Pull……………BANG!

For Thanksgiving, we went up to Vanessa’s parent’s house in Llano. Where? Llano. It’s between Palmdale and Wrightwood. If you’ve ever looked at the San Gabriel mountains from San Dimas and said, “I wonder what’s on the other side?” it’s Llano. I left work early on Friday, picked Vanessa up, and then rushed over to my mom’s place. Well, I was planning on rushing, but it took an hour with all the traffic. We picked up my mom and rushed up the 15 freeway. Well, I was planning on rushing, but it took 2 hours. I knew it would be slow, so it wasn’t much of a surprise.

I was a little tired when we got there, but they already had the spa heated up and her dad offered me a glass of wine. Within 10 minutes I was relaxed as could be. It’s amazing when you get up there and there is no one around. No sound, no pollution, just twinkling lights and a warm spa out on the deck..

The next day (Thanksgiving) we rolled out of bed around 7:30 am. Early for me, but her dad woke up at 2:00 am to go to work, and Uncle Tim was already sealing the deck. I did some work on my laptop as I ate a bagel, drank some coffee, and wiped the cobwebs from my eyes. I started to feel insufficient sitting in the kitchen with the women, so I helped Tim work on the sliding glass doors. The three sliders went from hard to open to opening with your pinky in about an hour.

Tim pulled out the clay-pigeon launchers and the 12 gauge. After a couple of minutes and some instructions on how to shoot a shotgun I was yelling pull and firing away. I’ve shot guns before, but it’s been since high-school and never a shotgun. On my third shot I started hitting the targets about every other time. Fun! Then he showed me how to take the shotgun apart, lube it, and clean it.

Dinner was great with two turkeys and all of the regular fixin’s (stuffing, cranberry, mashed potatoes, gravy, olives, etc.). My mom made her Mmmlicious (the name we call it) which is yams with walnuts, spices, and marshmallows melted on top. Yummy.

After dinner, Uncle Tim was still restless, so he started staining the deck. I put up a new light fixture just so I wouldn’t look lazy. I think it turned out well. Vanessa’s brother Donald showed up after dinner, but kept to himself and stayed in the kitchen and the guestroom. Not a word from either of us.

For dessert Vanessa’s mom made pumpkin pie and her dad made a blueberry cheesecake. They were both delicious. After watching the sunset we headed home with my mom. A nice way to spend Thanksgiving.

Of all of the things to inspire me to write…

A lot has been going on and I keep thinking, “Oh, I should write about this”. Tonight, I finally couldn’t help myself. I came home tonight with a lot of energy, which is strange since I woke up at 5:00 AM to go into work early. So, back to my story. I ordered pizza on my way home (pineapple and pepperoni toppings, along with garlic knots, antipasto salad, buffalo wings, and a diet coke). I came home and saw the place was a mess. Before you start wring comments, it’s not Vanessa’s fault. She has been working hard and was studying for her Master’s final. For some reason I have a thing about the pizza guy seeing our house when it’s messy, so I tore into Super Cleaning Mode.

I was going to clean the house Saturday, but was way too lazy. Sunday we went to the 49er’s game. Great game despite the loss. So I start with the living room, then the clothes, then the coffee table. Finally I make it to the kitchen. We had recently bought some new Cascade product that promises spotless dishes without scrubbing the dishes first. Vanessa had a coupon, so we got it. I was in a hurry, but took my time to find the dishes that had baked on sauce, hardened-melted cheese, and bowls with dried stuff on the bottom. I turned the dishwasher on and walked away. An hour later I expected to open the dishwasher an be satisfied that hard food would continue to rule the world. I was wrong. The dishes were clean. Spotless even. Crazy. I’m still not over it.

Anyway, we are heading up to Vanessa’s parents for Thanksgiving. I’m really looking forward to it… except her bother, Donald, might be there. I can’t stand him. When I first met him I tried to be nice and start a conversation and he blew me off. I’ve tried to be nice to him several times since then, but he always takes advantage of it and raises himself to a new level of “jerk” (sorry to any of his relatives). There was one time I couldn’t stand it anymore and started posturing and giving him the “I’m going to kick your ass right now” look. He backed off and was somewhat human. Whatever.

I’m dragging Vanessa to the Fiona Apple concert on Saturday. I’m a little embarrassed to admit how much I like Fiona, but every time she has released an album I had just broken up with someone, so it really stuck with me. Vanessa’s not too excited about going, but she has promised not to say anything negative. Right Vanessa? I was able to score good tickets from Ticketmaster for the first time ever.

I’ve been busy at work and things are about to get a whole lot busier for me. Next Monday we are starting to move into the new freezer. For the next couple of months I will be attached to a computer at work and home. For all of my Wednesday BBQ friends get used to looking at the back of my laptop.

The king of the eyesores?

I saw the movie Garden State sometime last year and really liked the music, but forgot about it for a while. The movie was on HBO last week and I have watched it twice since then, so I bought the soundtrack to Garden State on Sunday. I really like this CD and I listen to it in my office at work (very lightly).

I looked up some of the lyrics to the songs yesterday and they are so odd that I try not to think of them while I listen to the songs. Examples of the lyrics:

Song: New Slang Artist: The Shins
Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth.
Only, I don't know how they got out, dear.
Turn me back into the pet that I was when we met.
I was happier then with no mind-set.

And if you'd 'a took to me like A gull takes to the wind.
Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree
And I’d a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well.

New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
Hope it's right when you die, old and bony.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely.

Song: Let Go Artist – Frou Frou
Drink up baby downAre you in or are you out?
Leave your things behind'
Cause it's all going off without you
Excuse me too busy you're writing a tragedy
These mess-ups
You bubble-wrap
When you've no idea what you're like

It gains the more it gives
And then it rises with the fall
So hand me that remote
Can't you see that all that stuff's a slideshow?
Such boundless pleasure
We've no time for later
Now you can't wait
You roll your eyes
We've twenty seconds to comply

You know the songs must be good if the lyrics are this weird.

Does that make James John Lennon?

I started to write a blog on Tuesday, when I stayed home sick, but all I did was write about being sick. How boring is that? I’ve been sick for two weeks know yuck. I’m sure I would be over it by know if I took better care of myself. Oh well.

Work has been fun. I really appreciate the company I work for and my position after working at other places. I was at work until after 8:15 pm tonight, but I didn’t mind. I had a meeting with the rest of the Finance managers that started at 5:00 and had a couple of things to over with the VP. Since the building was mostly empty, I stole a couple of chairs and swapped them with the crappy visitor chairs I had in my office. I don’t think anyone will notice the one’s that I stole.

We didn’t have a BBQ this week. This is the first time we didn’t have a Wednesday BBQ since we first started a year ago. I blame Reina. She’s the Yoko Ono of the group.

Halloween was great. Well, Halloween night sucked as a whole, but the party at James and Steve’s place kicked ass. Best party I can remember. Vanessa and I won a prize for having one of the best costumes. I’m not sure how many prizes were handed out, but I our costume was pretty good. I was Napoleon Dynamite and Vanessa was Deb (the girl with the sideways ponytail in the movie). We both had a great time. That’s all I have to say about that! What happens on Zenith street stays on Zenith street.



Dad is doing well. He wakes up at noon every day, loves his condo, and is having fun with his girlfriend. What else is there? Vanessa and I are planning on visiting him in July.

I still love my car. I don’t remember if I wrote about my new cell phone or not, but if I did then feel free to skip ahead to the next paragraph. In addition to doing everything, yes everything, it also works with my car. When I get into my car the car and phone recognize each other. Any phone calls mute my stereo and the person’s voice goes through my speakers. To make a phone call I just push a button on the steering wheel and say the person’s name. Good stuff. I can just leave my phone in my pocket or put it in a compartment. It’s great.

For those of you who skipped to this next paragraph, you missed the best part.

Later.