BHM

i am not entirely satisfied with my birmingham international airport experience today. the biggest problem is that apparently delta purchased the flight information monitors and won't let anyone else play with their toys. so all the monitors only show delta flight info. instead of sharing the leftover space, with say southwest who i'm flying with today, they have tomorrow's delta flight info. if there is anyone here today right now who needs to know tomorrow's delta info, i honestly pity them. that's a long layover since its not noon yet. i ended up having to flag down a southwest person to find out where my gate is. and i'm really just a do-it-yourselfer. maybe its my trust issues, maybe i just like to see it in print, or maybe i'm just ocd and want the option of casually checking and double checking the monitors, but i do not at all like having to rely on the airline people to tell me where to go. i did however find a fun shotglass to add to my collection (it says 'heart of dixie' but my camera phone couldn't quite capture such small letters) and a present/surprise for my andrew, which even though he doesn't visit here often, i will not share and maybe accidentally ruin the surprise.

smell factor update

for everyone who's asked, the unholy stench has disapated. we are left with just the normal odd smells that sometimes haunt old decrepit buildings

the timeline of a disaster

thirteen things about the unholy stench in the office yesterday week #14 1. it was somewhat my fault 2. the biggest boss in the office killed his bamboo plant. well, he didn't kill the plant yesterday, just gave up on it yesterday. and then tossed it, still in pot, into the copy room trash can 3. the administrative assistant and i happened to glance into the copy room trash can and see the very pretty pot sitting inside. we then reministed about the homeless men dumpster diving, which we habitually witness in the dumpster across the street from the office. we then weighed the similarities of dumpster diving and picking the very pretty pot out of the copy room trash can. the copy room trash can only had paper in it and so in the end, i picked out the discarded pot. 4. since the copy room trash can did not have a liner, and since it seemed likely that the bamboo plant in its death throws might be messy, i decided to clean the pot out in the kitchen trash can, just around the corner from the copy room. 5. the bamboo i pulled out of the pot was awful. the bottom half and roots were all rotted and uber slimy. it smelled rather foul. 6. i discovered the rocks holding it up were still full of water so i poured it down the kitchen drain. the water was putrid. i then tried to dump the rocks out in the trash and found the top layer was some how sealed so that nothing below them could come out. 7. the rotten, fetid smell coming out of the very pretty pot was getting so strong at that point that my eyes were watering and my nose burning and i was starting to gag. 8. i tossed the pot away into the kitchen trash can and fled back to the copy room. 9. the administrative assistant didn't know what was going on or where the smell was coming. she kept looking around thinking, 'wow, did i do that??' now, to me, if i was actually to blame, i think i would know right off. i would not have to glance around and wonder. and since she did have to do that, i assume she was in fact contributing to the overall office aromas. 10. the heat kicked on. air started to circulate. the smell increased exponentially. 11. we hosed the office down with spray stuff. we made coffee. we popped popcorn. 12. i fled upstairs but still seemed to smell it. in a fit of depression, i determined that the smell was somehow on my clothes. the administrative assistant and i hunted around the building for a solution. in the end, i wiped myself down with an orange scented clorox kitchen wipe. 13. the lawyer's secretary missed out on all of this. i'm not sure where she was but about an hour later, she happened by the administrative assistance's desk and mumbled under her breath, 'wow, (the crusty old codger of a lawyer i work for) smells bad today!' we were hard pressed to convince her that it wasn't her boss but some hedious nastiness coming out of the kitchen trash can. and i was genuinely surprised at how easily she jumped to the conclusion that the extra special smell was coming from her boss. hopefully the building has aired out some over night.

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weekend family fun

andrew and i had a great time this weekend choosing a pumpkin and scooping out its insides.

well, so, um, actually, i was in charge of colorful commentary and then standing far far away from the actual pumpkin innards.

mid adventure:

finished jack:

viva las vegas

since andrew's redeployment, our lives have been a series of strange and confusing and stressful events. the first event being that on my first day back to the office, my boss mentioned to me that our office was just as likely to be eliminated from the company as it was to be relocated. the odds on the status quo were staggeringly slim. strange rich white men higher up on the corporate ladder would be deciding shortly. in the meantime we braced for their decision by job hunting. some smaller fish took a couple of bites on my resume and then a rather big fish living in orange county, california called me up. the job and salary seemed to good to be true. i say this because deep down i was surprised they were calling me. i wasn't especially qualified for the job; they shouldn't have looked at my resume twice. but in the end, it was i who declined them. the strange rich white men higher up on my company's corporate ladder have decided to relocate my office to fabulous las vegas. andrew and i have decided to tag along for the ride. and really, i'm there all the time anyway, it is my home away from home. am i nervous? am i excited? am i scared? mostly i'm just tired. the last month has been kind of hard.

it could have been worse

there could have been a sleet storm.
something could have gone wrong with our permit and we could have all been arrested.
someone could have gotten injured.
so, see. it could have been worse.
but as it was, the walkathon for children's miracle network was a rather bigtime flop. very few people signed up to participate and some of them did not show up to walk. in the end though, we raised about $400 for sick kids. i know that every little bit counts, and i'm glad to have been a small part in helping out other people. also, several places in town donated some nice prizes, most of which are now left over and as i was the one who cleaned and packed everything up at the end of the day, i guess they are mine now. we were all winners.

i feel the same way

working on saturday is awful. working tomorrow will be worse. but then i get to go home...hooray!

a bag for all seasons

thirteen things that are always in my bag/purseonly some of which make me seem neuroticweek #13 some of these are just standard issue girl purse items. some of them are because of my traveling. and some of them are just my need for control or preparedness or something. 1. the normal array of gums, mints, sucking candies, etc 2. a very particular fortune cookie fortune: you have a strong desire for a home and your family comes first. 3. i currently have four different lipsticks, a tinted lip balm, a chapstick in a chapstick cozy attached to my key ring and a very important life saving lip balm (hydro care labello). most of these come and go except for the labello. i cannot go on without it. 4. a ton of blue ink pens, precise v7 type. calculator. post its. these are for work. i like specific things and sometimes i get to a place and they don't have them. so i've learned to bring with me. 5. standard pink nail file 6. wallet and checkbook, though as you'll see below, i don't know why i keep the checkbook so close 7. inhaler 8. bath and body works anti bacterial moisturizing hand lotion, warm vanilla sugar flavored 9. purell hand sanitizer, travel sized. i also sometimes have hand wipes. most brands are ok but the actual wipe is just to big and wet. i could clean a whole airport with one but all i want is to wash off my tray table and armrest. B&BW used to make a scented anti bacterial hand wipe and i dearly loved them. sadly, its been discontinued. 10. bach's rescue remedy. its these little drops made out of flower oils and it just calms you down. sometimes that is just the thing i need. 11. ipod 12. receipts. i'm terrible at writting things down into my checkbook in a timely manner. but i rarely lose my receipts. i also have to keep all of my receipts for my expense reports for traveling. or at least if i want to get reimbursed, i have to keep them. 13. a small hulk action figure...its part scentimental value and part comic relief: puny human, hulk smash.

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madam, i'm adam

"lefties are more likely to process information from both sides of the brain. this may be the reason many of us are fascinated by palindromes - phrases that read the same backwards or forwards."

i've never met anyone fascinated by a palindrome. well, at least not since third grade. how odd.

soy crumbles

i am not a vegetarian. and while i do eat a lot of fruits and veggies, i don't think anyone who knows me would mistake me for a vegetarian. grilled dead animals are just too yummy. but at the same time, i am strangely fond of trying vegetarian recipes and do not dislike faux meats. the best thing someone invented/processed/marketed is soy crumbles. they are in the freezer section nearby the boca burgers. its a bag of what honestly looks like frozen already cooked ground beef and you can use it in recipes. i think there are other flavors, maybe some sausage and shredded chicken. i've only tried the ground beef so i cannot vouch for the others. it is however great in lasagna and shepherd's pie. i would not wish anyone to try it just by itself; the texture is a little off and i think that would be very noticable if it weren't hiding in a casserole. so you can use soy crumbles in this dish or you can use the real deal.

enchilada casserole

1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 t ground cumin
2 garlic cloves
4 t chili powder
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 cup water
2 cups taco sauce
12 corn tortillas
1 lb jack shredded, or really as much as you want, i like it extra cheesy
1 cup sour cream

preheat oven to 375. cook beef and onion until brown; drain. add next 6 ingredients. simmer 10 minutes uncovered. pour 1/2 cup taco sauce into casserole. arrange a layer of tortillas to cover. pour 1/2 cup sauce evenly over tortillas. spoon in beef mixture, top with sour cream. sprinkle on half cheese. arrange ramaining tortillas, overlapping ontop of cheese. top with remaining taco sauce and remaining cheese. cover with foil and bake 40 minutes. remove foil and bake 5 more minutes. mom makes this in a 12x9 pan with only the two layers. i have a round casserole about the size of a tortilla so i make it with a lot of layers. obviously if you are going to do my version, you need to pace yourself when spooning in the sauce, meat, and cheese. enjoy!

apparently my rental car could be worse