Today I shipped off two more small boxes of rubber stamps I sold on Ebay. I've actually been pretty successful getting rid of many of my old stamps online. I just don't have the time - or the space - for the hobby any more. I miss the stamps I've sold, but I know they're going to good homes; to people who will enjoy stamping with them. It's also nice having a little extra money coming in right now! This way I can justify buying a couple magazines every once in a while, or maybe an iced coffee beverage at Starbucks.
journalling online since 1999
Recent Entries
Just My Luck and Other Stories
How Does My Garden Grow?
Operation: Tame the Wilderness: Part 4
Later is Today
And Then, the Phone Rang
Out of the Blue, Part Two
The Joys of Home Ownership
Operation: Tame the Wilderness, Part 3
Operation: Tame the Wilderness, Part 2
The Trout Parade
100 Words
6.7.2005
June 04
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June 2005
© Lisa-Marie Jordan (alias Hez)
June 30, 2005
Just My Luck and Other Stories
transcribed from handwritten journal entry
Wouldn't you know it. My summer class (Corporate Law) doesn't start until 6:10 p.m., but I came over to CalPoly early so I could pick up the textbook, and guess what? That's right! The bookstore closed at 4pm. It was 4:15. Gah!
Also, I forgot my watch.
Also, also, it's hotter than hell, and even though I'm wearing a tank top and capris I'm still sweating like a whore in church!
Not exactly the way I planned to start my first day of class! Oh, well, at least I found this nice, relaxing, shaded spot to sit and wait for class to start.
In other news, I attended the CAPA Convention in Folsom last weekend. It was okay, unless you count the crick in my neck and the cramp in my left foot from the nearly six hours of driving, and the footlong crack on the passenger side of my windshield from the ginormous rock a semi-truck threw at me. Other than those things, yeah, it was great! I got to hang out with Former Cube-Mate, Eve, and Spunky Blonde Chick, which was surreal, but fun nonetheless.
I stayed at the Lake Natoma Inn where the Con was being held, and while it was a nice hotel, I don't know that I'd give it a glowing review. (They did, however have Nick, so I was able to watch "Memory Blank" Friday evening - squeeee!) I've had better hotel food, for sure, but in all fairness, the staff did seem a little harried, no doubt due to the fact that they were hosting our Conference as well as throwing no less that five weddings on Saturday alone!
The Con itself was great. There were several interesting seminars to take (of which I attended the one on Mold Litigation and Electronic Discovery, as well as the mandatory Ethic session), a great keynote speaker during (a rather lackluster) lunch, lots of nifty stuff from the vendors, and terrific before and after parties.
Yes, it was nice: it was nice to get out of town - waaaayyyyy out of town! - for a few days; it was nice to order room service (though not stellar, as I mentioned earlier) and not have to cook the food or clean the dishes; it was nice to soak in a bathtub I wouldn't have to clean out afterwards; and it was really, really nice to see some old friends!
Yeah, it was good.
So, now I'm sitting in the room waiting for class to start, and decided to write a List of 10 Random Observations:
1. Campus is really quiet during the summer session. Particularly in the late afternoon.
2. Shoulda brought some breath mints. Or gum. And some Blistix.
3. Shoulda brought my laptop.
4. And maybe my walkman.
5. And, duh!, my watch!
6. Okay, either I've lost weight or they finally made these desks for fat people. I'm pretty sure it's the latter.
7. The hills are a lot steeper than I remember them being.
8. Good Lord! It's Thursday already!
9. Crap! I totally forgot to tape The Cut and Hit Me, Baby, One More Time. Dang it!
10. I really need to redecorate my websites. Complete overhaul! I'm bored with both of them. I found a couple really cool layouts, but they were for Wordpress. I don't think I can use Wordpress with Yahoo! Webhosting. I don't really feel like moving. I tried that before, and it was a huge pain in the butt.
And, last but not least, random waiting-for-class-to-start haiku:
The four of us sit
silently waiting for class;
it should begin soon.
June 28, 2005
How Does My Garden Grow?
Very well, actually! I went out this morning to soak down my grass in the front yard, and discovered, much to my delight, that I'm actually growing grass!
The Early Girls are looking good, too! Check out the size of these tomatoes! And, there's several more blossoms that will become tomatoes soon!
The bell peppers are doing great as well. We've got a couple good-sized peppers, and dozens of buds!
All-in-all, I'm pleased with the progress of both the garden and the lawn. It's really very satisfying to grow and maintain plants. I can understand why people say gardening and yard work in general can be relaxing and therapeutic! Planting and Plant Updates
Patio Tomatoes
Also our pepper plant is doing really well. It has several blossoms on it, and a few little tiny green peppers!
The rest of the back garden is doing well, too. Check it out!
I'm pleasantly surprised that these flowers came back. There were all but dead a few weeks ago, having been nearly devoured by some as yet unidentified garden pest. We trimmed back the dead flowers and leaves, sprayed it with some soap spray, and gave it water. Apparently, it worked!
The bees really like the lavender - the bush is covered with them! I tried to get a shot, but they're a bit blurry.
So, there I was, finished with the yardwork, enjoying a bottle of Crystal Geyser and and my beautiful backyard, and looking forward to working on a new Danny Phantom fanfic (Because I finally finished "Fenton Family Secrets" and "Fenton Family Feud"! Yay!), when the phone rang. It was a law firm I sent my resume to last week. They want to interview me for the job. Tomorrow morning. 9:00 a.m. Gah!
Okay, it's not much, and it's not coming up everywhere, but, hey, it's grass and it's growing, so it's a start!
Later I went around to the back to check on the progress of the veggies my mom and I have growing in pots along the side of the house. If we learn nothing else about "Container Gardening" it's to only have one plant per pot. Previously we've put two or three plants in one large pot, but they've never done terribly well. This year, we put one plant in each pot, and they're all doing fabulously! Check it out:
This is the Patio Tomato plant. So far we've got a couple little tomatoes and several blossoms.
The Early Girls are looking good, too! Check out the size of these tomatoes! And, there's several more blossoms that will become tomatoes soon!
The bell peppers are doing great as well. We've got a couple good-sized peppers, and dozens of buds!
All-in-all, I'm pleased with the progress of both the garden and the lawn. It's really very satisfying to grow and maintain plants. I can understand why people say gardening and yard work in general can be relaxing and therapeutic!
June 23, 2005
Operation: Tame the Wilderness: Part 4
Monday morning I did some yardwork, and planted some grass seed in the bare spot in the front yard. The bare patch has been driving me nuts for quite a while, so I bought some seed specifically designed for bare spots, and went to work. I dug out the weeds that were spreading all over the place, trimmed up the few islands of grass that were growing there, and leveled the dirt. Then I topped it with some potting soil because our so-called "dirt" is really no more than rocks, clay and sand. I sprinkled grass seed all over the area, topped it with some more potting soil, and gave it a sprinkling of water.
I don't know if it's going to work or not - I haven't seen anything coming up yet - but I've been watering the spot every morning, along with some other dry patches, and all-in-all, the front yard is looking pretty darn good!
This morning after I trimmed and mowed the front and back lawn, I went around and took update pictures of our veggie plants and flowers. The tomato plants are both doing really well! The patio tom, the smaller of the two, looks good, but doesn't have any fruit on it yet. The other one - which is huge! - already has a few good-sized green tomatoes on it. I'm pretty sure it's an Early Girl.
Patio Tomatoes
Early Girl tomatoes
Also our pepper plant is doing really well. It has several blossoms on it, and a few little tiny green peppers!
The rest of the back garden is doing well, too. Check it out!
I'm pleasantly surprised that these flowers came back. There were all but dead a few weeks ago, having been nearly devoured by some as yet unidentified garden pest. We trimmed back the dead flowers and leaves, sprayed it with some soap spray, and gave it water. Apparently, it worked!
The other flowers we put in smaller pots have always looked fabulous.
Mom cut back these wild rose bushes two weeks ago, and they're starting to come back. Usually they only bloom once a year, so I'm surprised to see them blooming again.
The lavender - which smells scrumptious, by the way! - is still a big hit among the Buzz and Stinger Set.
Cheers!
June 18, 2005
Later is Today
For those of you, my gentle readers, who don't read my blog and have been dying from curiosity, the interview I had on Tuesday went okay. Afterwards I had lunch with two former co-workers downtown and browsed a few shops before heading home. It was a nice day, but that's not what I'm here to write about.
For the past few years I've been just floating along in life. Not just with my career (and frankly I don't consider "Paralegal" to be my "career", or even anything other than just a job; I don't even know what my "career" is, or if I even have one, but I'm pretty certain this isn't it.), but with my health as well.
I know I need to lose weight. I'm 227 lbs as of this morning, and at only 5' 5" tall, I know that's not good. I know this. I know I need to start exercising more, and I know I need to be stricter with my diet. I know I need to quit smoking, and I really need to cut back on my drinking. I know this. I know all of this. I've known all of this for years, but I keep saying, oh, well, I'll start exercising on Monday, I'll go back on the South Beach Diet after I finish off this Mac-n-cheese and pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, I won't drink an entire bottle of wine by myself anymore, and I'll quit smoking as soon as this pack is finished. I promise.
This morning I went down to Long's drugs for a Heart Watch health screening. I had a total cholesterol - which includes the "good" HDL and the "bad" LDL and Triglyceride Level - full diabetic test (HbA1c Level), a full liver screening (ALT level and AST level), and an allergy test, (the results of which I'll be receiving via e-mail). Now, I knew it might be baddish. The last time I had these tests run was about five years ago. I was a quite a bit lighter then, I was exercising regularly, and I was kind-a sort-a watching my diet. Over the past five years or so, I've let stuff pretty much go to pot. Eh, I'll do it later, I'd tell myself. I'll exercise, eat properly, stop smoking and watch the drinking later. I'll do it all later.
Well, kiddies, later is today.
My total cholesterol is 211. (Five years ago it was 182.) Pardon my curse, Father, but Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ! 211?!! That's bad. That's really bad! My "good" cholesterol level was 52, which is well within the proper range, but the "bad" cholesterol level was 139. It's supposed to be under 100. Ouch. (For those of you keeping score, my triglyceride was 102, well below the recommended 150.)
Now the good news is that my diabetic test was pretty good: 5.3. According to the chart, 6 and below is non-diabetic, but still, 5.3 is close. Too close, considering my family history of diabetes. Also, my liver function is good. I worried about that more than the other stuff because one isn't supposed to drink alcohol while taking Vitamin Z, but I do all the bloody time. So far, so good on that, though.
Still, later is today and I have to change my wicked ways. I've already made one change, and that is quitting smoking. I had my last ciggie butt Tuesday afternoon, and haven't bought another pack since. Yes, it is killing me (pun intended). Yes, I've been freaking out. Yes, I'm going out of my freakin' mind! But, I no longer have a choice. I have to stop. So I did. Everything else, I'm still working on. I can't buy crap at the grocery store anymore. No more snack foods. No more Tuna Helper or other pre-packaged meal. No more fruit juice (which apparently contains a lot of sugar, which the phlebotomists told me is a likely culprit to my high "bad" cholesterol level). That sucks, because I'm addicted as can be to Oceanspray's Cranberry Juice and Tea! But, no more of that. I can have all the fruit I want, but no more juice.
*Sigh* Being a grown-up sucks ass.
June 13, 2005
And Then, the Phone Rang
Ahh, Monday! For most people Monday means going to work in a stuffy office doing a job they despise with people they can't stand. For me, Monday means one thing: yardwork! Yeah, it has the word "work" in it, but it's really not so bad. I'm out in the fresh air and sunshine, I can listen to CDs or audio books while I work, I don't have anyone bitching at me to work harder or faster, and when I'm all done, I get to sit on my back patio with a big glass of ice water, and enjoy the fruits of my labour. This morning being Monday, was no exception. I did the front first: pulled weeds, trimmed shrubs, edged and mowed the lawn, and swept the sidewalk. Lord, but that's hot, hard, back-breaking work! But it's so worth it when, in the end, I can look back on a perfectly manicured lawn! The back yard is much easier to do - for one thing it's flat, and it doesn't have to be perfect because no one by myself and my mom see it. After I finished, I went around and took pictures of my pretty, pretty garden:
The bees really like the lavender - the bush is covered with them! I tried to get a shot, but they're a bit blurry.
I love the bright purple colour on the lavender! Plus, it smells so nice!
My dusty miller is in bright yellow bloom right now, too. They butterflies really seem to like it. Bummer they all fluttered away when I tried to get a shot of them.
Oh, this poor tomato plant! We didn't get any watering done yesterday, and it was darn hot! Luckily it perked right up after we gave it some water this morning.
Yay! Our first little tomato!
This is a patio tomato plant - developed for apartment and condo dwellers who want to grow a small garden on their patio - it's got some buds, but no tomatoes yet.
The peppers are looking pretty good - it's growing nice a big, and it's got several buds on it - however, something has been munching on the leaves.
Ah ha! I discovered the culprit: the smallest snail I've ever seen was hiding under one of the leaves.
So, there I was, finished with the yardwork, enjoying a bottle of Crystal Geyser and and my beautiful backyard, and looking forward to working on a new Danny Phantom fanfic (Because I finally finished "Fenton Family Secrets" and "Fenton Family Feud"! Yay!), when the phone rang. It was a law firm I sent my resume to last week. They want to interview me for the job. Tomorrow morning. 9:00 a.m. Gah!
So, now I'm nervous. It wouldn't be so bad, but I'm interviewing with one of the attorneys - the first name on the letterhead no less! I haven't had a job interview since I interviewed for the job at AMBerland. I'm way out of practice. I hope I don't make a complete idiot out of myself!
Ah, well. I have to keep reminding myself that it's no big deal. I don't have to take the job, even if they offer it to me. Unless it's really fantastic, and I get paid a lot of money, get really good health, dental and vision benefits, and at least two weeks vacation. Sure I may seem overly demanding, but I've got a B.S. degree a Paralegal certificate, tons of experience, and quite frankly, I'm not getting any younger. I'm sure as hell not starting at the bottom again! And, I'm not taking a temp job again, either. Sure it worked out okay the last time, but I'm in no hurry to go back to work right now, so temp work will be a dead last resort for me.
I'll let you know how it goes.
June 7, 2005
Out of the Blue, Part Two
Okay. It's been over ten years now since my Ex and I split up and I moved to California. Not quite a year after I moved, the Jerk had knocked up his little whore and was getting ready to marry her. (Marriage and children were something he insisted he never wanted, and told me the reason he was dumping me was because I did. Go figure.) Yeah, at first I was writing to him, and talking on the phone with him, and being "friends" with him, but I finally got a freakin' clue, and realized if I ever wanted to go on with my own life, I had to stop being friends with him. So, sent back his letters, and didn't give out my new phone number when I moved. It was over. For me, anyway. Now, every few years or so, he sends me an e-mail asking how I am. How's my life, how am I doing, would I like to correspond with him, what's my phone number, etc.
The first time he wrote, it was a bit creepy - for one thing I was wondering how the hell he found me online, and for another, he's married, so why is he trying to contact me? He went on to tell me all about his life, his wife, his two kids (because despite the fact that he never wanted to have kids, it turned out having just one kid wasn't enough!), his job, his testicular cancer (hee, sometimes karma is sweet!*), blah, blah, blah.
Why does he think I would care? I mean, sure I'm glad he didn't die from testicular cancer, but we're not together anymore, we haven't been together for ten years ! And besides he dumped me! Gah!
It took me a couple days to decide, but I finally deleted that first e-mail without answering. So, now he's e-mailed me again.
This time he didn't provide any sordid details of his life, only to say that things are "complicated". I admit I'm darn curious! Is he divorced? Is he back in therapy again? Is he totally bald now? Yeah, I'm curious, but no, I don't really care.
Why doesn't he just leave me alone? He dumped me, totally walked out on me, and took up with that whore, so why does he keep bugging me? Does he honestly think I'm going to be excited to hear from him? That I'll be thrilled? Well, I'm not. It's over, and I want it to just stay over. Gah! It's annoying and frustrating.
David, if you ever come across this as you wander through cyber space, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but please don't try to contact me anymore. You have your life, and I have mine. The End.
* Actually I kinda take that back. I really wouldn't wish anything bad to happen to him. Or anyone. Really.
The first time he wrote, it was a bit creepy - for one thing I was wondering how the hell he found me online, and for another, he's married, so why is he trying to contact me? He went on to tell me all about his life, his wife, his two kids (because despite the fact that he never wanted to have kids, it turned out having just one kid wasn't enough!), his job, his testicular cancer (hee, sometimes karma is sweet!*), blah, blah, blah.
Why does he think I would care? I mean, sure I'm glad he didn't die from testicular cancer, but we're not together anymore, we haven't been together for ten years ! And besides he dumped me! Gah!
It took me a couple days to decide, but I finally deleted that first e-mail without answering. So, now he's e-mailed me again.
This time he didn't provide any sordid details of his life, only to say that things are "complicated". I admit I'm darn curious! Is he divorced? Is he back in therapy again? Is he totally bald now? Yeah, I'm curious, but no, I don't really care.
Why doesn't he just leave me alone? He dumped me, totally walked out on me, and took up with that whore, so why does he keep bugging me? Does he honestly think I'm going to be excited to hear from him? That I'll be thrilled? Well, I'm not. It's over, and I want it to just stay over. Gah! It's annoying and frustrating.
David, if you ever come across this as you wander through cyber space, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but please don't try to contact me anymore. You have your life, and I have mine. The End.
* Actually I kinda take that back. I really wouldn't wish anything bad to happen to him. Or anyone. Really.
lmj (alias hez)