this past year, and then my dear friend Kyra, upon hearing we were going there, whipped out her (very large) stack of customer loyalty cards and other various plastics, and bestowed upon me two additional gift cards she didn’t think she’d use. “Have a couple drinks on me,” she said. Um, you betcha?! Plus, Pierpont’s has a great email loyalty program, where you give them your anniversary and birthday, and they send you a coupon for a free entree (with purchase of another entree), up to $20/off. So I encouraged James to get whatEVER he really wanted. And get it all. I wanted him to experience the meal the way I’ve had so many rep dinners over the years – don’t worry about the check and savor every bite.

I think we accomplished that. We’d also discussed steaks since the last time he’d had one, and I firmly insisted that he get a filet. He always ends up getting a ribeye, or a t-bone, and then there was the dreadful porterhouse we shared on our anniversary, and none of those pieces of meat are ever as good as the filet, and it has reinforced in him a disappointment with beef. Well, he still sees it as too expensive, but I think he was pretty delighted with his blue-crab-topped/smoky-tomato-Bearnaise-sauce filet last night. Every single thing was impeccable. We had Asian beef carpaccio and flash-fried calamari for starters, we shared a grilled tomato salad with goat cheese, basil, and balsamic vinegar (holy mother was that awesome and I am so re-creating that recipe), and he also got a side of bourbon-candied sweet potatoes, that were perfection – just enough bite to them and not a soggy piece to be found, all infused with an essence of the bourbon candying that didn’t overwhelm, but with enough sweetness to complement the potato. That’s the rub, you know, you spend a ton of money, but every single thing was top-notch. I had two martinis, and after the week I’d had, a third or fourth might have actually removed some of the brain cells holding the memories, but then there would have been the whole walking-to-the-car thing (which let’s not lie, it was more like waddling by the time our two-hour meal was complete.)
Dessert – and yes, you have to have dessert – was also delish, accompanied by cappuccinos; James got the banana split, which was banana fritters served on top of hot fudge, with a side dish of ice cream – a chocolate chip, and then he substituted two scoops of the caramel-cashew, skipping the strawberry. Momma Linda got the creme brulee, which was also delicious, and I broke everyone’s expectations and got the bread pudding. I’m not normally a big bread-pudding fan – too many times it’s too soggy, or too dry, or overly sweet, or loaded with raisins – and yet something about the description (“white chocolate ganache and roasted peach coulis flambeed tableside with rum”)? Just said, “Jennifer, this is the dessert for you.” Holy mackerel, was it ever. I regretted not having a camera because they even put the “P” of their logo in dark chocolate on top – a perfect replica, some sort of computer-meets-chocolate magicry. And it was perfection. Firm, sweet, the right amount of moisture, the right amount of sauce, all the flavors coming together – my mouth is watering from the memory of it. And the service was excellent. Just enough checking in, keeping us hydrated, and ever-so polite. By far one of the best birthday dinners we’ve ever had together, and even though we ate way too much, it truly was a great way to end what had been a pretty rough week for all of us. MommaLinda’d had a crazed week at work as well, and James had his first week of school with the kids. My guess is next week will be a lot more normal, and that means – sigh – no Pierponts again. But, that’s what makes dinners like that so special!

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2025 PlazaJen: The Blog

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑