This is not like me

I normally don't have strange things to write about. My life is pretty much oh-hum and mundane by all accounts. So what happened to me this morning I found to be funny and not like me. It left me in pain and with a mess to clean up.

I was on my laptop checking whatever I check on a Sunday morning and I realized I heard my stomach grinding so I decided to make myself breakfast. I fried two eggs in oil and made toast, cut two slices of tomato. I created my open faced eggs and tomato on toast, positioning the eggs on top of the slices of tomato instead of the other way around like I normally do, placed it on a napkin and moved back into the bedroom where the TV was on and I was intending on doing my taxes. I sat down and had maybe two bites of my sandwich when the hot eggs slid off of the top of the toast and on top my left foot. The eggs were still pretty hot and my foot at the insole began to burn. A few choice interjections later and I'm scooping up the broken egg off of my foot, my bedspread and then I move all the mess back into the kitchen while hobbling on my one burnt foot. I wipes off the oil and egg from my foot, ate the toast with the tomatoes and threw away the eggs knowing it had too much cat fur upon it. I drank a glass of orange juice and then went back into the bedroom.

Now, as I'm gathering my information to prepare my tax return, my foot is in pain and atleast I'm not as hungry as I was before.

Some Saturday Nights I Won't Give Up

Elton John once wrote a song about Saturday night. It was set in a bar and he was blowing off steam, I guess. I had that same opportunity this past Saturday night, but I decided to pass. There was a big ole karaoke happening at Alex's Bar in Long Beach and I could of gone, but I wasn't feeling it. I stayed home and made meatloaf and green beans with bacon for dinner instead. I also decided to pass up the opportunity to date a man freshly retired from the Marines. He decided I wasn't even good enough the way I was for him and immediately began to talk about changing me. And that turned me off about him. Just because your life changed 100% doesn't mean mine needs to. Glad you made it to Long Beach and have a nice life.

Happy New Year!

It's 6:30AM and I'm up watching KTLA channel 5 in Los Angeles in HD in my warm bed waiting for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade to start. I already watched the rerun of the 2009 parade this morning and now the preview of this year's parade is on.

The nice part about working for a financial institution is having the day off.

Later this evening, I'll be going to a bbq joint in Corona to watch a friend's band.

2009 Die Die Die!

Thank goodness it's only a few more days away from this year being history. A decade in review:

2000 - major surgery 6/23/00 #2
2001 - bought my first new car (2001 Chevy Cavalier, blue)
2001 - drove cross country for the first time
2003 - quit my job of 10 years
2003 - took a management role at the mortgage company
2003 - car accident, wrecked and repaired
2003 - I got braces
2004 - bought a new car (2005 Chevy Equinox, blue)
2004 - refinanced my home into a 5 year fixed/6 month Libor loan.
2005 - I took home two kittens
2005 - my dad died
2005 - took an analyst's role at the same mortgage company
2005 - the braces came off my teeth
2006 - son graduated high school
2006 - home burglarized
2007 - the mortgage company I worked at went BK
2007 - laid off from work
2008 - mortgage company folded
2008 - became a contractor/business consultant
2008 - car accident that totaled my vehicle
2008 - bought a used car (2007 Chevy Equinox, gray)
2008 - ended a 5 year affair
2009 - my Libor mortgage note adjusted... downward! HAHA
2009 - laid off from work
2009 - mom had heart surgery for the umteenth time
2009 - took an role at a credit union

This is a first...

I've worked for banks, I've worked for a mortgage company, but this is the first time I've worked at a credit union. Collateral perfection, assignments, Vault, trailing docs, Notary. I'm charged with these tasks in the organization. All of the paperwork and background checks were intense and for now, at least, I'm on contract. Now, I have to push a mass amount of paperwork through to an Agency by the end of the year.

Thanks Melinda

I'm working again. The commute is better 50%. More later.

Damn, it's cold

Old man Winter showed his face today in California and damn, it's cold. It won't even be 60 degrees today and the nights are in the high 30's to low 40's. I slept with the heater on all night.  If I don't my throat gets soar.

For the love of Thai Food

I am 43 years old white woman, I've lived in Orange County, California since 1992 and I'm just taking the time to figure out what the deal is about on Asian cuisine.

Thai is the best for me. It's recipes are based upon healthy, fresh ingredients with no flour, cheese or cow's milk.. I love that. I love being able to go out to a restaurant where I can order something from the menu and know that afterwords I'm not going to feel sick from eating it. I went so far as collecting three Thai cook books and searching out the grocery stores and farmer's markets in my area that carry Thai ingredients so that I can cook dishes at home.

Japanese is second best. It also concentrates on fresh, healthy ingredients. Noodles are an integral in many dishes, which is not so good, but in it's defense, Japanese eat more fish, so I love sushi, but especially sashimi. I found out it's extremely easy to make miso soup at home because it comes in these kits like the ramen noodles that everyone is so used to in California. You can add bok choi, thinly sliced shallots and/or green onion and cubes of firm tofu, if you want, or just eat the noodles and the broth - it's that easy.

I found out that I like Pho, which is a type Vietnamese soup available in just about any city you go to.You don't have to guess what you are going to be served there because Pho is usually in the name of the restaurant. Once upon a time, there was a restaurant in my neighborhood called Hung Phat. I kid you not. I read that, deemed the name disgusting and never tried the place. Later they changed the name to Golden Chopsticks. I later discovered that the term Hung Phat is a common phrase in Vietnamese and nothing to be afraid of.

Chinese food is the most unhealthful of all the Asia food, next to tempura in Japanese cooking. Chinese food almost always is served with some sort of corn starch based sauce and sometimes even deep fried items like in the calamari, sweet and sour dishes, and the wonton noodles. The easiest thing to whip up for a meal is stir fry, which comes from Chinese cooking. I have one prep bowl and slice everything up before i start cooking. I then cook the meat, lay on the prepared vegetables, let it steam for a few minutes and then mix it up in the wok until it's all hot and incorporated and pour some sticky sauce over it. I serve it with rice on the side. Another dish I make at home sometimes is the egg drop soup. It's chicken broth, scrambled egg and thinly sliced green onion. That's it. Simple and quick. Sometimes when you aren't feeling so good and the weather is cold, only egg drop soup will do.

I bought a new rice cooker over the summer. Man, is that thing great. Perfect rice in 20 minutes. Fry's Electronics had only one model like mine. I later found out that H Mart carries a ton of them, thank you.

And speaking of which, I found H Mart and I love it. It's chock full of Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese products and, to me, is the Pavillions of Asian food markets.

OK, that's better

I have an interview on Monday for two different jobs with the same company. When lightening strikes, I guess... For weeks I have not been able to find anything local. I even went so far as applying to a job near Phoenix, AZ. To me, it's the closest thing to California without water, but damn. I'm not looking to relocate unless it's something I absolutely must do.

Location, location, location

I found a job I can do... near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I don't want to work in Wisconsin. This is not good.