Things I've Learned..

..since moving to Orange County

• yellow lights mean nothing.
• leggings are not a crime.
• the sun makes mornings worth meeting.
• a good coffee shop is hard to come by.

BABY SHAMPOO SAVES LIVES

It’s true.
I learned this the hard way…

My lovely aunt made a delicious meal last night: new mexican chili pork chops something or other with grilled onions. YUM, right?
After we’d finished eating and were just sitting around the table, I made the mistake of rubbing my already sensitive eyes and in doing so, introduced them to the chili powder I’d been handling. My eyes started watering a little uncontrollably, okay A LOT UNCONTROLLABLY, and my uncle says “I HAVE THE SOLUTION!” and returns with Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Shampoo.

“what?”
“it’s optometrist recommended!”
“okay. okay. what do I have to do?!”

So I washed my eyelids with the baby shampoo and voila, practically good as new.
My only regret is not having my camera handy because my mascara was everywhere and I looked like I’d been crying over something horrendous. sigh. It’s a shame that image is lost forever.

So. Lesson of the day? Baby shampoo is safe for your eyes.. well, safe enough. Still, keep your eyes shut while washing, use a HOT washcloth, and rinse really well.

…….But, generally, it’s not the smartest idea to put your fingers in your eyeballs if you’ve been eating something covered in chili powder.. just saying :)

xo

This Week's Lunches..

 
February 21, 2010 this weeks lunches…

I decided today to try to plan ahead and pack lunches.. so I bought some chicken and made chicken salad.. then packed up my extra celery and grapes, threw in some pita chips and packed it all up with some red peppers, a few apples, clementines, and yogurt along with some leftover fried feta my aunt made last night, and I have four brown bag lunches in the fridge ready to go for this week.. I’m actually really excited about it. I only made four, which means I’ll still have one day to splurge. Instituting “pizza friday” this week :) YUM

I went to a new dance place last night, but we were follow-heavy and the crowd was a lot older than me :) I was absolutely the youngest person there, and probably the ONLY person under 30. I don’t mind it all that much though, the longer you’ve been dancing the better you are right?
Tonight, I’m FINALLY going to TopCats and I’m really excited about it. I’ll try to take pictures, but sometimes it’s awkward. I’ll try.

Now I’ve just got to finish my laundry and PUT MY CLOTHES AWAY! I wish that part wasn’t SO hard for me. I need to develop a piling system that works, b/c really truly honestly I can’t hang up my clothes. I don’t know why. And I don’t know how to change it. I’m a piler, not a filer.

I really am going to try, but I’d bet money against myself that all my nicely folded, separated clothes will still be piled on my chair this time next week. What can you do.

The Car Saga Continues

sort of.
actually.. it’s ending.
fingers crossed.
we took it to the shop last night, and today they worked on it..

what was wrong, you ask?
oh, please, I’d love to share.
well.
a. the water pump had a crack in it, and it was leaking.
b. the thermostat was shot.
c. the radiator needed to be flushed (again.. still had two kinds of coolant in it)
d. there was some sort of electrical connection something issue which was causing the gear shifter to lock up in park
e. the lovely CLUNKING noise that started off small and unobtrusive had grown to a really annoying squeaky clunkclunkclunk. Like my car was groaning whenever I turned.. apparently, that noise was caused by the “tire hub” (is that a thing? I don’t know) the gist of it.. I think.. is that, my tire “area” was loose and the whole thing could have fallen off. yea. wouldn’t that have been fun?


so.. they fixed it all.
at least that’s what John told me. He said he took it for a test-drive around and the clunk was gone and it didn’t overheat, and I’m guessing he was able to get it into DRIVE to do that ;)
tomorrow I’ll go and pick it up and pay them $858 and some change…

sigh. LOTS OF MONEY but, I get it… they did a lot to it.

and if that means I don’t have to fear for my life-safety every time I get into my car, it’s worth it.  if that means I can have some sense of freedom again, it’s worth it. if it means I don’t have to do any major work to my car for the next few years (PLEASE), then it’s worth it.

please oh please be worth it.

week two: check!

Yesterday marked the end of my first two weeks at my new job! I can’t believe it’s been two weeks. I’m still trying to get into the rhythm of things, but I’m still very happy and enjoying being there.

Highlights from this past week:
1. THE SUN CAME BACK!
2. I made it out to go dancing Thursday night, yahoo :)
3. Last night (Friday), I met up with Trish & Zach for dinner down on Balboa.. I love those crazy kids. It was so so good to see them.
4. My car is still acting up. I’m going to drive it as little as possible (except, I just decided I needed a Calzone from up the road.. I could have just had cereal but where’s the fun in that??)
5. This afternoon, I went to a Family BBQ and had a really great time reconnecting and hanging out. Lots of fun. Tonight, I’m hanging out with the Olympics, and perhaps some laundry.
6. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to check out Newport Church and see what it’s like, then take my aunt and uncle out to eat :)

then, I guess I’ll start all over again.
week two: check!

RettyRooooo

I spent some time with the Moyers boys tonight! We had a good time.

superbowl sunday

oh hey! :) how’s it going.

yesterday… was. stressful. not going to lie. I spent the majority of my morning trying to fix my car, and then almost all of the afternoon/evening trying to remedy all the mistakes I’d make whilst “fixing my car” that morning.

I made quite a few. I don’t even really feel up to rehashing through it all.. suffice it to say, it was a learning experience, and I haven’t driven it yet. I’m afraid to, quite frankly. But this afternoon, I’m going to try to take a little test run over to Huntington Beach to go to a Superbowl gathering at Tim & Joy’s… pray for my little car. please.

I hate cars. I hate fixing cars. I hate car problems I hate having to deal with it. I don’t enjoy it at all. no no no.

but last night, Casey & Lauren came to visit! We had a wonderful time. When they got here, we went out for dinner and caught up. It was so SO good to see them. A little piece of home :)

Casey & Lauren at Newport Beach Brewing Co.

This morning, we slept in and walked down to the beach and along the beach until we ended up at Alta Coffee. Casey joined us and we had breakfast & sat out on the patio. It was such a nice, leisurely morning. A great start after my ridiculous day yesterday. They’ve gone now, and I miss them already. Come back soon!

p.s. Casey has a new WEBSITE up and running and it’s wonderful, so go say hello and enjoy his music. and I can’t link to Casey without gushing about Lauren, so leave her some love too :)

Last Monday, I was walking upstairs and saw this:

Uncle Keith in his studio, working on a painting for a Haiti Relief Auction.

It’s so fun to watch him. He’s a teacher, it’s what he does. So he talked me through everything he was doing and why he was doing it. Where he was gathering his inspiration from and how he was composing his layout.. I just watched him work. :)

Friday night, I went out to Tapas in Newport for a 60th bday party with Tim & Joy. This is the only photo I took that really turned out at all:

They danced to live music during our dinner. So fun. Afterwards, we had a salsa lesson and open dancing for an hour or so. I hadn’t done latin in a long time.. and I remember why. The songs are sooo long and it’s a real workout. I’ll take wcs over salsa/chacha anyday. But it was still fun to mix it up.

So, with that, I’m off to finish up some things around the house before I venture out to HB with my silly unreliable car that freaks me out. I’m already getting a little tense just thinking about it, but I’m going to be brave. You can’t fix something until you know what’s wrong with it, right? It will be fine. It will be fine.. It will all be fine.

just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

STUPID CAR THINGS

my car hates me.

I kept putting off getting coolant.
and last night, I paid for it.
uuuguggggghhh
I went to chick fil a
YUM right? just frustrating.
while in line, I was just sitting, waiting, and my car was overheating.
so I turned it off..
then the line moved up, so I turned it on, and it died.
so I turned it on again, and the rpm meter thing freaked out.. and the little light that lights up when it’s in drive started flickering
and then the check engine light came on.
I finally got it to start, and got back on the road.. but got stuck at a light.
and my car died again.
it wouldn’t start. so I turned on my hazards and my heart almost beat out of my chest and my hands were so shaky.
I didn’t know what to do.

after two tries, it started
and I pulled off on the next street into a 7-11
called my dad
he thought I was overreacting, as he usually does (as I usually am…) ha
and told me to just try to start it up and drive straight home. I told him I was letting it cool down. we went through possibilities of what it could be.. and I ate my food in the parking lot.
when I finally went to try to start it again, it started up just fine, but my gear shifter locked up
so I couldn’t take it out of park.
SHOOT ME IN THE FACE.
he said “put your foot on the break, and push the button on the shifter in all the way, and shake it back and forth, it got lodged somehow”
so I’m putting all my weight on the brake and using all my force to wiggle this thing… to no avail. it wouldn’t move.
my dad says “okay. turn it off. call your uncle jeff”
“I don’t have his number”
“why don’t you have his number?”
“I mean. I have it. it’s on a piece of paper on the dining room table…”
…
“can’t you text it to me?”
“I don’t have it”
“can mom?”
“she’s not here”
cue freak out.
arrrgh. still at 7-11. dad’s trying to talk me down. I’m a little. frantic.
5 minutes later, I tried again.
and it started up and I got it into reverse
and took off.. took back roads (well. not really. I just drove on roads that were free and tried to get my speed up b/c that cooled the engine down)
my gps wasn’t working very well b/c the sky signal was weak.
so I didn’t know where I was going.. every time I slowed down the temperature gauge went up
bah. not a fun night.

I made it back here, finally.. and parked in the driveway but I’m not entirely to one side, there was another car and I just wanted to get here and be done with it.
I am home.
BUT
the driveway slopes downward
you have to have a guest pass to park in the lot, which is where I’ve been parking.
but after you’re there for so long, you get a warning anyway
since my aunt and uncle are gone, they told me to park in the driveway to “throw the patrol guy off my scent”
hah
I didn’t even think about if my car didn’t start in the morning what I’m going to do with it in the driveway blocking BOTH cars in the garage.
so I went out there right after I got home and inside, per my dad’s request, to move it over slightly
it started up, but the stupid shifter locked up on me again.
sigh
I’m HOPING that when it cools down, it will let me move it up to flat ground so I can put water in it. I really think that would solve this big stupid mess.
otherwise, I don’t know, they’ll have to tow it out of the driveway? how dumb is that.
it should start. It haaaaas to start.
cut to this morning:
I was able to move it.. and get it out of the driveway onto flat ground.
I put water in, and bought coolant and oil and wiper wash
I HATE this stuff

these are the kind of things that I always just called my dad for and he’d either fix it or come to my rescue
I guess knowing that even my aunt and uncle were out of town and there really wasn’t anyone I could call was the scary part

I got my chick-fil-A.. but AT A COST

PHOTOS Finally!

but don’t be mad, I’ve been horrible about taking my camera with me.

quick recap/update:
my first day of work was today & it was great :) I’m still happy. so it’s all good, so far.
I did catch a cold. bleh. so I’m trying to get over that.
I didn’t go dancing Sunday night, I went to church w/Casey & met some of his roommates, then we all went out to coffee. Fun fun fun.
Casey & Lauren will be in town this weekend & I’m SO EXCITED TO SEE THEM.
planning to go dancing weds & thurs nights.. if working full time doesn’t drain me.
today I got cable in my room! woo yay cable guy! tivo is up and running and I really can’t complain about a thing right now.

:)
more later. love to you all.
xo