Gin from the Cat Dish

Remember the scene in The Diary of Bridget Jones where she's drinking vodka and singing All by myself, don't wanna be....all by myself. Oh how I wish they had a song like that for the unemployed. Yes, it's true, I still don't have a job and because I've already cried and watched a chick flick and ate coffee ice cream, it's time to blog again. Although I just got really tired at the thought of describing my working woes--I literally just closed my eyes and had a hard time opening them again. This seemed like such a good idea 5 minutes ago when I was using the porcelain think tank. Anyway, at least I have been interviewing this time. In fact I have had many really great interviews where I seriously feel like I've made lifelong friends. I make them laugh, they make me laugh, I schmooze with the kids...it's great. And then I never hear back. Besides feeling demoralized, I'm starting to feel a little dirty. How many times can you tell someone they have t...

Tuesday, Shaughn flies into Boston on Virgin Airlines. An airline, he was told, that only had really hot flight attendants . I hope they're all men. I just finished cleaning out my car. It's a task I have never enjoyed partly because it necessitates a certain amount of flexibility that is unpleasant. It's not that I need to feel sexy 100% of the time, but it would be nice to avoid tasks that made me feel like a jackass. Plus, since we've had such a chilly summer, I'm not used to the heat. I kept dripping sweat all over the place making it hard to vacuum up the dirt. Not to mention all those pine needles from the x-mas tree last december are still showing themselves to be a b*** to vacuum. Half of them didn't even budge even when I put the whole opening of the hose on them, making the shopvac sound like it was going explode ( ps the shopvac looks like it came out of the land of oz). That's the last time I put a x-mas tree inside my car. When we were litt...

I really don't consider myself to be that much of a hypochondriac. Much like George W. Bush didn't really consider his accent to be crap. But more and more, I realize I have come to certain conclusions that don't necessarily have strong medical support. Unless you count a google search. I'm not usually very showy with my illnesses and rarely very creative. One time after reading a book about a young teen who had leukemia , I started noticing how much I, myself, bruise--and I was tired all the time! Sometimes I would wake up at night and be really really thirsty. I'd go into the bathroom and drink water out of my hands as if I was being timed. Drink-as-much-as-you-can, GO! Great, I'd think, diabetes . At any point in the day, you could count on me to ask if I felt warm like I had a fever. I don't think I have much time left, I'd say. My death-by-tragic-illness scares are usually sparked by books and tv shows. When mom was diagnosed, I figured I probably...

Martha's Meatloaf recipe--good idea Jacqui! Mix: 2 eggs 2/3 c milk 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp onion salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1 1/2 c oats Add: 2/3 c chopped onion 2/3 c shredded carrots 1 1/2 c cheese 2 lbs of hamburger Mix well (I just put it all in one bowl in no particular order, I mean come on). Bake 350 for 1 hr In small bowl mix 1/4 brown sugar, 1/4 ketchup, 1-2 T mustard. Spread topping on meatloaf after it has cooked for an hr and then cook 15 min more. Yum! _____________________ So the job hunting has begun again. Aren't you all excited for more stories about the financial jungle drums and interviews that look more like an escape from alcatraz than a possible job position? I know I am! I've been wanting to nanny again. It's been a little rough out there so far. But I'm going to use the nanny agency I used before and hopefully that will bring me some luck. I really want to work with infants. I need a baby fix. Right now I feel like Tina Fey on Baby Mama when she looks at...

I was going through Mom's recipes the other day when I came across Martha's Marvelous Meatloaf. Oh the memories. Martha was my boyfriend, Chuck's Mom. She was a pleasant roundish woman with unruly hair characteristic of so many 40-something Moms. (Ouch, am I going to get in trouble for that?) I started dating Chuck shortly after 4-H camp the summer after 8th grade. This was the summer after being in the Young Miss Nebraska pageant but before the summer I got ringworm from my cat Kellico (formerly John Wayne when its parts were a sweet mystery). If you have ever been in camp as a young person you will remember the hushed flutter of romance that is also known as a "Camp Relationship". We used air quotes when talking about these relationships to make sure others knew we knew they weren't necessarily the real thing. They were more like sunglasses you got to try on for awhile. They make you look cute and feel genuinely sophisticated. But like any good pair of sung...

I am one sibling away from a family reunion--and he gets here Monday. I've been cooking and cleaning and doing all those things people do when expecting a full house. Hence, my blog absence. I was going to write a blog about a little tiny field mouse coming into my room and scaring the holy bejeezus out of me, but I decided against it. I mean who needs to relive that ? Talking to my friend Basil, he very nicely asked me what it felt like to be afraid of mice--what was it that I was actually afraid they might do. "I don't know, Basil, but something really really bad...like crawl on me or something." We've been playing kickball every evening after dinner since Jen, Paul and their girls got here. It's been so much fun. When I explained to the girls how to play I told them that if they ever get out they should shake their fist in a "J" and say, " Awh nuts!" Fiona caught on right away, but Sinead was a little hesitant about it. I think, becau...

My beans are growing! I feel just so proud of them. Just for waking up and growing! It reminds me of this conversation I had with Nate awhile back where he and I were commenting on how little it took for Dad to say he was proud of us. "I'm so proud of you, Nate, you got up this morning and...I'm just so proud." Or sometimes it would be in the middle of a conversation and though it was always nice to hear, inside I was always wondering "Could you be a little more specific? But now, I'm seeing how proud a person can be just for having something that's still around. My beans haven't given me anything to eat, yet, but I love them just the same. They are leaning to the right because there's not enough light, but i just moved them closer to the window so hopefully they will straighten up. Not that I'm judging--they can choose to go in any direction they want. My Grandpa Lindgren commented on my 6 year old niece, Fiona's chance of being a tree-...